(Lawrenceville, Ga., June 20, 2024) – The Gwinnett County Communications Department achieved a historic milestone by winning its first Emmy during the 50^th anniversary of the Southeast Regional Emmy Awards ceremony over the weekend.

The award-winning series, “Upfront Gwinnett: Fighting Fentanyl,” competed against top television productions from Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, North Carolina and Georgia. The achievement honorees are County spokeswoman Deborah Tuff, who hosted and executive produced the series, producer Ryan J. Dennis, filmmaker and editor Brandon Davis and editor Derek Davis.

 “We are incredibly proud of the Communications Department for its outstanding work on this series,” said Gwinnett Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson. “Winning an Emmy is a testament to their dedication and the importance of raising awareness about critical issues like fentanyl use in our community.”

The idea for the series originated during an August 2022 meeting between Chairwoman Hendrickson, Newton County Chair Marcello Banes and Rockdale County Chairman Oz Nesbitt. Hendrickson highlighted the alarming rise in fentanyl use in the neighboring counties and emphasized the urgent need to address the issue in Gwinnett. Tuff routinely attends these meetings with the chairwoman and began researching fentanyl while engaging with various stakeholders across the County. With full support from Chairwoman Hendrickson and the Board of Commissioners, Tuff developed a series tackling challenges the community faces.

In addition to addressing fentanyl use, the solutions-based program also tackled the speeding problem in Gwinnett County. The latest series, “Upfront Gwinnett: Suffering in Silence,” focuses on raising awareness about the mental health crisis.

The Gwinnett County Communications Department achieved another first at the awards ceremony with an Emmy nomination for the advertisement launching Ride Gwinnett’s new Microtransit program.

You can watch the ceremony and the team’s acceptance speech at the following link. You can also watch the Emmy-winning series on our YouTube channel.