Trail Blazers Creative Team wins Emmy! Katie O'Grady, Director

Written By Katie O'Grady

A big congratulations to the Trail Blazers Creative Team on winning the “Commercial Single Spot” category for the Trail Blazers 50th Anniversary Season Campaign -- 'Growing Up Rip City.' .

Earning a reputation as a performance-driven director especially effective with athletes (working with Nike pros in product film shorts), Katie was called upon to direct the heartwarming tribute to 50 years of the NBA’s TrailBlazers. In just two weeks she and the production crew created a montage to some of the greatest highlights of the team and fans. The emotional end result had fans taking to social media to comment “ God what a video. This is sports PR at it's finest.” and “Where loyalty is founded and love is created, RipCity Forever.” The Northwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences took notice and the talented team landed an Emmy for their efforts.

Katie comments, “This spot was so special and I felt lucky to be part of it. On the surface, I was a random choice: blonde hair, blue eyes, Caucasian woman who never played sports. But the team really knew what they were doing by selecting me, knowing my passion for the subjects and my communication style with athletes — coaching them. So much magic was made and each and every person on the crew contributed to this piece’s success.”

Here are the recipients of the Trail Blazers Creative Team to take home the hardware:

  • Billie Olson, Creative Director

  • Katie O’Grady, Director

  • Tristan Brillanceau-Lewis, Director of Photography 

  • Garrett Guinn, Assistant Director/Editor

  • Fred Coury, Music Composer

  • Dane Sawyer, Director

  • Will Cuddy, Director of Photography

Read about the win on NBC Sports

Katie O'Grady
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Portland Director Scores Emmy Win For The Trail Blazers 
50th Anniversary Commercial, “Growing up Rip City”.
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Growing Up Rip city - Nominated for an Emmy Award!