Communication Across the Curriculum is accepting entries for its fourth annual Digital Media Festival on April 24, offering students from all degree programs a chance to showcase digital works.  The festival is open to all University students, regardless of major or classification, and students have until March 31 to submit entries online through the festival’s Web site.Rachel Spear, graduate student and festival coordinator, said the festival has already received 55 entries, and with three weeks left, she expects the festival to have more participants than last year, which had a little more than 100 entries. “We’ve broadened the categories this year to include more and more disciplines,” said Rebecca Burdette, CxC assistant director. What started strictly as a short-film festival four years ago is now a culmination of all forms of digital media, including video, digital photography, animation and advertising campaigns.”It really does run the gamut,” said Kevin DiBenedetto, Arts and Sciences Communication Studio coordinator.Burdette said the studio was initially founded for the students from the College of Arts and Sciences with a strong focus on the Film and Media Arts program.”Over the past four years, we’ve evolved this studio to be an open access lab for all students across campus interested in digital media,” Burdette said. “We are in the process of renaming the studio to Studio 151 because it’s no longer just for Arts and Sciences [majors]. It’s about the  entire LSU community because the resources here aren’t available to   students anywhere else.”The festival provides a much-needed outlet for digital creativity, Burdette said. “There isn’t a formalized degree program right now for students dabbling in digital media,” Burdette said. “Our goal is to provide the opportunity to recognize, honor and showcase the work of students who don’t have any other place to do that on campus.”DiBenedetto said the festival is also an opportunity for students who don’t consider themselves artists to present their work.”Someone may enjoy taking pictures but doesn’t think it counts as art,” he said. “This festival really allows students to be creative with their skills.”Entries must fall into one of six categories: film and video, creative animation, technical or scientific, informational or promotional, photography or academic-extra-curricular.Each category has both industry and faculty judges, all of whom are professionals in their respective fields.”You’ll see industry leaders come out, which can lead to potential internship and job opportunities,” Burdette said. “It’s another way to get your work out there and share it with people.”Judges will select winners from each category, and the audience will select an overall audience-choice winner.”The audience choice is the coveted prize,” Burdette said. “Students, faculty and the community come in and view the entries and vote on their favorite.”Prizes range from $150 to more than $400 in value.”Just this year, with the value of the awards increasing, it shows how the community is supporting this event, which is huge,” Spear said.Starting April 20, the studio will host various educational programs centering on various digital media concentrations leading up to the awards ceremony on LSU Day, April 24.Burdette said she hopes the festival encourages students to not limit themselves to what degree programs are offered at the University.”I hope students see that their creativity does have a place not just in personal worlds but also in the professional world,” Spear said.Burdette said the main purpose is to expand on communication.”When you produce digital media, you are communicating a message, which is at the heart of what we do at this studio,” she said. “We want to expand the way they communicate and not just think about it in the form of written paper or formal speech.” –Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]