1995 IAR grad Jenna Emens has been nominated for a New York Emmy in sound design for her work on the show Secrets of New York, which airs on NYCTV. The awards ceremony will take place on April 1st and will be broadcast on NYCTV on April 10th.

Jenna said she was surprised to be nominated for the award because of the large number of people who submit their work for consideration. However, if she wins, she knows what she’ll do with her statue. “I’m definitely going to go out and buy a really cool shelf and put it on there,” she said. “Hopefully, I’ll get more over the next couple of years.”

Secrets of New York is a half-hour show that investigates and uncovers hidden secrets about New York City. She said some past episodes have focused on New York jails and an abandoned underground subway station. “It’s pretty interesting stuff that you would never think about or know but that really exists.”

“I definitely felt that I would have fun doing the sound design for this.” In fact, her job is to create all the sound heard on the show. For example, if the show called for a war scene, she would be responsible for adding sound effects such as cannon and rifle fire to the footage. She said most of a segment’s sounds are not recorded on location but rather are added later, during post-production.

“Most people don’t really think about where the sound was recorded; they just assume that it’s there,” she said. Before she moved into post-production, Jenna worked at Unique Recording, a recording studio for bands in Manhattan. She said musicians such as Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and the Wu Tang Clan often recorded at the studio.

“I worked with people from the Wu Tang Clan, but I didn’t do a lot of bigger bands when I was working there because I was new to the scene,” she said. “That job was kind of crazy, but it was a lot of fun.” After finishing up there, she decided she wanted some stability and more steady pay. To that end, she landed jobs at a number of post-production houses in New York and worked on commercials for the likes of Nickelodeon, Noggin, and Gillette.

Jenna said that while she enjoys working on commercials, it is much more fulfilling to work on television shows. “I definitely enjoy working at a TV station more,” she said. “It’s more fun to work on shows because they’re longer.” Now, it would appear as if she has found her niche at NYCTV. “I really love coming to work every day.”

She advises aspiring sound designers to go to school, get certified, complete internships, and pay their dues if they want to end up in her position. “It was a long road getting here, but you just have to take whatever you can get and learn as much as possible,” she said.

Congratulations on your Emmy nomination, Jenna.