THE COMMISSION IS THE RECIPIENT OF THE
2021 SILVER TELLY FOR TELEVISION
(GENERAL) – DOCUMENTARY

The documentary, A Bridge to Justice: The Life of Franklin H. Williams, is the recipient of the prestigious Telly Award. The Telly Awards honors the best work created within television and across video. The Bridge to Justice documentary received the 2021 Silver Telly for Television (General) – Documentary.

A Bridge to Justice: The Life of Franklin H. Williams is a half-hour documentary on Ambassador Williams that includes archival, Oval Office audio of President Lyndon Johnson and then-Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall discussing Franklin Williams, insightful interviews with former Chief Judges Sol Wachtler and Jonathan Lippman, introspective footage of the Ambassador’s son and namesake and several other interviews with scholars, civil rights advocates and others who knew Franklin Williams. The documentary is narrated by Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Sterling K. Brown, and produced by New York State OGS Digital Media Services, in cooperation with New York State Office of Court Administration and WNED PBS.

Major funding was provided by the Unified Court System, with support from the New York State Bar Foundation and the Historical Society of the New York Courts.

Joyce Y. Hartsfield, the Commission’s former executive director (1992-2019), and John Caher, Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications, New York State Unified Court System, conceived of the idea and interviewed original members of the Commission. Enid Gort, Ph.D. served as project consultant. Nicholas Ullo, Principal Management Analyst and videographer for the court system, filmed several interviews. Special thanks to Donald K. Boswell, President and CEO of WNED-TV (Buffalo)and David Rotterman, SVP-Chief Content Officer, WNED-TV (Buffalo); Nicholas Ullo, Principal Management Analyst; Christopher Conto, Senior Producer, Office of General Services/Media Services; John M. Caher, Executive Producer, Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications, New York State Unified Court System; Joyce Y. Hartsfield, Esq., former FHW Commission Executive Director; the Historical Society of the New York State Courts and the New York State Bar Foundation.

The project was funded primarily by the Unified Court System, with generous support from the New York State Bar Foundation and the Historical Society of the New York Courts.

Additional thanks to:
• Hon. Dorothy Chin Brandt
• Hon. Peggy Cooper Davis
• Karlene Dennis
• Hon. Janet DiFiore
• Hon. Lewis L. Douglass
• James Goodale
• Enid Gort
• Hon. Samuel Green
• Jack Greenberg
• Edna Wells Handy
• Elizabeth Hooks
• Gilbert King
• Francis M. Letro
• Lincoln University
• Hon. Jonathan Lippman
• Hon. Richard B. Lowe III
• Linda Dunlap-Miller
• Eileen D. Millett
• Hon. Juanita Bing Newton
• Jessica Reeder
• Hon. Rose H. Sconiers
• Anthony Suárez
• Hon. Sol Wachtler
• Franklin H. Williams Jr.

The Telly Awards receive thousands of entries from all 50 states and 5 continents and Telly Award winners represent work from some of the most respected advertising agencies, television stations, production companies and publishers from around the world. Entrants are judged by the Telly Awards Judging Council, an industry body of over 200 leading experts including advertising agencies, production companies, and major television networks, reflective of the multiscreen industry and includes executives from Dow Jones, Duplass Brothers Productions, Complex Networks, A&E Networks, Hearst Media, ESPN Films, RYOT, Vice+ and Vimeo.

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