University of North Texas Media Arts students and faculty have earned a dozen awards from prominent organizations including the Broadcast Education Association (BEA), Lone Star Emmy's and Telly Awards. Categories ranged from audio, to video, to multimedia.

BEA Festival of Media Arts

Students and faculty won a total of six awards and six honorable mentions at the BEA's 2016 Festival of Media Arts.

"This week we received news that our department tied in the nation for the highest number of festival awards with 12," said Eugene Martin, Media Arts chair. "This international competition had over 1,500 entries this year, so this accomplishment really places us on the map as a nationally ranked program."

The festival includes faculty and student competitions in the categories of audio, documentary, interactive multimedia, video, scriptwriting, and news. The BEA is considered the premiere international academic media organization and uses the Festival of Media Arts to inspire excellence in media production.

The list of student awards:

• Sports Competition - Radio/TV Sports Event, Play-by-Play Talent: First place to Evan Nemec and Zach Wolchuk for "Denton High v. Grapevine on KNTU"
• News Competition - Radio Newscast: Honorable Mention to Scott Sidway and Evan Nemec for "KNTU News-Sports-Weather-Traffic"
• Audio Competition - Educational Program: Third place to Michael B. Mullins for "Project Freeplay"
• Audio Competition - PSA, Promo, or Commercial: Honorable Mention to Scott Sidway "KNTU News" promo
• Scriptwriting Competition - Feature: Third place to Madeleine Dunaway for "The Curtain Call"
• Video Competition - Animation/Experimental/Mixed category: Third place to E'an Verdugo for "Static Frame"
• Documentary Competition - Short Form Video: Honorable Mention to Ron Lechler for "The Bottom Rung"
• Documentary Competition - Long Form Video: Honorable Mention to David Goodman for "Texas Paranormalists"

Media Arts undergraduate student Katherine Hancock won the coveted Abe Voron Scholarship sponsored by the BEA. She was awarded $5,000 for use toward a career in radio.

Eugene Martin, chair of Media Arts, took home top honors in the Faculty Video Competition. He earned the Award of Excellence in the Narrative Video category for his feature film "Marisol," which was recently screened at Denton's Thin Line Film Fest. Dr. Xiaoqun Zhang, Media Arts faculty, took home second place for his research paper in the Integrated Media Division.

Lone Star Emmy Student Production Awards

Students from ntTV earned four Lone Star Emmy Student Production Awards. The honors were for entertainment, information and news categories.

• Newscast: Blane Skiles, news director; Jessica Connally, assistant news director; and the crew of "ntTV Nightly News"
• Long Form - Fiction: Austin James, creator/producer; Caleb Davis, creator/producer; Madeleine Dunaway, producer; and Millicent Macena, producer for "Badge Tail"
• Long Form - Non-Fiction: Priscilla Presley, executive producer; Melody Asgari, producer; Andrew Wilson, producer; and Jaci Mask, producer for "North Texas Now Goes to Austin (Season 9)"
• Talent: Blane Skiles, anchor/reporter for his work on ntTV

Phyllis Slocum, Media Arts principal lecturer and manager of ntTV, says winning the awards is an honor.

"These students are the future of media in all its variety," Slocum said. "These awards recognize the continued excellence of North Texas Television and our students."

Over 13 years, ntTV has won a total of 29 student production awards from the Lone Star Emmy chapter.

Telly Awards

A bronze Telly Award was given to ntTv for "North Texas Now's" trip to Austin. The Telly Awards honor the finest film and video productions, commercials, videos and films. There were more than 12,000 submissions for this year's awards.

In late March 2016, ntTV will find out if they won the Mark of Excellence award from the Society for Professional Journalists.

"Winning and being named finalists for these awards is an honor for all of us because we emphasize teamwork and education but, more importantly, personal and professional growth," Slocum said.