FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 24, 2026 CONTACT | Heather Birks | 202.602.0584
BEA Awards the 2026 BEA Textbook Award to Writing, Making, and Distributing Your Short Film: How the Short Film Can Advance Your Craft and Career by Chris Easterly, Regent University
Washington, D.C. – Writing, Making, and Distributing Your Short Film: How the Short Film Can Advance Your Craft and Career by Chris Easterly, Regent University, has been selected for the 2026 BEA Textbook Award.
This book (published by Routledge) is a concise and practical guide to writing and making a successful short film. In an accessible and relatable tone, the book covers the filmmaking process from plot ideation to film distribution, without getting bogged down in the complicated details. Written by an experienced writer and filmmaker, the book shows you how to create content, from script to screen, that can connect with an audience. It does so by considering classic storytelling templates like Aristotle’s Three-Act Structure and Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey”, as well as examining a variety of successful short films—analyzing what makes them work, or not, and why.
To support learning, it also provides a list of recommended short films to study, with brief background information on each. This is supplemented with the author’s personal experiences of writing and making films, along with exclusive insights from successful Hollywood and independent writers and producers. There are also questions and prompts at the end of each chapter, uniquely designed to guide the reader through the step-by- step process of writing their own short script. Students and professionals alike who want to craft and perfect their short films will find this to be an invaluable resource.
Chris Easterly is an Assistant Professor of Film & Media Arts at Regent University, a screenwriter and independent filmmaker. A graduate of the prestigious Warner Brothers Television Writers Workshop, he has written TV dramas and feature films for Fox, Cartoon Network, NBC, Hallmark Channel, and others. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America-West and is represented by Bauman Management in Los Angeles. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from Asbury University. His script Between Us won the Kairos prize for best spiritually uplifting screenplay at the 2026 Movieguide Awards.
The BEA Textbook Award was established in 2020 to recognize an outstanding textbook written by a BEA member(s) in the field of broadcasting and mass communication. Each year the recipient will be recognized at BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas.
About the BEA Convention – BEA’s annual convention is held in conjunction with NAB Show in Las Vegas every spring. BEA’s annual convention attracts 1,300 educators and students with 250 sessions, events, research panels, technology workshops and an exhibit hall, making BEA the largest conference partner of NAB Show.
About the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) – BEA is the professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises. There are currently more than 2,500 individual and institutional members worldwide. Visit www.beaweb.org for more information.