KOCE Snags an LA Emmy for Bloody Thursday

​Bloody Thursday, a documentary about the struggle of the West Coast dockworkers during the Great Depression, has won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award.

The one-hour film debuted on Huntington Beach-based KOCE public television (channel 50).

"I am extremely proud that we have won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award," said Brenda Brkusic, executive producer of Bloody Thursday and KOCE-TV's OC channel manager. "PBS stations around the country are currently airing Bloody Thursday, and I am thrilled that millions of people will have the opportunity to experience this inspirational and powerful moment in American history."

​The historical documentary explores the Pacific Waterfront Strike of 1934, in which longshoremen up and down the West Coast fought for their rights against the forces of shipping companies, politicians and police.

"In the depths of the Great Depression, facing corrupt hiring practices and deadly working conditions, they went out on strike in a last-ditch effort to turn their fortunes around," reads a KOCE statement about the piece. "Throughout the strike the longshoremen endured withering attacks from the media and police in port cities along the West Coast, yet their courage allowed them to overcome these mountainous obstacles and win the strike."

Their story is told through archival footage, insightful interviews with historians, and actor readings from transcripts.

Bloody Thursday debuted nationally in February.

"Bloody Thursday is the kind of film that makes us at KOCE proud of our public television heritage," KOCE President Mel Rogers says in the release. "Brenda Brkusic, our OC channel manager, who is an award-winning film maker in her own right, was able to bring her special talent to what was already an excellent concept for telling a very important story. All involved in this project deserve kudos for making an excellent film."