U of A Professor and Filmmaker Receives Emmy Nomination

A poster for the Arkansas Accent Project.

Since the fall of 2019, Ben Corbett has been aiding the university with his talents in teaching voice and acting for undergraduate and graduate students. However, since that time, he has also put his talents towards developing a short documentary that focuses on the accents in Arkansas and how regional accents, even within the same state, change and evolve.

Corbett’s documentary, The Arkansas Accent Project, made with Ringo Jones, developed from an accent study including over 100 native Arkansans and Arkansas residents and led to Corbett exploring the multiple variations of the Arkansas accent, including some non-traditional Arkansas accents. Corbett found that the classrooms he taught in and classrooms he learned from varied during this process. While he taught in buildings around campus, he learned in the classrooms outside of Old Main, including a beauty salon in Bentonville, a blues festival headquarters in West Helena and a corporate bank in Little Rock.

This film grew alongside working with the International Dialect of English Archives and was funded by multiple grants from private donors and the U of A. After five years of dedicating time, energy and countless hours of research, Corbett has been nominated for a Midwest Regional Emmy in Category 319 – Human Interest for Long Form Content, which are films longer than 15 minutes.

This odyssey to an Emmy nomination came about from his film being shown at festivals around the state and beyond. The movie has attained five awards from these festivals, which include Best Documentary at Berryville Film Festival, Best Short Documentary at Red Dirt Film Festival, Best Short Documentary at Ft. Smith International Film Festival, Director’s Pick Best Short Film Documentary at Sunny Side Up Film Festival and Best in Category at Rock City Film Festival.

Throughout this process, Corbett witnessed how many people he interviewed love this state and their desire to be seen as equals by the rest of the country. Corbett learned a great deal about filmmaking during this process, particularly three important tenants: listen, be kind and help unload the van. Corbett had this to say about the nomination: “It is an honor to be nominated, especially for my first movie. I am going back to the Hot Springs Film Festival to participate in the Filmmakers Forum and discuss the project with film executives. Remember, to trust your feeling, trust your filming, trust your interviews.”

On Oct. 26 in Kansas City, Missouri, the Mid America Emmy Ceremony will take place, and Corbett is ecstatic to bring an Arkansas-based movie to the floor of such a prestigious awards ceremony.  

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.