BYU Gets Two Student Emmys—Again

September 2025

For the fourth year in a row, BYU students claimed top honors at the College Television Awards, widely known as the Student Emmys, taking home first place in both the animation and commercial categories.

The 44th annual awards ceremony, hosted by the Television Academy Foundation, was held on April 5 at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California. Emulating the Emmy Awards selection process, the competition recognizes the best in student-produced television and film across the country, with winning entries awarded a $3,000 prize.

Best Animation

Student Accomplice

For the fourth straight year, the top animation award went to BYU for the short film, Student Accomplice. Brielle Hansen served as producer, with Spencer Baird as director and writer. The short film beat out entries from top media schools around the nation.

This is the 21st time since 2003 that a BYU animation film has been featured at the Student Emmys.

While winning a Student Emmy is a major accomplishment, “Student Accomplice” has been turning heads across the industry for the past year. The film won Film of the Year in 3D Animation at the Rookie Awards, earned a bronze medal at the Student Academy Awards, and was nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award, a rare honor that’s comparable to the Oscars of the VFX world. It even snagged Pixar’s coveted RenderMan “Blooper” Award, a lighthearted prize celebrating standout animation gags and glitches.

Best Commercial

In the commercial category, BYU AdLab students won for their spot titled Welcome to the W, directed by Mia Shumway, Annie Ebert, and Ben Thornock. The spot continued the AdLab’s tradition of national recognition for creative excellence in advertising.

The win marks the AdLab’s sixth straight win in the Student Emmys for Commercials.
Other BYU commercials that received nominations include:

Feel Safe in Your Skin, directed and written by Lauren Holt and Danny White and produced by Riley Rawson and Todd Jackson, and Manumalo (Victory), produced and written by Danny White and Alex Galea’i, and directed and produced by Spencer Nelson, Aubry Mackin, Parker McDermott and Evan Jensen.