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Radio TV Film students at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh continue to win national acclaim for their work, as evidenced by awards in several recent competitions.

College Broadcasters, Inc. honored UW Oshkosh productions as national finalists in three categories at their annual October convention in Minneapolis.

  • In the category for best video comedy, the Titan TV original series “Friends Without Benefits” was honored for an episode called “Living Well is the Best Revenge.” The series was created by Justine Braun, who also served as executive producer and director. Charlene Cocchiola and Adam Steinbach were producers and Luke Iverson was the editor.
  • In the category for best video general entertainment program, CBI honored the Titan TV series “Love Bites” for its episode called “Creatures of the Night.” Gerardo De La Teja was executive producer and director. De La Teja and Ciara Van Gheem were co-writers, Steven Heil was director, Hanna Black and Will Kiezer were producers and Daniel Benzel was editor.
  • In the category for best audio special broadcast, a radio interview over WRST-FM with UWO Chancellor Andrew Leavitt was honored.  The long-form live radio segment on UW budget cuts was conducted by WRST’s student news director Mariah Tralongo and aired as part of the station’s Friday newsmagazine “Week in Review.”

A total of 898 entries were received by CBI judges and winnowed down to 106 finalists from 49 institutions. With this year’s honors, UWO has now won 22 CBI national awards.

Also in October, RTF senior Andrew Severson had his short film “The Devil’s Diamond” chosen as an official selection by the Humphrey Bogart Film Festival.  His film was shot in black and white in the style of classic noir films of the 1940s. Severson attended the festival in Key Largo, Florida and among those attending was Humphrey Bogart’s son.

Another October accolade came from the College Media Association which announced winners of its Pinnacle awards for college media at its national conference in Austin, Texas. WRST came in second place nationally in the Radio Station of the Year category for outlets at four-year universities. A total of 416 student media organizational entries were received from 252 colleges in this competition. This is the WRST’s second showing in this particular category; it took first place honors in 2012. WRST has now won seven CMA national awards.

One other national accolade came from the Sportscasters Talent Agency of America, which awarded UWO sportscaster Cody Krupp an honorable mention nod in its “All-America” competition for the best collegiate sportscasters in the United States. This is the first STAA award won by a UWO student. Krupp has interned or had professional positions in sports at TV operations in Milwaukee, Madison, Knoxville, Tennessee and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  After graduating in December, he begins work as a full-time sports reporter and anchor at KESQ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Palm Springs, California.

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to contribute calendar items, campus announcements and other good news to UW Oshkosh Today.