TV Academy Student Winners Announced

Students from Savannah College of Art & Design and CalArts took first place in the animation categories of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation�s 27th Annual College Television Award. The winners were announced March 19, 2006, at a gala ceremony at the Culver Studios in Culver City, California. Along with the second and third place winners, these talented students, and the winners in the live-action categories, will have their work showcased March 20, at 7:30 pm at the annual College Television Awards Festival at the Television Academy, which is open to the public.

The black-tie Awards Gala was emceed by Melissa Rivers, host of TV Guide Channel's event programming. The College Television Awards winners were flown in, courtesy of the Television Academy Foundation, from across the country to accept their awards and mingle with industry leaders at the invitation-only ceremony. The winning films will also be broadcast, for the first time ever, on MTVU.

The first award of the night, Animation (Non-Traditional), was presented by THE CHIPMUNKS producers Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman to Josh Burton of Savannah College for THE POTTER, a beautifully lit piece, without dialogue, in which an ancient creature who gives life to clay tries to pass on his talents to an apprentice.

Second place went to Kammy Leach and Jeff Whipple of Brigham Young University for NOGGIN, an entertaining piece with imaginative character designs featuring a clan with faces below their shoulders and their humorous attempts to get one with a head and face above his shoulders to fit, which they animated in Maya and Rederman.

Thomas A. Leavitt, also of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, won third place for his TURTLES. He and the other third place winners were all presented on stage together, instead of coming up individually to accept their awards.

Pamela S. Adlon (the voice of Bobby Hill on KING OF THE HILL) and Cheryl Chase (voice of Angelica Pickles on RUGRATS), presented first place in Traditional Animation to Courtland Lomax of Cal Arts for his hilarious rough sketch, black-and-white film about a lonely gentleman who adopts a cat as a companion who ungraciously turns his world upside down.

Second place went to Josha Beveridge from Ringling School of Art & Design for his anything but traditional THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT. The concept had started out originally as a traditional piece but, someway through, became a 3D animation. Great character design, story, pacing and movement kept made the judges overcome their impulse to disqualify it from the traditional category.

Coming in third place was PIZZACATO, by Jeff Mednikow from School of Visual Arts in New York City. He film features a lowly pizza chef who aspires to be a famous opera singer.

The College Television Awards recognize excellence in undergraduate and graduate student film/video productions in nine categories: children�s programs, comedy, documentary, drama, magazine shows, music, newscasts, non-traditional animation and traditional animation. Blue ribbon panels judged all entries and all judging took place at the Television Academy headquarters in North Hollywood.

First place winners were awarded $2,000, second place $1,000 and third place $500 in all categories. First and second place winners also received the Eastman Product Grant sponsored by the Kodak Worldwide Student Program in cooperation with the Television Academy, which provides first place winners with $2,000 of film stock and second place winners with $1,000 of film stock.

The winning entries will be screened at the College Television Awards Festival hosted by Ted Chen, co-anchor of the weekend edition of TODAY IN LA and general assignment reporter for KNBC�s CHANNEL 4 NEWS. The festival will take place at the Television Academy�s Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre and is open to the public. For more information, please call the festival hotline at (818) 754-2838.