Fighting Irish Digital Media won three Telly awards for their work in 2013-14.

Fighting Irish Digital Media Department Receives Multiple Awards

Aug. 11, 2014

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Digital Media (FIDM) department won multiple awards this past summer, garnering three bronze Telly Awards in addition to the Most Outstanding Program Series Award at the 2014 College Media Awards for their Strong & True video series, co-produced with 3 Penny Films. It is the first time any FIDM staffer has won a Telly Award at Notre Dame, and the second time the office has been recognized by the Sports Video Group after having won the inaugural Technology Leadership Award in 2013.

“Here at Notre Dame, FIDM is making a concerted effort to improve the quality of our video production, “says Sr. Associate Athletic Director Dan Skendzel. “I’m pleased that our team of talented producers is being recognized by these premier organizations.”

The Strong & True series offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Notre Dame football team, depicting the essence of the team off the field, while each of the Telly Award videos depicts a different, in-depth look at a Fighting Irish sports team. Both the Strong & True and the Telly Award videos can be found on WatchND.

Strong & True

1913 -Landmark Trip to Army (Ted Mandell)

Irish in the ACC – Niele Ivey (Justin Stoll)

2013 Men’s Soccer National Championship Retrospective (Ryan Camden)

Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards are widely considered to be the premier award in honoring local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs in addition to outstanding video and film productions. The competition receives over 12,000 entries annually from all 50 states and many foreign countries, with the top award being a silver Telly. Each entry is judged by a panel of former silver Telly award winners on a 10-point scale, with entries scoring between 7.0 and 8.9 being given the Bronze Telly statuette for outstanding achievement.

The College Media Awards are sponsored by the Sports Video Group and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), with the intent to celebrate the best in video production at all levels of college sports. The award was presented during the Sports Video Group’s College Sports Summit in Atlanta, Ga., beating entries from ESPN, Fox Sports 1, Turner Sports and Pac-12 Networks.

“The College Sports Media Awards have been a really integral part of building out college sports production in general,” says Tom Buffolano, chairman of the College Sports Media Awards. “And every year, we get more entries.”

FIDM partnered with 3 Penny Films to produce several, half hour Strong & True programs for the NBC Sports Network in addition to creating an accompanying video series for digital distribution on WatchND.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with our partnership with 3 Penny Films. Jess Atkinson and his team work under the mantra ‘show me, don’t tell me’, and are very effective at visually capturing who we are at Notre Dame,” says Skendzel.

Moving forward, FIDM and 3 Penny Films will once again collaborate to produce a half hour Strong & True behind-the-scenes show for NBC Sports Network, focusing on the Irish football team’s fall preparation heading into the 2014 season. The show premiers on August 25th at 6:30 p.m., and will re-air on the 29th at 6:30 p.m. and the 30th at 2:30 p.m.

To follow the Fighting Irish, check out Facebook, @FightingIrish on Twitter, UND.com and WatchND.tv.

To see what 3 Penny Films is working on, go to Facebook, follow @3PennyFilms on Twitter or check out their YouTube channel.

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