Film

Dallas VideoFest’s Bart Weiss Remembers Michael Nesmith | 2016 Ernie Kovacs Award Winner

3 years ago
by Kelly Kitchens
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Written by Kelly Kitchens

Michael Nesmith, who Friday December 10th, lived in Dallas and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School before he became a Monkee. He accepted the Ernie Kovacs Award from Video Association of Dallas and Dallas VideoFest on Oct 1, 2016.

Bart Weiss, founder of Dallas VideoFest:

“I am very sad to hear of the passage of Michael Nesmith. On Oct 1, 2016, I got to meet him when we honored him with the Ernie Kovacs Award, for his pioneering work in video. I, of course, knew of his work, but it was such a pleasure to get to know him.

“That night was truly special.  We’ve had many great honorees over the years, but Nesmith was deeply honored and spoke eloquently about his work and what he believed in. Then he turned around and talked about what the festival believed in.  The evening started with a special video made by AMS Productions about Nez’s mother and how her company was so ahead of its time,  hiring a multicultural workforce and giving paid maternity leave. Everyone who was there that night was touched by someone special. He will be missed, and he will be remembered.”

Watch Ernie Kovacs Award show…

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About the author

Kelly Kitchens

Kelly J Kitchens (Wickersham), film publicist

As an editor and feature writer, Kelly J. Kitchens found herself engrossed in North Texas’ arts, entertainment, leisure/hospitality and fund-raising events scene in the early and mid-'90s where she was a feature writer, critic and editor for a weekly arts and entertainment magazine in Dallas called The Met. Her love of film, music, art, theater and worthy causes drove her to then pursue the publicity side of the media business in 1995. Kelly has been honored by being named a “master publicist” in the Fort Worth Business Press and an “ace media maven” in The Dallas Morning News.

For more than 25 years, Kelly has had her hand in much of the Dallas film world. For instance, she publicized Angelika Film Centers openings in Dallas and Plano and the revitalization of Houston’s Angelika. She is the director of press and publicity for several area film festivals and independent films playing at other film festivals. And in 2022, she plans to return to be the publicist for Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in DFW.

During the pandemic, Kelly wasn’t sure where her career would take her. Fortunately, she was able to help save Thin Line Film Festival, Dallas VideoFest's DocuFest and AltFiction Fest, Pegasus Film Festival, among other film festivals as they turned to go virtual instead of canceling.

As the world emerges from the pandemic, Kelly is working on publicity for Pegasus Media Project, Who Needs Sleep Telethon, as well as several films making their ways into the festival circuit and an Amazon series nominated for a Daytime Emmy, #WASHED.

One of Kelly’s specialties is her Media Roundtables. RTs are modified press conferences that turn into conversations and virtual film schools with filmmakers, festival directors and anyone else she happens to be working with at the time. Get a feel for these media roundtables at this YouTube playlist: https://tinyurl.com/KJKPRMediaRoundtables

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