Communication Students, Faculty Recognized for Their Films

Southwestern’s Communication Department continues to receive awards and recognition for their films by regional, national and international festivals and organizations. In addition to having Kyle Portbury, an award-winning film director who serves as a professor in the department, now students and their projects are sharing the limelight.

Currently, The Prepper and 100% Match, projects created by the students with film as their emphasis, have been nominated for awards at SONscreen, End of Days, and the Rockport Film Festival.

SONscreen is a Seventh-day Adventist event that is designed to nurture Christian filmmakers in their craft, career development, and spiritual lives. This year it was held at Loma Linda University, and various Adventist professionals, academies and universities were in attendance including Southern Adventist University, Southwestern Adventist University, Andrews Adventist University,  and Pacific Union College. 100% Match, written and directed by Shane Miosi, was nominated for best screenplay and best comedy at SONscreen; it also won an honorable mention for best comedy there. The film, The Prepper, also written by Shane Miosi and directed and filmed by the COMM 437 class, was nominated for best production sound design, best cinematography and best comedy at SONscreen, has recently been accepted at the End of the World Film Festival located in Orlando, Florida.

Portbury is proud of the achievements his communication students are making and hopes that they continue to make great films that inspires others.

The film students aren’t the only ones who are being recognized for their creativity and talent however. Portbury has also earned several awards and recognition for his films. Recently, he has been nominated for an Australian Director Guild Award and Best Direction in Online Drama for the online release of Tell the World, his recent film that tells the story of how the Seventh-day Adventist Church began.

 “I have been very blessed to win a few and be nominated for a few more in the past few years,” Portbury says.  

The results for his two nominations will be announced on May 5 and 6.

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