BYU students continue to shine at the College Television Awards.
The Television Academy announced the winners of the 43rd College Television Awards or “Student Emmys” last week and BYU students claimed the top spot in the best animation series and the best commercial.
Best Animation
This year’s animated short story was The Witch’s Cat, a heartwarming tale of a witch’s feline that grows jealous of the attention the witch is giving to her new boyfriend. The cat’s attempts to thwart the relationship leaves viewers laughing while anxiously waiting to see what happens next. The film was directed by BYU animation student Abby Staker and produced by Jessica Fink Blaine.
“The theme of ‘The Witch’s Cat’ is really about love,” said Staker. “I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, I love the true principles that it teaches me. A couple of those principles that are in ‘The Witch’s Cat’ are love and change and forgiveness.”
Bringing the film to life is a herculean task that required effort from dozens of BYU students – skills from animation, design, commercial music and computer science played important roles.
This is the 20th time since 2003 that a BYU animation film has been featured at the Student Emmys.
Best Commercial
BYU AdLab students also claimed the top spot in the “Best Commercial” category. In fact, BYU AdLab swept all three nominations in the commercial category.
This year’s winning commercial was No One is Alone, directed by Remington Butler and produced by Alex Mcbride and Tanner Jackson. The commercial depicts a touching story of a loving family and the impact of Alzheimer’s disease.
This is the AdLab’s fifth straight win in the Student Emmys for Commercials.
Other BYU commercials that received nominations include:
Maximum Immersion, directed by Remington Butler with Eli Wright, Alex Mcbride, and Lucy Nielson as producers, and We Don’t Judge, We Drive, directed by Remington Butler, written by Carter Halvorsen and Jeremy Holbrook and produced by Gwynie Bahr and Tanner Jackson.
