Lou’s Legacy: A Reporter’s Life at the Washington Blade has been nominated for a Capital Emmy in the “Documentary – Historical” category by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “Our members include all of the video content producers who serve our local audiences in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia—from the Atlantic to the Appalachians, from Bristol to Baltimore”, said Capitol Emmys President Adam Longo before the nominations were announced.

Broadcast last June by WETA PBS in Washington, DC and MPT in Maryland, the documentary was directed and produced by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Patrick Sammon in association with the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. Additional nominees who worked on the film include producer Julianne Donofrio and editor Amir Jaffer.

Lou’s Legacy tells the story of two DC icons — legendary Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. and beloved drag performer Donnell Robinson, known to generations of Washington audiences as “Ella Fitzgerald.” Through Lou’s nearly five-decade career at the Blade and Ella’s return to the stage after a three-year hiatus following Covid, the 29-minute documentary explores the history of Washington’s LGBTQ community and today’s rising backlash against LGBTQ rights, including laws targeting drag performers.

“We’re honored that Lou’s Legacy has been recognized alongside such an impressive group of historical documentaries,” said Sammon. “This nomination is especially meaningful because the film preserves and celebrates the stories of people who helped shape queer history in Washington, DC — often without recognition from mainstream institutions. We’re deeply grateful to the Mattachine Society, Lou Chibbaro Jr., Donnell Robinson, WETA PBS, and everyone who helped bring this project to life.”

“At a time when efforts to erase LGBTQ history are accelerating across the country, this nomination is a reminder of why preserving these stories matters,” said Charles Francis, co-founder and president of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. “Lou Chibbaro documented nearly fifty years of our community’s history with rigor, compassion, and integrity. We’re honored that the film recognizing his work has been acknowledged by the Capital Emmys.”

Sammon previously co-directed and co-produced the Emmy-nominated documentary CURED, which broadcast nationally on PBS and attracted more than two million viewers worldwide. He also created and executive produced CODEBREAKER, the acclaimed drama-documentary about British codebreaker Alan Turing that reached an international audience of more than three million viewers. Before becoming a documentary filmmaker, Sammon worked as an award-winning television news reporter, including three years in the Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee market covering stories across the Tri-Cities region and Southwest Virginia.

The Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. — an LGBTQ history organization with the motto “Archive Activism” — played a central role in preserving the materials that inspired the documentary. The production team was granted unprecedented access to more than 300 archival boxes of reporter’s files, documents, and audio tapes that Chibbaro donated to George Washington University’s Gelman Special Collections Library with Mattachine’s support.

Lou’s Legacy premiered on WETA PBS in June 2025 during Pride Month. The documentary also broadcast on Maryland Public Television and is streaming nationally on PBS.org. WETA will rebroadcast Lou’s Legacy several times during Pride Month, including June 15^th at 9 pm ET. Winners of the Capital Emmy Awards will be announced the Capital Emmy Gala on June 20th at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel.