Max Wallace ’26, Brendan Antrosiglio ’23, and a student group in the Interactive Media graduate program all earned second-place awards in the Broadcast Education Association’s 2024 Festival of Media Arts.
School of Communications students collected a total of nine awards in the Broadcast Education Association’s 2024 Festival of Media Arts, with Max Wallace ’26 leading the way with two awards.
The journalism major headlined Elon’s haul of awards with a second-place finish for his segment on Phoenix baseball player Kenny Mallory Jr. ’25 in the festival’s Video Story/Feature (short) category. Wallace also earned an Award of Excellence in the Audio/Video Sports Event: Play by Play Talent category.
In total, the BEA digital media and broadcast competition received more than 1,885 entries, representing 300 colleges and universities. While a top prize eluded the Elon entries, Brendan Antrosiglio ’23 matched Wallace, earning a second-place finish for his “All In Her Mind & A Year Went By” submission in the Music Video category. A full list of Elon student winners can be found below.
“We can all be proud of our students’ success in this annual competition as each year the entries increase, and the competition stiffens between a truly impressive list of universities and academic programs,” said Vic Costello, associate professor of cinema and television arts, and former BEA president.
A regular contributor to Elon Sports Vision, Elon News Network and WSOE, Wallace is a consistent presence behind the microphone at university athletic events. The sophomore said he enjoyed highlighting Mallory’s successful summer playing for the Burlington Sock Puppets, where he earned an all-star game invitation, as well as the Appalachian League’s Humanitarian of the Year award – the focus of the feature.
The segment, which runs two minutes and 30 seconds, first aired during halftime of an Elon football game on FloSports and WMYV My48. It was later rebroadcast on Elon Sports Vision’s “Inside the Nest” program.
“Baseball has always been my favorite sport since I was a kid,” Wallace said. “When the news about Kenny broke, it was like the best of both worlds because I got to cover a sport that I love, and such a great moment for a great guy.”
Wallace credited Claire Geary, Elon Sports Vision’s coordinating producer, for her encouragement and support to share Mallory’s story. “We talked about the idea, and she gave me the green light from the jump,” he said.
He also thanked Khirey Walker, assistant professor of sport management, for providing insightful comments about Mallory during an on-camera interview that illustrated the star athlete’s talent, personality and demeanor.
As for other BEA award winners, members of the Interactive Media graduate program’s 2023 cohort earned a second-place finish in the contest’s Graduate Interactive Media & Emerging Technologies Competition.
During their Interactive Project for the Public Good course, the students traveled in January 2023 to the Dominican Republic. While in Puerto Plata, the students worked closely with Dove Youth Development (DYD), a nonprofit organization that supports youth initiatives in the Caribbean country, to overhaul DYD’s online presence. The students conducted video interviews, captured photography, and created a robust website, www.doveyouthdevelopment.org.
Following an award-winning showing in the 2023 On-Location Student Creative Competition, Liam Dupas ’26, Aaron Chan ’26 and Julien Dupas ’26 captured an Award of Excellence in the Video Story/Feature (short) category for their two-minute documentary, “The Inspirational Story of Finn Curran-Ng’asi.”
Elon’s 2024 BEA Festival of Media Arts Winners
Student Audio Competition: PSA, Promo, or Commercial Category
Award of Excellence: Elon Docs Promotional spot; Merrie Byers
Student Film & Video Competition: Animation/Experimental/Mixed Category
3rd Place (tie): Extended Realities; Isaac Kunesh, Leah Schultz, Mel Jones & Jerry Kunesh
Student Film & Video Competition: Music Video Category
2nd Place: All In Her Mind & A Year Went By; Brendan Antrosiglio
Student Film & Video Competition: Narrative Category
Award of Excellence: The Pictured Man; Brandon Talton, Trey Mead, Michael Brown & Jacob Meyers
Award of Excellence: The Brink; Ridley Randolph, Kevin Siczek, Alex Chadwick & Kendall Saulsby
Student Sports Competition: Audio/Video Sports Event: Play by Play Talent
Award of Excellence: Max Wallace Play-by-Play; Max Wallace
Student Sports Competition: Video Story/Feature (short) Category
2nd place: Kenny Mallory Jr. Feature; Max Wallace
Award of Excellence: The Inspirational Story of Finn Curren-Ng’asi; Liam Dupas, Aaron Chan & Julien Dupas
Graduate Interactive Media & Emerging Technologies Competition
2nd place: Dove Youth Development; Shaina Catchings, Sequoia Nichols, Courtney Simmons & Michaela Zeno