Speaking and Watching at the BEA: My Weekend in Vegas

This weekend capped the latest frenzied round of what passes for my life, with a presentation about my book at the Broadcast Education Association convention in Las Vegas. But what I was most excited about at the convention was the King Foundation Awards show, which selected and honored the best student and faculty productions in various media categories. Our scholastic and artistic future, based on these winners, is in very good hands...

The winners of the Video Competition, just to name one category, were also awarded special grand prizes for best overall faculty and student entries.

Dean Yamada of Biola University won for Jitensha, which translates as "The Bicycle," and is a story about a Japanese man whose bicycle is stolen -- but piece by piece, not all at once -- and the thief taunts him into searching for the hidden pieces. Yamada collaborated on the story with his students, and recorded it on location in Japan. I haven't seen the entire movie yet, but the clips shown were compelling and impressive.

The same goes for Inner Demon, the winning student entry in the same category. Dave Dorsey of Florida State University won, for a piece about a tortured artist -- a piece whose special effects and visual images were astounding, especially considering a budget of, and this is no typo, $150.

It was thrilling, though, to hear the eagerness and enthusiasm of all the winning students, and the dedication of the winning faculty members. The last time I attended and spoke at a BEA event, it was as a "civilian." This time, I arrived as a full-time college faculty member -- and because of that, the inspired students and their high-quality projects were inspirational to me as well.

By the way, the BEA show is why I've been so sluggish with TV WORTH WATCHING updates this week. My apologies. But guess what? The ever-threatened website redesign is closer than ever, maybe a month away at this point.

Don't give up on us yet. Good things are coming...