Lahaina resident Jess Craven won an Emmy for his work on “Self Made in Hawaii” and “Golfing Thru… Hawaii.”

LAHAINA – Jess Craven was recently awarded an Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, San Francisco/Northern California Chapter, at the 41st annual Emmy Award ceremony held in San Francisco.

Craven, 31, received the Emmy on June 9 for his work on his TV program, “Self Made in Hawaii,” and for work done on a second OC16 TV program, “Golfing Thru Hawaii.”

The award category was Photographer-Program (non-news).

“When they called the category, I was on the edge of my seat in nervousness and excitement. I knew friends and family on Maui were watching. And when they announced my name, I was totally blown away,” Craven said.

“The walk up to the stage and acceptance speech was pretty much a blur. I ended up forgetting a couple names, but I think they forgive me given the circumstances.”

A Lahaina resident, Craven graduated from Whittier College with a business degree.

“Self Made in Hawaii,” hosted by Gerilyn Snow Emata of Maui, is a show about small business success and living the dream in Hawaii. Shot almost exclusively on Maui, the show is available to nearly 400,000 homes across the state via Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s OC16.

“Self Made in Hawaii” recently completed its second season and is currently in hiatus.

“Golfing Thru Hawaii” is produced by Matthew Robinson and hosted by Olivier Saquet and Lynnea Barry. It explores Hawaii’s golf courses and destination surroundings.

“‘Golfing Thru… Hawaii’ is currently in production; we will be filming an episode next month,” he said.

Craven is the creator and producer of “Self Made in Hawaii” and does the cinematography for both shows.

He is also involved in other projects.

“Working with friends from the two shows, I recently directed Anuhea’s ‘Higher Than The Clouds’ music video. Everything was shot on Maui, and it was an incredibly fun project,” he explained.

“I would like to shoot another music video in the next six months with another Maui artist, and look into the creation of a pilot with national broadcast potential within 18 (months).”

He will also work on short film project collaborations with Matthew Robinson, the producer of “Golfing Thru… Hawaii,” and Darren Yamamoto of Element Pictures, “really just to try new things and have a good time,” he noted.

“There is a small community of young filmmakers/actors on Maui who all pitch in on short film collaborations. We just completed shooting one called ‘Dead Amends’ headed by Darren. Next month, Matthew will take the lead on another project. A lot of people come out wanting to get experience in front of or behind the camera, and it’s always a great time.”

The Emmy statuette is awarded for outstanding achievement in television by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The San Francisco Chapter, which includes Northern California, Hawaii and Reno, is one of 20 chapters awarding regional Emmy awards.