Lexington video producer earns Emmy nomination for work at Ole Miss Sports Productions
Born and raised in Lexington, Dameon Black has been working in the production industry for nearly seven years, and his hard work is starting to pay off.
In April, Black was nominated for a 2023 Southeast Regional Emmy Award in Sports Promotion for his work at the University of Mississippi. Alongside Ole Miss Athletics content producers, Will Day and Austin Mitchell, Black was nominated for his work on the video “Transfer to the Sip.”
The videos title uses the slogan of Ole Miss Rebels Head Coach Lane Kiffin, who named himself the “portal king” in 2022 when he used the NCAA Transfer Portal to secure a talented transfer class.
Changes to NCAA transfer rules in April 2021 allowed D1 athletes transferring schools for the first time to no longer have to redshirt for a year before competing.
Taking advantage of the buzz around transfer season at Ole Miss, Day came up with the idea to create a promotional video to show off the success of the portal and encourage others players to transfer, Black said.
In the video you see transfers like Ulysses Bentley IV, Khari Coleman, Isheem Young and Michael Trigg walk down the steps of a private jet and board a bus that takes them through campus, showing them what its like to “Party in Sip,” Black said. He is featured at the end of the video dressed in a football uniform and turning his head toward the camera as the words “Who’s next?” fade onto the screen.
As a content producer, Black is used to people commenting on his work, but the transfer portal posed an interesting promotional concept that earned the video more recognition than he expected.
“I’ve been making stuff for seven years, so things don’t really phase me any more, but a lot of people really enjoyed it and it did really well on social media,” Black said.
Black attended the Southeast Regional Emmy Award ceremony June 17 in Atlanta, and although the video didn’t win the award in sports promotion, the nomination has made Black eager to earn an Emmy one day.
“Getting the opportunity to experience that was really amazing,” Black said. “I was really grateful for it.”
After graduating from the University of Kentucky in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in media arts and studies, Black went to Ole Miss to work as an athletics content producer while earning his master’s degree in marketing and communications.
Now, Black has returned to his hometown of Lexington ready to make a change. After working with sports for most of his professional career, Black is seeking greater creative control as he begins to transition into television and film production.
For now, Black is seeking his next opportunity and anticipating future Emmy nominations.
