New Jersey 's Tourism Industry Honors NJN Producer Lou Presti 

STATEWIDE – On Thursday, April 21, NJN's Lou Presti received one of thirteen awards for tourism excellence, presented to members of the tourism industry during the 2005 Governor's Conference on Tourism Awards Luncheon at the Trump Marina in Atlantic City . Presti was honored for his dedication to producing stories on New Jersey for three decades. Nancy Byrne, executive director of Travel & Tourism, spoke highly of the NJN producer/director. “…Mr. Presti's lifelong commitment to producing provocative programs such as New Jersey Legacy has left a legacy of its own by colorfully illustrating New Jersey and its natural and cultural wonders."

Senior producer/director Lou Presti has been with NJN since its early days in 1971 as head of the network's motion picture unit. Since that time, Presti has produced compelling films about New Jersey 's natural landscapes, people and resources as well as the different communities that make up the Garden State . He became senior producer/director in 1974. During his tenure at NJN, Presti and his team have documented New Jersey like few others before them, exploring New Jersey 's remote regions from the mountains of the northwest to the serenity of the Delaware Bayshore.

Presti has earned numerous awards and recognition in his more than three decades with NJN. Presti's most recent productions include completion of the NJ Legacy series; Eye of the Mariner (New Jersey's lighthouses), which has been shown nationally on PBS over the past few years; Touring New Jersey – a scenic depiction of the state through four seasons set to music and NJN's first exercise in high-definition production; Spirit of the Bay: Tuckerton Seaport about the state's maritime traditions; and Thunderbolts of Millville about the pilots who were trained on P-47s during World War II. Both Spirit of the Bay and Thunderbolts of Millville also have been picked up for national distribution on public television stations.

This fall, NJN will broadcast two more programs by Presti – A Legacy of Achievement on the state's Italian American heritage; and Reflections of a Bayshore Painter with the inspiring talent of Glen Rudderow, an artist who paints pastoral scenes of south Jersey .

Elizabeth Christopherson , executive director of NJN, applauds Presti's accomplishments over the years, “He has had a tremendous impact on the quality of NJN programming; citizens of New Jersey continue to benefit immensely from the knowledge and beauty Presti brings to the screen through his observations of our state and its people. He tells the story of New Jersey with insight and understanding.”

With an eye to serving New Jersey residents and visitors and to further promoting our state, NJN this year packaged many of Lou Presti's documentaries into a two DVD set with four hours of programming called Images of New Jersey . The DVD offers four hours of viewing special places in New Jersey and includes several of Presti's programs including Eye of the Mariner , Spirit of the Bay , Bayshore Artists , Touring New Jersey and Jersey Gold . Along with the NJ Legacy series, the state now has a film package of its history and scenic locations of which to be proud.