This N.L. software developer won an Emmy for his work on an app
Did you know a software developer could win an Emmy award? Jonny Sutherland did just that.
"It's kind of funny, really, to be an Emmy-award-winning software developer," Sutherland told CBC's St. John's Morning Show, while holding his golden statuette from the Television Academy's engineering category.
Sutherland was a member of the team that developed an app called Artemis Directors Viewfinder.
I guess it might top up the resumé a little bit. - Jonny Sutherland
"Basically what it does is it finds the frames for certain cameras and lens sets," Sutherland said.
"It's a big advancement because basically you can save these shots and send them out to the team, and everybody who has a smartphone basically can access this now."
In the App Store, Artemis is described as the "first digital viewfinder for smartphones."
It allows users to line up shots, do frame work, record and edit video — all on your phone.
Sutherland said it's been used by Oscar-winning directors and filmmakers, and on huge shows like Game of Thrones.
"I guess it might top up the resumé a little bit," he joked.
'I feel really lucky'
Sutherland, who developed the Android version for the app, is the only Newfoundland and Labrador team member, and one of only two Canadians, on a team made up mainly of people based in the U.K. and Australia.
It's been worked on for nearly a decade, and Sutherland and the team are now working on updated versions of it.
An Emmy for software is something he certainly did not expect, and so he didn't believe his colleagues when they told him they'd won.
"I kind of didn't believe them at first, kind of thought they were just pulling my leg, but eventually I saw a few pictures and I saw it on Wikipedia, so I started to believe them," he said, adding that he felt he was a small part of a huge project, but "it was great to be a part of it."
"I feel really lucky for them to think of me and give me one of the statues."
As for his friends and family, the Emmy statue has finally convinced them, too, that he's won.
"Most of them still make jokes about it," Sutherland said.
"My friend said I should make it my car hood ornament.… I've got to find a good spot for it, I guess. It's quite a decoration."
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