Students Win Top Honors at National Competition

The Intercollegiate National Religious Broadcasters (iNRB) has recognized seven Huntington University students with awards for outstanding examples of radio, TV and film production with one team taking the “Film Award of Excellence.”

The students, all from HU’s Digital Media Arts Department, received the honors at the iNRB Student Production Awards Ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday.

Juniors and film production majors Cassie Kasicki of Rockford, Illinois, and Eric Luce of Salina, Kansas, won first place in the documentary film category for their entry titled “XO: What Defines You?” Their project also received the “Film Award of Excellence” within all the film categories.

Junior Eric Luce and senior Brianna Santiago, a broadcast-fusion media major from Goshen, Indiana, won first place in the TV/video: student production category for their “FDN News” entry.

“I was very excited to learn that both of the submissions I entered won first place in their category,” Luce said. “‘XO’ [the documentary] was a full semester’s worth of work, and FDN News has been an ongoing process that I’ve been involved with ever since I came to HU. It was very encouraging to have them recognized because it justifies all of the late nights that it took to put them together.”

Seniors and film production majors Rachel Larson of Lakeville, Minnesota; Luke Myers of Franklinville, New York; and Ethan Burch of Bloomington, Indiana, won first place in the film: short film category for their entry titled “Infamy.”

“I’m incredibly thankful that ‘Infamy’ is being recognized for all of the hard work that was put into it by HU students,” Burch said. “It was one of my favorite projects to work on in my four years here, and I feel truly blessed that it is leaving an impact on the audience in one way or another.” 

Senior Carissa Taylor, a film production major from Angola, Indiana, won second place in the TV/video: web production category for her entry titled “Thankful.”

“I am so proud of our students and how much work they put into their projects,” said Dr. Lance Clark, department chair and professor of digital media arts, film and communications. “Broadcast-fusion media students have stepped up their game with FDN News, and our Film Production student film ‘Infamy’ is a great, heartfelt story about forgiveness and moving on set in the post-World War II era. It shows an excellence in our digital media arts program and that our students can compete and win at the national level in film production and broadcast news.”

First-place winners in each category were awarded $150 in prize money to be divided among team members plus the opportunity to attend the 2015 NRB International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to prize money, all first-place winners received a trophy and a certificate along with $300, divided among team members, to cover transportation costs to the convention. Second and third-place winners and their schools received a certificate.

Twelve students traveled to the NRB convention this year along with Dr. Lance Clark and Dawn Ford, associate professor of digital media arts. All of the students competed in an onsite 24-hour media contest in film, TV news and public relations. Participants included the following:

• Film team: Ethan Burch, Cassie Kasicki and sophomore Emerald Leong, a film production and film studies major from Honolulu, Hawaii
• TV news team: freshman Abby Frisco, a film production major from Enola, Pennsylvania; junior Kelsey Kruse, a broadcast-fusion media major from Auburn, Indiana; and Eric Luce
• Public relations team: junior Jacob Cross, a broadcast-fusion media major from Jackson, Michigan; freshman Logan Hunt, a broadcast-fusion media major from Indianapolis, Indiana; senior Victor McCarty, a broadcast-fusion media major from Westfield, Indiana; and junior Justin White, a broadcast-fusion media major from Clymer, New York

The Intercollegiate National Religious Broadcasters organization is committed to promoting excellence, integrity and networking opportunities in media. The organization seeks to provide a forum where members can network together to share ideas and goals. 

For more information about HU’s Digital Media Arts Department, log on to www.huntington.edu/digital-media. The department’s next visit day is Thursday, March 5, and personalized campus visits also are available.