Dunning wins third National EMMY Award

Betty White, Kelsey Grammar, Michael J. Fox, Jon Stewart. A few names of those who have won multiple EMMY awards. Another name to add to that list: Dawson Dunning.

Dunning, a 2001 PRCDHS grad and current resident of Livingston, recently snagged his third EMMY award for his camera work on Smithsonian Channel's Epic Yellowstone TV program. Dawson's previous wins came in 2012, for his work on National Geographic's Untamed Americas, and in 2015 for his work on Nat Geo's Wild Yellowstone. Dunning has also won a Northwest Regional EMMY for his work on Indian Relay, shown on PBS.

Epic Yellowstone is a four-part series featuring the wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. While many nature programs concentrate primarily on the large fauna of the area – the grizzly bears, the bison, the wolves, Epic Yellowstone gave a different perspective. The "Fire and Ice" episode follows a bobcat's hunt for waterfowl on the Madison River, while "Life on the Wing" showcases dragonflies and mountain bluebirds. "Down the River Wild" follows the path of the Yellowstone River and its impact on the landscape. The large predators of Yellowstone were not neglected by the production, as "Return of the Predators" concentrated on the impact of wolves and grizzlies on the ecosystem.

Epic Yellowstone competed against three PBS nature programs for the win. Dunning told us that this year's awards ceremony was conducted virtually due to COVID, but he normally skips the awards ceremonies, preferring the great outdoors to the red carpet.

Dunning's award for Epic Yellowstone, the National Television Academy's Outstanding Cinematography in a Documentary, was shared with the crew of Grizzly Creek Films, a Bozeman based company run by fellow graduates of Montana State University's Science and Natural History Filmmaking program. The other winners include Jeff Reed, Rick Smith and Thomas Winston.

Dawson attended the Masters level program after graduating with a degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana, where he studied the genetics of westslope cutthroat trout.

We spoke to Dawson on the phone recently as he was on location filming beavers in Washington State for an upcoming documentary. He told us that he is currently working on projects for National Geographic, Netflix, Disney Plus, and Apple Plus, which will soon debut a show featuring Dunning's work filming pumas at night in Patagonia.

Dawson first made it big after his footage of sharptail grouse on a lek at his family's ranch in Southwestern Powder River County was picked up by the BBC. The sequence was narrated by famous wildlife filmmaker Sir David Attenborough, who Dunning had watched on nature presentations way back in Greg Childress' PRCDHS Biology class. Dunning grew up on the family ranch where he learned a strong work ethic from his parents, Denny and Debby, and making the long drive to Broadus every day for school with his sister, DarAnne. He developed a love for the outdoors early on, and told us his passion for photography blossomed when "I first picked up a camera in Mrs. Barnhart's photo classes. And I never looked back!"

Some of Dunning's first photography work was featured in the Powder River Examiner, when a high school aged Dawson photographed a big bull moose that had found its way into Powder River County.

Dawson and his wife, Kathyrn run their film business – 3 Bears Media, from their home in Livingston. Between filming, writing, and running the business, the duo works together to raise their two year old son, Ansel. While Dawson makes trips to various parts of the globe for his business, he still finds his way back to the ranch to help his folks brand and ship. Dawson remains a true ranch kid at heart.