PALMER TOWNSHIP, Pa. – This is the story of a proud papa.

Ashley Hartman, 22, is a VJ for CBS Mobile. She produces and stars in short news and feature clips broadcast to handheld cell phones and other electronic gadgets with video capability.

When her father, Kip Hartman, saw one of her productions, he said, “You’re good; you ought to win an award.”

But when Kip looked into mobile broadcast awards, “I found out there were none. So I decided to create one.

“There’s a ton of this mobile-only content out there, but nobody knows about it.”

He surrounded himself with a crew of like-minded enthusiasts – Ashley, Mike Accardi of Parsippany, N.J., who did the computer magic, Andrew Wentz of Bethlehem, a designer, and another daughter, Maria.

Kip is a veteran of the communications industry and works out of his basement.

After knocking their heads together for a while, they came up with a name for the award, a Web site and an award design – just like Oscar for movies, Emmy for TV and Grammy for music.

Enter the Wave Awards, taken from the name of their organization, the Academy of Wireless Arts, Video and Entertainment.

This isn’t some pipe dream. The academy already has the venue for a Jan. 15, 2008, awards show at the Landmark Theatre in Los Angeles.

“It will be a red-carpet event,” Kip said. “Many big names in this business will be there. We already have confirmations on some of them. Most will be mobile-industry types.”

Kip described the actual Wave Award itself as “beautiful.” It has a black granite base inscribed with the name and winner of each category. A series of clear optical crystal arches rise out of it – hence, the Wave Award.

“You won’t believe this thing,” Kip said, “The light will just shine out of it.”

Anyone can vote by logging onto the Web site, but joining the academy does have privileges. Voting is finished for this year; Kip is hoping the idea will catch on for the second Wave Awards.

“Justin Timberlake and Fergie have their own channels on Verizon,” he said.

The Waves also will pick a deserving person to receive the Pioneer Award. The first one goes to Gene Rodenberry, creator of the “Star Trek” TV series. His son, Gene Rodenberry Jr., is expected to accept for his father.

What’s it for?

Well, remember those communicators the actors used to call the Enterprise?

“They were the earliest flip phones,” Kip said.

Without them, Capt. James T. Kirk couldn’t convincingly call his spaceship and deliver that famous line, “Beam me up, Scotty.”

Kip Hartman’s interest in promoting an awards program for mobile-only content comes to him naturally. He’s the product of an unusual but delightful upbringing.

Kip came from a family of 20 kids who grew up in New Orleans, later moving to the TV and film capital of Los Angeles.

His mother, Darlene Hartman, was a writer on the first “Star Trek” shows. Often using the pen name Simon Lang, she contributed “The Changling” and “Shol” to “Star Trek” archives.

She later wrote for “The Fugitive” and “Combat.”

Kip’s daughter, Ashley, is a Mobile CBS V-J and the spark behind the Wave Awards. Out of his original six daughters, almost all of them are in show business of some sort. “My girls are all living their lives on the screen,” he said.

The Academy of Wireless Arts, Video and Entertainment has its mission statement posted on the Web site:

“The ultimate mission of the Academy is to employ recognition, education, marketing and leadership to promote the adoption, increase the usage and facilitate the growth of this media in the early stages of this dynamic new industry.”

DS END NAUROTH

(Tony Nauroth is a staff writer for the Express-Times of Easton, Pa. He can be contacted at tnauroth(at)express-times.com.)

2007-11-27-CONTENT-AWARDS

AP-NY-11-27-07 1403EST