The future of the small screen is in good hands. Recognizing excellence in student work, the Television Academy Foundation announced this year’s nominees for the 38th College Television Awards.
A nationwide competition highlighting TV writers, directors, producers, and content creators, the CTAs are colloquially known as the Student Emmys. The 2017 nominees—film artists from the American Film Institute, NYU, UCLA, Chapman University, and more—will attend a two-day professional development summit before the May 24 awards ceremony in Los Angeles. All have also been accepted as alumni in the Television Academy Foundation, the charitable arm of the Academy.
“Our goal with the CTAs is to honor the exceptional work of these diverse students and leverage our platform to spotlight the next generation of creators and executives in the television industry,” said Madeline Di Nonno, chair of the Television Academy Foundation, in a statement. “We congratulate our nominees on their outstanding achievements and look forward to their continued successes.”
Two special awards were announced, to be presented at the ceremony. The Mister Rogers Memorial Scholarship competition, created to extend the legacy of Fred Rogers, recognizes work on projects in children’s programming. The Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Award is given to a student piece tackling disability issues. Estefania de la Chica and Kevin Wong, and Ying Lu’s “Slow Angels,” respectively, will take home the inaugural awards.
Among the nominees are several projects that sought talent through Backstage casting notices: “Snowplow,” “Lockdown,” and “Trying to Fuck: A Modern Day Romance” were each honored in writing categories. Could the next CTA-nominated hit be waiting for you in one of the hundreds of notices updated daily?
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For a full list of Student Emmy nominees, visit emmys.com. Don’t forget to tune in May 24 to the CTA ceremony, to be live-streamed from the Wolf Theatre at the Saban Media Center in Los Angeles, California.
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