Huntington University Wins Big at BEA Film Festival
Huntington University, including students and faculty from the Huntington University Arizona Center for Digital Media Arts (HUAZ) location, earned enough honors and awards at the 2018 Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts to tie for second in overall awards. Huntington University was competing against hundreds of other universities, including some of the largest schools in the country.
“This is the first year that both Huntington University and the HU Arizona Center for Digital Media Arts competed and took top honors at the BEA awards,” stated Dr. Lance Clark, Associate Dean of the Arts at Huntington University. “This further demonstrates our collaborative passion for great storytelling along with the very best craft in film, broadcasting and animation. For example, one of our films called 'Redshift' took 1st place in the college narrative film category competing against universities 20x larger. To me this singlehandedly confirms the value of a private, faith-based liberal arts education where careful attention to story and craft is fully explored and developed.”
The Broadcast Educators Association Festival of Media Arts is a competitive festival open to BEA individual faculty and student members. The competition ranges from dramatic narratives through non-fiction documentary and news to the frontiers of interactive multimedia. The top five awarded universities included: #1 University of Oklahoma (14 awards), #2 Huntington University (13 awards) & University of North Texas (13 awards), #3 Arizona State University (11 awards), #4 Missouri State University (10 awards), and #5 University of North Carolina (8 awards).
“We focus on serving the campus and community through storytelling in our digital media arts programs,” said Adam Widener, Visiting Instructor of Digital Media Arts/Broadcast Media at Huntington University. “It’s encouraging to see the BEA recognize some service-oriented student projects. We’re proud of the heart behind all the student projects receiving awards this year.”
This year also was significant for Huntington University’s animation program. In the Animation/Experimental/Mixed division, HU and HUAZ students earned 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place honors, as well as an Award of Excellence.
“We were hoping our students would do well again at the BEA awards, but taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, as well as an Award of Excellence, was an amazing affirmation of what we are doing in our program,” stated Bryan Ballinger, professor of Digital Media Arts at Huntington University. “We are very proud of our students.”
Huntington University took home the following honors and awards:
- Award of Excellence: Payton Dorothy & Andrew James, Huntington University; The Weekend | Narrative/Live: Narrative Category
- 1st Place: Abbey Frisco, Huntington University; Immeasurable Worship | Promotional/Educational/Non-Narrative
- 1st Place: Nikki Hines & Rebecca Strong, Huntington University; Dandelions | Animation/Experimental/Mixed
- 2nd Place: Huntington University 2016 Junior Animation Class, Huntington University; Literary Themes | Animation/Experimental/Mixed
- 3rd Place: Karli Melder, Huntington University; Do You Hear the Frogs? | Animation/Experimental/Mixed
- Award of Excellence: Caitlyn Chase, Staci Vandernaald, Nate Walker & David Weimer, Huntington University; Racial Identity PSA | Animation/Experimental/Mixed
- Award of Excellence: Sarah Wickenhauser, Huntington University; My Journey Thus Far | Animation/Experimental/Mixed
- 1st Place (tie): Ben Crane, Zachary J. McIntyre, Joel Livengood, Huntington University; Redshift | Narrative Category
- 1st Place: Abbey Frisco, Rachel Hart, Joel Livengood & Jonathon Kane, Huntington University; 2017 DMA Sizzle Reel | Promotional Category
- Award of Excellence: Andrew Bower, Huntington University; Heroin in Huntington | Radio Hard News Reporting
- Award of Excellence: Philip Wilson & Eric Luce, Huntington University Arizona; The Amazing Mortimer | Mixed / Pedagogical (Teacher/Student Co-Production)
- Award of Excellence: Phil Wilson, Huntington University Arizona; The St. Francis Project Intro \ Mixed / Pedagogical (Teacher/Student Co-Production)
- Award of Excellence: Lisette Perez & Joseph McNichols, Huntington University Arizona; P83 | Spots Category
Full list of BEA Festival of Media Arts awards.
