Correction: The story incorrectly titled her position and role in the creation of the documentary. We apologize for the error.\u00a0<\/p>\n
April Brown<\/a>, an associate professor in the Department of Television, Film, and Media Studies (TVFM) at Cal State LA was awarded a Regional Emmy for her role as co-director and producer on a documentary about the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Emmy win was for the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Regional Emmy, which covers outstanding work in broadcast media, journalism and documentaries in Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia. The award was announced on June 20 in Maryland.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown became involved after collaborating with a production partner who was looking for someone to work on the documentary about the collapsed bridge, she recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n The documentary \u201cKey Bridge Disaster: Reflect, Recover and Rebuild\u201d<\/a> premiered in March 2025, nearly a year after the bridge fell into the Patapsco River. The documentary chronicles the aftermath of the March 2024 collision of the container ship Dali with the Bridge after the boat lost power.<\/p>\n The ensuing bridge collapse killed six construction workers as the structure fell into the river\u2019s dark, icy waters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The bridge was named after the author of the American National Anthem (\u201cThe Star Spangled Banner\u201d) and it opened on March 23, 1977, the documentary said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The documentary was a chance for the region to reflect on the event and its impacts on the community at large and those who experienced the tragedy firsthand. It chronicles the experiences of the firefighters, the U.S. Coast Guard and the thousands of others who responded to the collapse of the bridge. The film also explored how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Navy members figured out how to clear the wreckage from the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n The documentary also discusses the communal recovery, the economic impacts and the thousands of Longshoremen who lost their jobs when freight shipments paused in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Key Bridge was one of the largest steel truss bridges in the U.S., spanning over a mile-and-a-half long, and at its peak transported an estimated 12.4 million people annually, a report from the Maryland Chamber of Commerce said shortly following the accident.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Further, the report said that the economic strain on the region was massive and could reach upwards of $3.3 billion in personal income and nearly $400 million in tax revenue annually, as estimated at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to the events that took place immediately following the collapse, the documentary also looked into the future, and the measures taken to prevent any future collisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the documentary wasn\u2019t always planned as a wider report on the communal impacts. Originally, the film was much more focused on those who lost their lives and the question of why the ship had crashed, Brown said. The National Transportation Safety Board had also released a report, but at the time, it was only preliminary and didn\u2019t have enough answers for a full story or become its own documentary.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor a variety of reasons, we weren\u2019t able to get access to the families,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThey carefully guarded their privacy and didn\u2019t want to talk about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n So, for her it was time to pivot.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe came up with the idea of looking at how the community was affected and the people who responded because it was such an unusual catastrophic event,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0<\/p>\n