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RIVERSIDE, CA—The Foundation’s annual College Television Awards recognizes and rewards excellence in student-produced programs from colleges across the country. Winners in the competition will be announced by television stars at the red-carpet awards ceremony April 1 at the Television Academy in North Hollywood, California.
Pettit has been nominated, along with two classmates from Brigham Young University, in the Animation Series category for a piece titled Cenote. Pettit served as the producer on the project, which was selected from over 132 submissions from colleges and universities nationwide by Television Academy members.
Cenote tells the story of Axel, a small axolotl who gets separated from his family by ancient magic. Along with an unlikely human ally named Memo, Axel must find his way out of the cenote he’s trapped in to get back to home.
Pettit graduated from Brigham Young University with a BFA in animation and a minor in computer science. He is currently a character shading/groom TD at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California.
“The world needs content that is not only uplifting but entertaining in nature,” said Pettit. “The story we told at its core is about the feeling of being alone and relying on others’ strengths to strengthen yourself and accomplish your goals. Being able to briefly connect the audience to the emotion of abandonment and then showing them how to reach out and rely on others’ strengths was something we wanted to show to our audience.
“I hope to create a greater voice for unique stories and technology that have not been heard or seen before,” continued Pettit. “As a character shading artist, I wish to push the bounds of what 3D animation can look like. We live in an exciting experimental time in animation both in story and look development. I hope to be a large force in encouraging this experimentation in the industry.”
2023 College Television Awards nominees will also participate in a variety of professional-development activities from March 29-April 1, including a special screening of all nominated projects attended by members of the Television Academy, an industry-professionals networking breakfast, Hollywood studio visits and additional career-enhancing activities before the red carpet awards show.
Nominees and winners of the 42nd College Television Awards automatically become members of the Television Academy Foundation’s alumni family, gaining access to year-round networking opportunities, events and professional development resources. Prominent College Television Awards alumni include CNN national correspondent Natasha Chen; Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan director Patricia Riggen; Maya and the Three executive producer Jorge Gutierrez; and Love, Victor executive producer Jason Ensler.
