About Dai
Dai Sugano is an Emmy Award-winning photojournalist and senior multimedia editor at The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.), where he covers a wide range of assignments, produces videos and covers in-depth projects. His work has included “Drugging Our Kids,” a 40-minute investigative documentary on the use of psychotropic drugs on California’s foster children; “Torn Apart,” a documentary on a Bay Area family divided by immigration enforcement; and “Uprooted,” a documentary about the displacement of mobile home residents. He has also covered economic inequality in China, poverty in India and the struggles of Hmong refugees starting their lives anew in America.
His work has earned a national News and Documentary Emmy Award (2008), two National Edward R. Murrow Awards (2014, 2015) and a Judge’s Special Recognition for Documentary Project of the Year from POYi (2015). He has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography (2004, Team Entry) and has been recognized by various journalism organizations including Editor & Publisher, Best of the West, SND and the National Press Photographers Association.
In this ever-changing newspaper industry, Sugano is a visual advocate and coach, pushing the organization to experiment with new ideas, including After Effects animation, live streaming and finding better ways to engage audiences.
Softwares he uses: Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro X, Audition, Wirecast, Garageband, CCS (enough to customize blogs), Photoshop, Lightroom.
AWARDS
2015 National Edward R. Murrow Award: News Documentary Video for “Drugging Our Kids”
2014 National Edward R. Murrow Award: Use of Video for “Magic in Motion”
2011 National Emmy Award- Nominated for New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Documentary: TORN APART
2008 National Emmy Award- Winner - New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Documentary: UPROOTED
2008 National Emmy Award- Nominated for New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Regional News Coverage: INTO THE 25TH HOUR
2015 National Headliners Awards - News Series (circ. over 100,000) “Drugging Our Kids”
2012 PDN Photo Annual - winner - Video category for "Capitalism meets Communism"
2011 PDN Photo Annual - winner - Video category for "TORN APART"
2004 The Pulitzer Prize - Finalist, Feature Photography for the coverage of the 2003 California recall. (Team Entry)
2019 EPpy Award - Winner: Best Photojournalism on a Website for “Last Refuge”
2009 EPpy Award - Winner: Best Use of Video (Team Entry)
2013 Best of the West - First place Multimedia Storytelling for “Cost of Dying” multimedia series
2009 Best of the West - First place Video Storytelling/Third place Video Storytelling for “LEFT BEHIND” and “The Chance to Break Free”
2009 DAYS JAPAN International Photojournalism Contest- Public Prize for “LEFT BEHIND”
2015 National Press Photographers Association - First place Documentary Multimedia Package “Drugging Our Kids”
2013 National Press Photographers Association - Third place Documentary Multimedia Story ‘Gayla’s Goodbye’
2011 National Press Photographers Association - Third place Documentary Video ‘TORN APART’
2009 National Press Photographers Association - First place Documentary Video “LEFT BEHIND”
2008 National Press Photographers Association - Second place In-Depth Web “Uprooted”
2007 National Press Photographers Association - First place Best Use of the Web 2007 (Team Entry)
2006 National Press Photographers Association - Third place Best News Picture Story (Smaller Affiliated Sites) (Team Entry)
2006 National Press Photographers Association - First place Best Sports Picture Story (Smaller Affiliated Sites) (Team Entry)
2004 National Press Photographers Association - First place General News
2004 National Press Photographers Association - Third place Domestic News Picture Story
72nd Picture of the Year International - Documentary Project of the Year, Judge’s Special Recognition: “Drugging Our Kids”
69th Picture of the Year International - Award of Excellence, News Multimedia Story
65th Picture of the Year International - Third place Multimedia Division, Best News Story
64th Picture of the Year International - Second place Best Use Interactive Publication/Major Media (Team Entry)
63th Picture of the Year International - Third place Editing Division / Interactive Publication/Major Media (Team Entry)
59th Picture of the Year International - Gold Medal, College Photographer of the Year 2001 (CPOY)
SPEAKER / LECTURE
75th Pictures of the Year International
Visual Editing Division judge Feb. 2018
Society for News Design conference
Workshop speaker: "Chasing Video" April, 2016, SF, CA
Asian American Journalist Association (AAJA)
Workshop speaker: "Web-Docs Deconstructed" August, 2015, SF, CA
Open Show
Guest Speaker on "Drugging Our Kids" April, 2015 SF, CA
National Press Photographers Association (NPPA)
Guest Speaker / Lecture : Northern Short Course, March 2013 Elizabeth, NJ.
UNITY 12 Journalism Convention
Lecture: UNITY 12 Journalism Convention. August, 2012 Las Vegas, NV.
San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association
Lecture: 2011 SFBAPPA Digital Media Workshop. Dec. 2011 San Jose, CA.
Western Kentucky University
Guest Speaker: Sixth annual Gaines Lecture Series. April 2010. Bowling Green, KY
San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association
Lecture: 2009 SFBAPPA Digital Media Workshop. Dec. 2009 San Jose, CA.
GeekFest photo festival
Guest Speaker: Sept. 2009 St. Petersburg, Fl.
San Jose State University
Convocation Speaker: Graduate ceremony for The School of Journalism and Mass Communication. May 21, 2009. San Jose, CA
San Jose State University
Guest Speaker: Visual Day. May 2009. San Jose, CA
IPPA/WNPA (Illinois/Wisconsin press photographer association)
Guest Speaker: Annual Press Photographers’ convention. April 2009. Madison, WI
Stanford University
Lecture: Multimedia workshop. Jan - March, 2009. Stanford, CA
ASMP Multimedia Special Interest Group
Guest Speaker: 2008. Oct. 2008, San Francisco, CA
UNITY 08 Journalism Convention
Lecture: Multimedia Storytelling Workshop. July 2008, Chicago, IL
Nebraska News Photographers Association
Guest Speaker: 2008 John Savage Seminar. April 2008, Omaha, NE
Brooks Institute of Photography
Guest Speaker: Brooks Institute of Photography National Press Photographers Association student chapter. Jan 2008, Ventura, CA
Asian American Journalist Association
Lecture / Guest Speaker: 2007 Asian American Journalist Association Convention. Aug 2007 Miami, MI.
National Association of Black Journalists
Lecture / Guest Speaker: 2007 National Association of Black Journalists Convention. Aug 2007 Las Vegas, NV.
Asian American Journalist Association
Lecture / Guest Speaker: 2006 Asian American Journalist Association Convention. June 2006 Honolulu, Hawaii.
San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association
Lecture / Guest Speaker: 2006 SFBAPPA Digital Media Workshop. Dec 2006 San Francisco, CA.
San Francisco Exposure Gallery
Guest Speaker: San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association Photo Night. Oct 2006, San Francisco, CA.
San Jose State University
Guest Speaker: San Jose State University National Press Photographers Association student chapter. April 2006, San Jose, CA.
San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association
Lecture / Guest Speaker: 2005 SFBAPPA Digital Media Workshop. Dec 2005 San Francisco, CA.
National Press Photographers Association
Lecture / Guest Speaker: 2005 Annual Flying Short Course. October 2005 Eugene, OR.
Brooks Institute of Photography
Guest Speaker: Brooks Institute of Photography National Press Photographers Association student chapter. Jan 2004, Ventura, CA