HANCOCK COUNTY — When he heard the title of the film announced as an Emmy Award winner during the 50th Annual National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the short movie he helped create, James Ehle jumped out of his chair in amazement, he said.
Ehle, 23, a New Palestine native, and Jonathon Kane, the film’s director, won an Emmy in the Arts and Entertainment and Cultural Affairs section of the College and University Student Production Awards, for their movie “The Concourse.”
Ehle produced the film when he was at Huntington University during his senior year in 2018. The two won the Emmy in June at the Lower Great Lakes Regional Chapter awards ceremony held in Cleveland, Ohio.
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“I honestly didn’t think we had much of a chance,” Ehle said. “We were rubbing shoulders with real industry professionals.”
Kane, who now lives in Los Angeles where he is trying to break into the movie-making industry while working in the Paramount Studios Page Program, said working with Ehle was one of the best creative experiences he’s ever had.
“When James called me a few years ago and said he was interested in producing one of my ideas, I was thrilled,” Kane said.
Unlike other people Kane had talked to about his movie idea, Ehle was enthusiastic, Kane said, a real go-getter, and immediately started figuring out ways to secure the set and make the project a reality.
“As the producer, he really made things happen,” Kane said.
When Kane gets to the point in his career where he can start making movies for a living, the first person he’ll secure as part of his team is Ehle to produce his ideas, Kane said.
The Emmy Award-winning movie Ehle and Kane created their senior year at Huntington University was about a young man going to meet his estranged father who ends up having an encounter with his dad at an airport in the middle of the night.
“It’s a great story with a great heart,” Ehle said.
Ehle and Kane worked on developing the project over several months during their senior year, which included getting permission to shoot the movie at the Fort Wayne Airport.
“It had such a unique setting,” Ehle said.
Ehle, who has been creating movies and writing stories since he was in high school, went to Huntington University to pursue a movie making career and earned a degree in digital media and film production.
One of his professors, Matthew Webbs, who attended the Emmy’s, said Ehle has always been a hard worker and a wonderful collaborator.
“His attention to detail and his work ethic help shape him into being a solid producer,” Webb said in an email to the Daily Reporter.
He was not at all surprised to see Ehle’s work earn him a student production award at the regional Emmy competition.
“I expect that we will see more awards and accolades in James’ future,” Webb said.
After graduating from college in May of 2018, Ehle spent several months in Los Angeles. He went there to see what Hollywood was all about and did some networking and checked into the moving making business. While there he was able to do some improvisation acting and work on a documentary.
“It was neat to experience the culture and just meet different people,” Ehle said.
He moved back home to Indiana at the end of February after realizing he could write and create from anywhere, and that it’s actually easier to film in the Midwest than out west.
Ehle is currently doing some marketing work for the Boys and Girls Club of America in Huntington County. He’s also working with a production house there making professional videos with one of his college professors, while still pursuing his dream.
“One of my passions is story telling,” Ehle said. “Whether that’s film or writing a book or screen plays, I’m going to pursue that.”
The movie, “The Concourse” is available for viewing on YouTube.com.
