Media Release
For Immediate Release - JUNE 29, 2009:
DUI-Documentary is Double EMMY Winner!
"Enduring Regret" Brings Drunk Driver's Horror Story to TV
(ATLANTA) The latest lifesaving and behavior changing highway safety film from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety took top honors at the 35th Annual EMMY Awards in Atlanta Saturday night. The DUI-documentary film entitled, "Enduring Regret", won EMMY Awards for Best Documentary for a television presentation with dramatic impact and Best Director from the Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
"We produced this compelling Prime Time Special to remind Georgia drivers of all ages about the devastating consequences of one of the deadliest high-risk teen behaviors.. Drinking and driving," says GOHS Director Bob Dallas.
"Enduring Regret" premiered in September 2008.
The documentary is the latest in a distinguished line of public safety films created by the Emmy Award winning team at ImageMaster Productions. Atlanta filmmaker and Director Dan Johnson says, "My goal was to prevent even one family from going through the pain and suffering documented in this program."
Filmed on location in front of Georgia high school audiences.. And from inside a prison cell in the Georgia Correctional System, "Enduring Regret: Chris Sandy's Story of Living Life After Causing Death" tells the life-changing story of convicted drunk driver Chris Sandy and his high-risk decision to drive while impaired.
In April of 2000, while speeding from one party to the next, the impact of his DUI crash ripped his victims' vehicle in half, pinning an elderly couple inside. His destructive decision behind the wheel killed innocent grandparents and put Chris Sandy behind bars at the age of twenty-two. He was sentenced to thirteen years in prison followed by another seventeen years of probation. While Chris Sandy's incarceration will one day end, his victims' family is sentenced to a lifetime of immeasurable grief.
"That's why inmate Chris Sandy has determinedly delivered his public apologies and personal anti-impaired driving message to more than 100-thousand Georgia high school students over the past four years," says GOHS Deputy Director Spencer Moore.
Through "Enduring Regret", inmate Chris Sandy speaks in soul-searching detail about consequences that last forever and regret that never goes away. Combining his straightforward confessions and the perspective of youth, Chris Sandy effectively communicates the ultimate horror of teen and young adult drinking and driving.
"Enduring Regret" was created in partnership with the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and independent agent Chad Foster. The special was broadcast with support to GOHS from the Georgia Beer Wholesaler's Association and The Center for Alcohol Policy: A partnership committed to ensuring the legal, safe, and responsible use of alcoholic beverages.
"With help from our dedicated partners, this GOHS documentary film is now delivering Chris Sandy's horrific first hand account to tens of thousands of new teen drivers that his message could never reach from behind prison bars each year," says GOHS Public Affairs Director Jim Shuler. The Governor's Office of Highway Safety dedicates this public awareness project to the victims of Chris Sandy's drunk driving crash and dedicates this EMMY recognition to more than five hundred Georgia families who lost loved ones to alcohol related crashes last year.
Governor's Office of Highway Safety Public Information Unit
Director Public Affairs, Jim Shuler - 404-656-6996 - jshuler@gohs.ga.gov
34 Peachtree Street-Suite 800 One Park Tower-Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Visit us on the web at www.georgiahighwaysafety.org
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