’96 Olympic Film Team from Atlanta Story Partners Shares Honors with Georgia Public Broadcasting for Best Feature Documentary, Writing, Editing and Motion Graphics
Atlanta Story Partners’ (ASP) debut film “The Games in Black & White” won four Southeast Emmy Awards from as many nominations shared with Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB).
The feature doc centered on the Atlanta Olympic Games earned top honors for historical documentary, long-form writing, long-form editing and graphic arts-motion graphics. Details on the wins announced Saturday include:
· Category No. 501—Documentary-Historical—”The Games in Black & White” (George Hirthler, Bob Judson, Alahna Lark) for GPB and ASP
· Category No. 718—Writer-Long Form—George Hirther for GPB and ASP
· Category No. 725—Editor-Long Form Content—Bob Judson for GPB and ASP
· Category No. 733—Graphic Arts-Motion Graphics—”The Games in Black & White” (Bill Chapman, Gavin Holmes, Claudia Turner, Ben Roberds) for GPB and ASP
“From initial ideas of 2019, through the pandemic, and other starts and stops of five years, we knew the story of Atlanta’s Olympic dream needed to be told,” said Hirthler. “For our team to earn these Southeast Emmy accolades as we approach the 30th anniversary of the ’96 Games is a dream come true for the Atlanta Story Partners team … almost as big as the city’s team winning its Olympic bid!”
Centered around the inspirational friendship of icons Andrew Young and Billy Payne—the most successful Black and White partnership in the American South in the civil rights era—“The Games in Black & White” presents the first comprehensive look at Atlanta’s Olympics from bid to legacy and the city’s transformation that followed. The Centennial Olympic Games of 1996 were billed as “the largest peacetime gathering in history.” “The Games in Black & White” summarizes and assesses the decades-long impact in three acts: “The Bid, The Games and The Legacy.”
Production began in early 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic halted work. Through anonymous corporate support, production resumed in summer 2022, with filming completed in fall 2023 and editing/rights clearances in process through spring 2025. The film enjoyed its world premiere in April 2025 at the 49th Atlanta Film Festival and aired statewide via GPB from July through December, with some PBS stations still carrying the film via streaming.
Along with Payne and Young, ASP completed interviews with over 45 people associated with the 1996 Games or the Olympic Movement, including former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Martin Luther King III and former First Lady of Atlanta Valerie Jackson, among others. The team also interviewed U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland, five-time Olympic medalist and LA28 Chief Athlete Officer Janet Evans, and LA28 Chief of Games Management Doug Arnot, who was managing director of venues and operations at the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. During Sept. 2023, ASP interviewed 1996 Olympic decathlon champion Dan O’Brien and completed a two-day on-location shoot involving over 30 crew members at Centennial Olympic Park.
The public is invited to watch “The Games in Black & White” on the big screen with a special Atlanta 1996 30th Anniversary Screening—including a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers—at Tara Atlanta on July 18, with tickets on sale now via the theater website TaraAtlanta.com/movie/the-games-in-black-in-white.
