Transatlantic Storytelling, an immersive learning, global storytelling project between students at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and Cardiff Metropolitan University in Cardiff, Wales, has won another award in an international competition.

The 76-minute feature documentary earned a silver Award of Distinction in the 2021 Communicator Awards announced in May. It’s the second international award in as many weeks for the project, earning the top honor at the 2021 International MUSE Awards earlier this month.

The Communicator Awards is dedicated to recognizing excellence, effectiveness, and innovation across all areas of communication.

Founded nearly three decades ago, The Communicator Awards receives almost 5,000 entries from companies, agencies, studios, and boutique shops of all sizes, making it, globally, one of the largest award shows of its kind.

The Communicator Awards honors work that transcends craft—work that made a lasting impact, and provides an equal chance of winning to all entrants regardless of company or agency size and project budget.

All winners for The Communicator Awards are hand-selected by the AIVA (Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts), an invitation-only group consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms.

AIVA members include executives from organizations like Amazon, Big Spaceship, Chelsea Pictures, Conde Nast, Critical Mass, Disney, ESPN, GE Digital, IBM, The Nation of Artists, Nextdoor, Spotify, Time, Inc., the Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones, and Wired. To learn more about the AIVA, please visit www.aiva.org.

Winning entries for The Communicator Awards are selected by the AIVA to uphold our commitment to fairness and merit-based achievement. This ensures each entry is afforded equal chance of winning an award, as all entries are judged to evaluate distinction in creative work

The groundbreaking documentary features seven exclusive stories, with 22 different interviews, and stunning visuals from throughout Cardiff and Wales.

• Sam Gordon is the fastest man in Wales, owning multiple records and sprinting towards the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Though always smiling, the elite runner’s surge into the spotlight hasn’t come without setbacks.
• Jenny Nesbitt represents Great Britain and Wales as a talented distance runner.  But, as a teenager, the world class athlete faced serious threats to her success
• Harrison Walsh, who after a horrific rugby injury ended his promising career, shifted his focus. Now, the world-record holding thrower is aiming for the 2021 Paralympic Games.
• Will Godwin is a student at Cardiff Met, who started his athletic career as a triathlete and rower until two freak accidents changed his life.
• Sam Pearce, the Cardiff Met student and captain of the cricket team, is also on the verge of a professional career in one of the world’s most popular sports.
• Lydia Hitchings, a student in Cardiff Met’s School of Art and design, grew up playing netball.  Now, a professional player, she has a goal of playing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
• Dr. Christian Edwards is the men’s soccer coach at Cardiff Met and guided his team to the 2019 UEFA Europa League.  Six months later, he collapsed on the pitch.

About The Project:

Transatlantic Storytelling is an immersive learning, global storytelling project between students at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and Cardiff Metropolitan University in Cardiff, Wales.

Ball State students collaborated with Cardiff Met students on identifying, developing and producing feature stories on Welsh athletes. 

While on the ground in Cardiff, Wales, for 12 days in late February to March, students worked together to capture footage, scenes and interviews with the athletes. 

In 2019, Ball State and Cardiff Met agreed to a five-year understanding which recognizes the mutual benefits of an educational partnership, which in part will lead to collaboration, opportunities and faculty/student engagement.

Additional Media Information:

For media outlets, tv stations and other platforms wishing to air the documentary at no charge, please contact Joe Towns from Cardiff Met (JTowns@cardiffmet.ac.uk) or Chris Taylor from Ball State (ctaylor@bsu.edu).

Additional information, including student blogs, athlete blogs, photo galleries and video can be found at www.transatlanticstorytelling.com.