'Songbirds: A Documentary' wins regional Emmy

photo Photo courtesy of Beckett Media Pro / Dagan Beckett holds the Midsouth Regional Emmy he won for his film, "Songbirds: A Documentary."

And the Emmy award for documentary topical goes to "Songbirds: A Documentary."

The film, which was created by Dagan Beckett, was given the honor last week by the Nashville/Midsouth chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Its competition was "Amber's Halfway Home," "Broken," "Facing North: Jefferson Street, Nashville" and "The Skin We're In."

Dagan told the Times Free Press in a telephone interview that he originally made the film as a passion project because he had spent a lot of time at the museum. He has entered into several film festivals around the world and winning an Emmy is a next step he couldn't have imagined when he started the process.

"It has been amazing," he said of the last year.

In making the film, Beckett tells the story of not only the Songbirds Guitar Museum, which closed in August 2020, but the stories of as many of the nearly 1,400 guitars in the private collection as he could.

He interviewed former staff members and internationally-known guitarists such as Vince Gill and Doyle Dykes in order to tell those stories. Among the people Beckett spent time with making the film were co-writer/producers Irv Berner, David Davidson and other staff members.

The Songbirds Foundation is currently operating in the former museum space at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. The foundation and the newly renovated space are focused on education, primarily through the Guitars for Kids program it operates.

Beckett is currently shopping the film around to distributors in hopes of securing a deal that will make it available to the public either through streaming services, studios or both. He also hopes to show it locally at private screenings, and is working with the Songbirds Foundation to make that happen, he has told the Times Free Press.

"We are very grateful for the Songbirds Foundation and their help and support," Beckett said.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Follow him on Twitter @BarryJC.

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