By: Stephanie Reynard

Two PLNU student projects won awards at the Intercollegiate-National Religious Broadcasters (I-NRB) convention in Dallas, Texas, February, 2006. The I-NRB video/film competition includes student television and film projects from Christian schools throughout America.

The short film Rita, created by Jared Callahan, Joel McGinty, Adam Miller, Brad Kester, and Bekah Macias received 2nd Place in the Field Production category.

Also, the half-hour game show, You Got Schooled, won 3rd Place in the Studio Production category. This program was produced in the TV Workshop course that is offered every semester. PLNU’s television station’s entire staff (CCTV-3) was involved in the production of the show that aired on the campus’s closed-circuit cable system.

More Film Festival Showings for Isle Nevis

The popular pirate short, Isle Nevis (2004), was accepted as an official selection for the 2006 Independent Film Fest, and the 2005 San Diego Film Fest. In addition to being selected, Isle Nevis received 2nd place in the Drama Category at BestFest in San Diego, California, July, 2005.

Four PLNU Student Film & TV Projects Garner National Awards

A dramatic film, a comedy, and two commercials won awards at the 2006 BesfFest Student Film Festival in August, 2006.

Stained Glass, a five minute film, won 3rd Place in the 48 Hours of Madness competition
category. The production team included media comm majors Steve Vredenburgh and Wes Phillips, along with PLNU students Blake Nelson, Mishoe Parfet, and Erick Schroder. The film was a mystery story with an interesting twist at the end…a briefcase, a gunsight, and a madman converge at a church.

Wintercollar, a ten-minute film, tied for 1st Place in the Comedy category. It was produced and directed by Brad Kester, and was produced as a group project in the spring, 2006, field production class. The film is a dark comedy about a man with a watermelon head trying to fit in to society.

The two award-winning commercials were “Wash Your Hands,” (1st place) produced by Jordan Sharpe, a commercial about the dangers of not washing your hands, and “The Best Medicine,” (2nd place) produced by Franci Nakamura, Colin Robertson, and Owen Clemmons was a humorous portrayal of the health benefits of laughter. These projects were produced by the department’s television station for airing on PLNU’s Channel-3 closed-circuit cable channel.

Two other PLNU films were selected as finalists in the drama and comedy categories for BestFest. These included Fraternity, a 12 minute drama about death in a family and how the family handles it. It won Honorable Mention in the drama category, and was written by Adam Miller, produced by Heather Adams, with DP work by Trevor Forssell, and Art Direction by Tyler Humphrey. The film was a group project produced in the Spring, 2006, field production class.

Fraternity was also recently selected to be included in the upcoming San Diego Film Festival in October, 2006.

Another PLNU student film selected as a finalist (but didn’t place) in BesfFest 2006 was Blake Nelson’s The Fourth Door, a surreal comedy/drama about a young college student who finally decides who he is and what he should be.

Meanwhile, two recent PLNU grads, Lowell Frank and Destin Cretton, won 1st Place in the Drama category (and “Best of the Fest”) with their seven minute film, Bartholomew’s Song, the story about how music enters the life of a factory worker and upends his dull and uncaring world. The project was a part of their master’s degree work at San Diego State University.

The BestFest Student Film Festival includes student films and television projects from dozens of A.A., B.A., and master’s degree programs from colleges and universities across the country.