MDC-TV Wins Gold Davey Award For TEDxMDC With Shane Battier
MDC-TV won a Gold Davey Award in the General-Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category for their production of TEDxMDC featuring former Miami Heat player Shane Battier.
Winners were announced on Oct. 21.
The award, presented by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, recognizes outstanding achievement in video and digital content from organizations around the world. During the last two decades, MDC-TV has won 13 Davey Awards—four gold and nine silver.
“It’s incredibly gratifying,” said Ariel Rubalcava, executive director of MDC-TV. “When you’ve spent your career behind the scenes—directing, producing, problem-solving—it’s easy to forget the power of what we do until moments like this.”
The video titled The Battier Effect: How the 98% Drives True Greatness features Battier speaking about the power of leadership and selflessness. He focuses on his experience in the National Basketball Association.
“Shane was powerful. [He’s] a natural storyteller with the humility of a team player,” Rubalcava said. “His message resonated deeply with our team because it mirrors what we live every day at MDC-TV, hard work without applause, teamwork without ego and a quiet pursuit of excellence.”
The video was a segment from the College’s inaugural TEDx event in December of 2024, TEDxMDC.
Guest speakers included HistoryMiami Museum resident historian Paul George, Friends of The Underline CEO Meg Daly, clinical psychologist Joan Godoy, award-winning show maker Natasha Tsakos and Syneurgy co-founder and co-CEO Michael Mannino.
The creation of TEDxMDC featuring Battier took a month to finalize. The segment has nearly 50,000 views on YouTube.
Lighting designer Carlos Cedanos was in charge of the stage lighting to make the event as cinematic as possible. José Antonio Fernández-Calvo served as a producer, overseeing the program schedule and managing the guest speakers.
Pedro Santos Acosta, executive director of emerging technologies at the College, provided academic guidance to ensure an educational tone for the TED talk.
“We tend to underestimate MDC, but there are genuinely so many great things that [we] have been able to achieve,” Fernández-Calvo said.
The production team filmed with multiple cameras, utilizing wide, medium and roaming shots.
Postproduction work included meticulous editing, color correction and audio mixing to meet TED’s guidelines before the video could be published and viewed by the public.
“The Gold Davey Award is a beautiful reminder that small, passionate teams like ours can compete with the best, and that great storytelling transcends budget,” Rubalcava said.
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