The department of communication studies at University of Detroit Mercy announced today that three videos produced and directed by associate professor Jason Roche were named winners in the 46th annual Telly Awards. CHASS Celebrates the Season, an animated Christmas video featuring the voices of CHASS faculty and staff, won a silver Telly Award in the General-Educational Institution category. CLAE Retrospective, a look back at the history of the College of Liberal Arts & Education, won a bronze Telly Award in the General-Internal Communications category. And Tom Page’s Gift, a short documentary about the university’s Spiritus sculpture and the generous alumnus who donated it, won a silver Telly Award in the category of General-Educational Institution.
“I’m really excited that all three of these videos won awards. It’s nice to get some recognition from industry leaders,” said Professor Roche, who teaches classes in audio and video production, documentary film, sports broadcasting, electronic music production, and animation. “I use these videos as examples for my students. This will help me encourage students to elevate their own skills and win awards for their work. And in fact, two of the videos feature student work, either with camera or editing.”
The Telly Awards honors excellence in video and television across all screens and is judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, production companies. This year’s winners include Pixar Animation Studios, Hearst Media, ESPN, LinkedIn, NATO, MTV Entertainment Studios, NASA, the LA Clippers (NBA), Sawhorse Productions, Telemundo and more.
Professor Roche is currently directing and producing a feature-length documentary about Negro Leagues Baseball in Detroit and the restoration of historic Hamtramck Stadium. He is looking forward to teaching a course on sports broadcasting in the fall semester.