Film Production Students and Faculty Win Awards

Southwestern Adventist University's Department of Communication is happy to announce that student film "100% Match", by Shane Miosi, won Honorable Mention in the Best Comedy Short category at the Sonscreen Film Festival in California. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay. The Film Production Class short film "The Prepper" was also nominated in three categories. The categories were best comedy short, best sound design, and best cinematography.

Eight students involved with the projects were able to attend the Festival, with communication professor and mentor Kyle Portbury. The Prepper previously won for Best Student Comedy Short at the Lionshead Film Festival in Dallas.

“Congratulations to the communications majors involved with The Prepper and 100% match," says Portbury.  “It is truly an honor to work with such talented students.”

The Communication Department established the Institute for Christian Film in 2016. The program encourages writers to submit scripts for development.  The scripts then go through an acceptance phase with the potential for fundraising and further development by the skilled faculty and students in the Communication Department. For more information about the Institute of Christian Film, visit swau.edu/film.

Other recent awards for the Communication Department include 88.3 KJRN The Journey, which recently placed #20 out of the top 50 Christian radio stations in the nation. 100% Match, directed and edited by communication major Shane Miosi, was “Officially Selected” for the Rock Port International Film Festival, Corpus Cristi, Texas.

Professor Kyle Portbury has many awards for his own work, including the prestigious Award of Excellence from The Best Shorts Film Competition. The award was given for Kyle’s exciting historical drama, Tell the World, which tells the true story of the beginnings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Tell the World features exceptional Visuals and storytelling through standout performances in the key roles of Ellen White and William Miller. He was also nominated by the Australian Directors Guild for the online series release for Outstanding Direction in an online drama. Beyond the Search previously won 14 international awards including the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle. Portbury also won Best Documentary for his documentary A Mountain Within at the Mountain Film Festival in California, among others. Two of his films were recently nominated for awards at the 2017 International Christian Film Festival in Florida.

Check out our Institute of Christian Film at swau.edu/film.

Read more at Spectrum Magazine and NAD News. 

Members of the film production class pictured (top) with Communication professor Kyle Portbury.  Film major Shane Miosi's film wins second place for Best Comedy Short. 

Study film and more in Southwestern's Communication Department!