National Recognition of Students

Radio-TV-Film students have consistently won recognition at the national level. The following are just a few overall highlights:

Since 1993, RTF students have won 48 Grand Prizes at the National Broadcasting Society National Student Electronic Media Competition.

Since 1988, nine RTF students have won intensely competitive internships through the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences College Student Internship Program (including four in the 21 st century). ATAS offers thirty-five eight-week paid ($4,000) summer internships in 29 categories of telecommunications work. For 10 consecutive years, it has been selected as one of the top ten internship programs of any kind in the United States.

In the 21 st century, 10 students and alumni have won First, Second, or Third at the national WSF Screenwriting Awards (four have won First). This competition is open to all writers (not just students), and the final round of judging is typically by a prominent Hollywood writer or producer. (For example, one of the years an RTF student won, final judging was done by Burt Metcalf, who was the executive producer of the classic television series M*A*S*H .)

To indicate the breadth of student success, the following are examples of recent recognition:
At the 2008 National Broadcasting Society annual conference, the UW Oshkosh chapter won the Most Improved Chapter award.

At the 2008 National Broadcasting Society 45 th National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition, 14 different RTF student projects were selected as Finalists — the fourth highest total amongst the 87 schools that maintain membership in NBS. Five of the 14 projects went on to win the Grand Prize in their respective categories. The 14 Finalists were as follows:
[104] Audio Feature Segment
Kayla Chilsen for “Red Kettles”
Kayla Chilsen for “Domestic Abuse”
Daniel VanDenEng for “A Moving Experience” [Grand Prize Winner]
[124] Audio Sports Play-By-Play Programming
Brad Williams and Ryan Aschaker for “Schmaldfelt Earns The Upset”
[132] Audio Comedy Segment
Daniel VanDenEng for “Blisterson's Top 10”
[133] Audio Comedy Program
Daniel VanDenEng, Patrick Brian, Nic Thorson for Café Riot
[224] Sports Play-By-Play Programming
Jake Timm and Ryan Wing for UW-Oshkosh vs. Elmhurst Men's Basketball
Josh Nelson, Jake Timm, and Ryan Wing for Titan TV Sports: Oshkosh vs. River Falls [Grand Prize Winner]
[233] Video Comedy Program
Daniel VanDenEng, Mike Heyer, Patrick Brian, Tosha Herrman, Nic Thorson for Life On Hold #207: “Thanksgiving”
[234] Music Video
J.P. Russell for “Mark My Words” (for Milwaukee band Darkshift)
[241] Video Program Opener
Nic Thorson for Super Happy Fun Time Opener [Grand Prize Winner]
[333] Comedy Program Script
Mike Heyer for Life On Hold #210: "One Week" [Grand Prize Winner]
Jared Robinson for “Super Extreme Ultimate Frisbee”
[337] Spec Scripts
Cory Reed for The Office "Talent Show" [Grand Prize Winner]

Sarah Garfinkle was selected as one of the three finalists in the Children's Programming/Development category of the 2007 Academy of Television Arts & Sciences College Student Internship Program.

At the 2007 National Broadcasting Society National Student Electronic Media Competition, four student projects were selected as Finalists, with three of them winning the Grand Prize in their respective categories. Maria Bartholdi won in the Audio Feature Segment category for her WRST-FM feature "Anywhere But Now"; Josh Nelson and Ryan Wing won in the Video Sports Play by Play category for their Titan TV Sports broadcast of "Men's Basketball: UW-Oshkosh vs. UW-Stevens Point"; and Tim Ziegler (writer/director), Meredith Lynn (producer), Adam Haas (producer), Luke Kalteux (cinematographer), and Shelli Wenzel won in the Video Drama category for their motion picture short "Pinmonkey". The additional project selected as Finalist was Jon Stricklin's WRST-FM feature "Buckstaff Planetarium" in the Audio Feature Segment category.

In the Television category of the 2006-07 national WSF Screenwriting Awards, Radio-TV-Film students and alumni again swept all three awards. Nicholas Gumm won First Place for his spec script for The Office , Eric Strelitzer won Second Place for an original script, and D.J. Kast won Third Place for his Family Guy spec script.

Amanda Emery was one of 14 students from across the country who was awarded a scholarship in the Broadcast Education Association's 2006-2007 competition.  Winners were selected by the BEA Scholarship Committee at its Fall 2005 meeting in Washington , D.C. Emery was a winner of the Helen Sioussat/Fay Wells Scholarship, which awards $1,250.00 toward the study of any area of broadcasting. BEA scholarship winners are selected according to the following criteria: “The applicant should be able to show substantial evidence of superior academic performance and potential to be an outstanding electronic media professional. There should be compelling evidence that the applicant possesses high integrity and a well-articulated sense of personal and professional responsibility.” Emery was the only winner from the state of Wisconsin.

Michael Sheeter won a 2006 Academy of Television Arts & Sciences College Student Internship in Movies for Television. In addition, Adam Noe was a Finalist in the Animation-Non-Traditional category (unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the competition), while Nick Kaat was a finalist in the Cinematography category.

In the Television category of the 2005-06 national WSF Screenwriting Awards, Radio-TV-Film students swept all three awards. Matt Taticek won First Place for his Scrubs spec script, while Luke Kalteux and Eric Strelitzer tied for Second Place with their Curb Your Enthusiasm scripts.

Luke Kalteux won Third Place in the Television Spec category of the 2006 Broadcast Education Association Student Scriptwriting Competition for his Curb Your Enthusiasm script “The Coat.”

Paul Schmidt won Third Place in the Experimental Video category of the 2006

Broadcast Education Student Production Competition for “Horizontal Line.”
At the 2006 National Broadcasting Society National Student Electronic Media Competition, 10 student projects were selected as Finalists — the third highest total in the country. Three of these projects won the Grand Prize in their respective categories: Meredith Lynn (director), Ryan Corbin (producer), and Tim Ziegler (videographer) won in the PSA (Video) category for their Spina Bifida PSA; Luke Kalteux (director), Missy McGuire (producer) and Tim Ziegler (cinematographer)'s won in the Drama Program (Video) category for their short film “Passed”; and Luke Kalteux won in the Video Comedy Script category for his Curb Your Enthusiasm spec script “The Coat.” The seven additional projects selected as Finalists included Film Society's “Third Wheel” film in the Drama Program (Video) category; Tim Ziegler's film “Hot Damn, Caravan” and Adam Noe's animated short “Hidden Treasures” in the Open category; Josh Nelson (play-by-play, Dave Lezotte (color), Kasey Derendinger (director), Kyle Balk (assistant director), Jason Gordon (producer) in the Sports Play-by-Play Programming (Video) category for their broadcast of UW-Oshkosh vs UW-Stout in men's basketball; Scott Giese's radio production "The Battle" (Battle of the Bands) in the Feature Segment (Audio) category; Josh Nelson's WRST sports broadcast of UW-Oshkosh vs UW-Platteville in the Sports Play-by-Play Programming (Audio) category; and Nick Olig's screenplay “The Battle of Insanity” in the Video Comedy Script category.