This year’s College Television Awards competition featured 395 submissions from 138 colleges and universities representing 35 states.
Students entering the contest submit their work for recognition in one of nine categories: drama, comedy, music, documentary, magazine shows, newscasts, children’s programming, traditional animation and nontraditional animation. The judging is done by members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences who specialize in those areas.
In addition to cash, winners get an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles for the awards gala. Presenters this year include “The O.C.” star Rachel Bilson, “24” star Penny Johnson Jerald and NBA legend James Worthy.
Winners in each category receive $2,000; second place, $1,000 and third place, $500. Kodak matches the pot with grants of $2,000 and $1,000 for first and second place, respectively. In addition, a first- or second-place honoree whose work best represents a subject of humanitarian concern receives $4,000 in the name of The Bricker Family College Award. First- and second-place honorees in each category are invited to the Cannes International Film Festival in May.
“I’ve seen it build over the years,” said TV Academy Foundation Chairman Tom Sarnoff. “Most importantly, more colleges and universities participate. The most important thing to me is that we have been able to, over the years, spread out over the country and have many more entries and have many more people on our side judging these entries. We must be doing something right.”
“What I’ve noticed in the last two or three years is that students are really going far afield to do their work,” said Price Hicks, director of educational programs and services for the academy. “We are seeing videos from all over the world. I think there is a greater sense of social concern than I’ve ever seen before.”