National Competition Recognizes Taylor Film Storytellers with 11 Awards

Student filmmakers at Taylor University have earned 11 awards, including two first-place awards, one second-place award, and two third-place awards, as well as six “Awards of Excellence” from the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) for their film projects.  

The awards came from BEA’s annual Festival of Media Arts, a program that draws entries from 300 member schools across the United States.

Director of Kids Who Dance, Kenzie Miner said, “We were very excited to hear about the win! It meant so much to our team that our work was recognized by others and more importantly that they found these kids’ stories to be inspiring and important!”

Carolyne Paschal, director of the winning narrative film said So Tender a Flame is “the result of so much commitment, care, and sacrifice. I’m forever grateful for such a dedicated team. It’s amazing to see their hard work pay off!”

The award winners include:

Micro Narrative Category 

• Award of Excellence: Blanked; Owen Gluck, Gabriel Mott, Adeline Heuser, Ben Reitz & Trent Austin
• Award of Excellence: The Barista; Jaden Mason, Anna Porter & Audrey Moore

Short Narrative Category

• 1st Place (tie with Baylor Univ): So Tender A Flame; Carolyne Paschal, Elise Masters, Joel Rodgers, Isaac Maas & Jameson Chesser

Short-Form Documentary

• 1st Place: Kids Who Dance; Hannah McLaughlin, Kenzie Miner, Jessica Veith, & Jackie Hicks
• 2nd Place: Freehand; Ethan Occhipinti, Anna Porter, Wesley Kersey & Nathan Tompkins
• Award of Excellence: Flick: A Fingerboarding Story; Kari Ueland, Graham Abney, Cooper Murphy & John Horn

Music Video

• 3rd Place: Alone; Kylee Kinsman, Lucy Jarvis, Owen Gluck & Adeline Heuser

Spots (commercials) Category 

• Award of Excellence: Taylor Film and Media Arts: Inspired to Shoot; Madelin Crawford, John Horn, Annie Troyer, & Jaden Mason

Narrative Audio

• Award of Excellence: Free Fall: Episode 1; Gabriel Mott, Annie Meldrum & Kali Siemers
• Award of Excellence: WTUR Interview with The Figs; Jaden Mason, Ben Reitz & Caleb Heffron

Mini Narrative Category 

• 3rd Place (tie): Long Play; Raena Rogers, Luke Holdom, Josiah Seeman & Kylee Kinsman

Taylor’s Film & Media Arts program prepares future storytellers for work in film, television and video production. The program gives students hands-on filmmaking experiences using state-of-the-art technology and has earned over 1,250 external awards and recognitions at regional and national levels.