STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) awarded the Franciscan University of Steubenville’s student filmmaking club, G-6 Productions, and Award of Excellence for their film, Split Pearls in the 2023 BEA’s national 48-Hour Film Contest.

“The students did a fantastic job, and I could not be more proud of them,” said Dr. David Schaefer, professor of communication arts and faculty advisor to the student film club. “It took excellent talent, organization, and determination to create this award-winning film in only 48 hours.”

Franciscan University students Dan Musacchio and Maria Resuta led the award-winning film production team of 10 students. The team also included Julia Cundiff, Ashley Shaw, Kelenna Obi, Lily Mich, Scott Sauselen, Matthew Levri, Sebastian Sanda, and Brian Csornok.

Musacchio and Resuta are also the first Franciscan students to recently achieve their professional-level Avid Media Composer Certification, Avid’s highest certification. Avid is used widely in the film industry to edit many feature films, including recent films such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Top Gun: Maverick, and Barbie.

The 48-Hour Film Contest is a national competition between dozens of universities’ student film clubs who participate as BEA Collegiate Media Chapter members.

The BEA is the leading international academic media organization promoting media and education. It publishes the top journals in the field and offers an annual convention, web-based programs, and regional district activities, which provide opportunities for film competitions and scholarly research related to aspects of the electronic media.

The Communication Arts program at Franciscan University offers concentrations in film studies, digital broadcasting and production, journalism, and multimedia.