Troy Hale, professor of practice and senior academic specialist in the School of Journalism, was recently inducted into the Michigan Emmy Silver Circle. Hale was honored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for a distinguished 25-year career that encompasses his technical and artistic achievements, his mentoring of students and his contributions to the broadcasting community in Michigan. He is the second School of Journalism faculty member to earn this distinction. Professor of Practice Bob Gould was inducted as a Silver Circle member in 2016.
Hale received the award at a ceremony October 20 in Birmingham, MI.
“I was really honored when I was notified,” Hale said. “My friend said, ‘does that mean you're old?’ I was like, ‘ah, it does, doesn't it?’ It’s nice to look back at a career and say, yeah, I really pushed the envelope on a lot of stuff and I did a really good job, and I'm very proud of that.”
That envelope has had Hale’s name on it a lot over the years. He’s a 33-time Emmy Award winner and has been nominated more than 70 times. His career as a news correspondent, writer and filmmaker has taken him around the country and around the world, to places such as China, Tanzania, Australia, England, Scotland and Spain.
For the past 17 years, Hale has been sharing his formula for success with students…and helping them develop their own.
“It takes years to develop, and when you figure it out, it becomes your style,” Hale said. “All the faculty here in the School of Journalism have that same mentality, which is, you want to do your best work possible at all times and keep getting better. I’ve been lucky enough that in 17 years of teaching here I get to watch my former students walk up on the Emmys stage as well. That's a big part of what I enjoy doing now…just making sure my students have that path to success.”
Hale tries to impart to his students that their work is more than a grade, but indeed their calling card that will get them hired after college.
And, like so many other successful professionals in creative fields, Hale embraces failure.
“In class, I say ‘guys, fail in here; it’s OK,’” he said. “Fail in here so that when you go out (into the industry), you don’t. It’s setting a bar for students; let’s reach this bar…now reach this bar. Younger filmmakers sometimes expect immediate results…but helping them understand that it’s a journey and not a destination helps them as well.”
By Kevin Lavery