Local Documentary Wins Gold At MUSE Awards And Silver At Telly Awards

June 30, 2021 | Written by Hailey Maier & Jackie Ruberg

Roger Grein holds the Gold 2020 Muse Award presented to honor the documentary about his life, “Roger Grein: An Empowering Philanthropist.”

A documentary about the life journey of Magnified Giving founder and Cincinnati philanthropist, Roger Grein, has won gold at the 2020 MUSE Awards and silver at the 2021 Telly Awards. Each award is the second highest achievement for their respective organization. 

The documentary, Roger Grein: An Empowering Philanthropist, features Roger’s unique life story of perseverance and generosity. Roger’s story has powerful ties to the topics of adoption, disability, sports, and philanthropy. As an adult, Roger started the nonprofit organization, Magnified Giving, for donors to give back to communities through the hands of students who learn and engage in philanthropy.  Through the education of students and the generosity of donors, Magnified Giving has been able to give over $1.1 million to nonprofits across Ohio, along with parts of Kentucky and Indiana. The production includes exclusive interviews with Roger, donors, and students of Magnified Giving. The documentary can be viewed for free online at www.rogergrein.live. 

Roger and the film’s director, Bob Kelly, during a live Q&A following the documentary’s premiere in August 2020.

“I had no idea how the finished product would come out,” Roger described. “I was very overwhelmed and humbled. To me, [Bob Kelly] did an excellent job.” Director Bob Kelly of KPG Creative organized, wrote, directed and produced the 40-minute documentary. Bob reflected on Roger’s story, “The only thing that made him happy was living a simple life and giving. His whole life revolved around that, no matter what he was doing.” Roger expressed that winning these awards gives his journey and Magnified Giving more credibility. “There are many messages. More people will be able to watch it and see my approach, ‘look how Roger approached it,’ ‘if he can do it, I can do it too.’” 

The MUSE Awards are organized by an independent incorporation, called International Awards Associate Inc (IAA). The IAA’s main goal is to give global creators equal opportunity for international competitions against other creators, regardless of cost or the size of the company. Gold and platinum winners are featured on the MUSE Creative Awards website gallery, are featured on MUSE Creative Awards social media pages, are sent professionally designed logos for the award, a certificate, and finally, a press release template is sent to major industry outlets. 

The Telly Awards feature the best work in video and television, including non-broadcasted and offline videos. The intention of the Telly Awards is to honor the outstanding work of these videos. Each submission that has received an award is featured on the Telly Awards’ website.

“It’s not about the recognition or the statues, it’s more about that your peers say you’re doing good work.” Bob expressed. “Winning the awards is really validation that we’ve done a good job of telling a compelling story, and that’s what’s most important to me.”