The Television Academy Foundation announced the winners of its 37th College Television Awards last night at the Los Angeles Skirball Cultural Center. Television stars and industry leaders attended the ceremony to support and recognize the nation's outstanding student television producers and content creators. The awards, which mirror the Emmys selection process, were judged by active Television Academy members and reflect industry standards of quality, imagination and innovation across categories including comedy, drama, documentary and unscripted series.
Watch the replay of the event here.
This year saw the most entries since the College Television Awards' inception more than 30 years ago. The winning pieces echo recent strides television has made in addressing difficult topics and breaking down racial, social and cultural barriers, by exploring a wide range of themes including overcoming disability, government oppression, feminism, racial profiling and gun violence.
"This year's awards provided a platform to the most diverse set of voices yet, recognizing students who not only produced excellent work, but dared to take on topics that represent their life experiences. The Television Academy Foundation's mission is to provide industry access and set these students on a career path of unlimited possibilities," said Norma Provencio Pichardo, Executive Director of the Television Academy Foundation. "We are excited to welcome these visionaries into the Television Academy Foundation family and look forward to opening up opportunities for television's future."
More than 70 student nominees attended the annual gala where first, second and third place winners were announced. Awards were presented by top television stars including One Life to Live's Corbin Bleu, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom, American Horror Story's Matt Bomer, Deadbeat's Cat Deeley, Rush Hour's Aimee Garcia, Grey's Anatomy's Jason George, Arrow's Colton Haynes, Hollywood Game Night's Jane Lynch, Underground's Chris Meloni, Breaking Bad's RJ Mitte, The Mindy Project's Adam Pally, Once Upon a Time's Lana Parrilla, The Grinder's Fred Savage, Status Update producer Adam Shankman, Billions' Maggie Siff and Scandal's Bellamy Young.
The College Television Awards honored work in 13 categories. This year's first place winners in each category were:
Animation: "Taking The Plunge," Thaddaeus Andreades, Elizabeth Ku-Herrero, Nicholas Manfredi, Marie Raoult, School of Visual Arts
Children's Program: "Isa and the Frog Prince," Erica Chan, Florida State University
Comedy: "Terrance," Justin Garcia, Raquel M. Sangalang, Regent University
Commercial: "Bacardi, The Original Mojito," Ahad Mahmood, Graham Raubvogel, New York University
Documentary: "Filthy Dreamers," Kristina League, Derek Loucks, University of Central Florida
Directing: "Frontman," Matthew Gentile, American Film Institute
Drama: "Straw Dolls," Jon Milano, Christopher Naughton, Chapman University
Music Composition: "Papá," Jordan Kamalu, Brigham Young University
Magazine: "30 Minutes Elon" Season Five Episode One, Ryan Kathleen Greene, Elon University
Newscast: "Centre County Report: November 20, 2015," Taylor Bisacky, Gabrielle Chappel, Ryan McManus, Pennsylvania State University
Series-Scripted: "Playhouse of Cards," Anthony Abaci, Chapman University
Series-Unscripted: "Hold That Thought," Jenna Harner, Mike Kaminskas, Jonah Restuccio, Amy Stiefel, Ithaca College
Variety: "Deaf Code," Chase Chambers, University of Tulsa
Several other special awards were presented:
The Bricker Humanitarian Award, a $4,000 cash award given to a College Television Award winner whose work best highlights a humanitarian concern. Jon Milano and Christopher Naughton from Chapman University won for "Straw Dolls." This award was created two decades ago by the family of Attorney Seymour Bricker in honor of his commitment to philanthropy.
The Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Scholarship presented $10,000 to Missy Hauser and Skyler Stearns of Chapman University for their work titled "Guide." The award celebrates student storytellers whose work sheds light on people with disabilities.
The Mister Rogers Memorial Scholarship presented $10,000 funded by EY, a global leader in professional services to media and entertainment companies, to Sylvia Rusnak of Georgetown University. The scholarship is presented to graduate students pursuing careers in children's media and developing the defining values of Fred Rogers' work.
In addition to the red carpet awards ceremony, winners took part in the College Television Awards Nominee Summit, a day-long seminar hosted by the Television Academy Foundation to provide students an opportunity to learn from and network with top industry executives. This year's summit introduced students to notable professionals including Bruce Rosenblum, Chairman and CEO of the Television Academy, Narcos Showrunner and Executive Producer, Chris Broncato, Creator and Executive Producer Jessica Goldberg of The Path, and Co-Creators and Executive Producers Bradley Bredeweg and Peter Paige of The Fosters who joined students for panels, round table discussions and one-on-one mentoring.
The 37th College Television Awards was sponsored by PEOPLE, HBO, Samsung Global Innovation Center, The Princeton Review, RSM US LLP, and FilmLA Inc., with product donations from Freeform, Chromecast and Tieks by Gavrieli. Flights were provided by United Airlines for non-Los Angeles based students to attend the Summit and Awards, and the media sponsor for the competition was mtvU.
Scholarship underwriters include the Loreen Arbus Foundation and EY.
Additional details on the awards and winners can be found at TelevisionAcademy.com/Foundation.
