Armando Lutz ('24) has a passion for showing the story behind the sports environment -- and it drove him to turn a class assignment into an award-winning film.

Earning his degree in broadcast journalism with a certification in sports media from UNT, Lutz loves showing the human side of sports. He received a Student Production Award in the College -- Long Form -- Non-Fiction category from the Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the same organization that gives out the Emmy Awards. The awarded film is a profile of Mean Green women's basketball player Tommisha Lampkin and her challenges as a single mother.

"You just see the stats. You just see their plays," Lutz says. "Getting to be the one that tells the stories fascinated me."

'Dear Kasen'
Initially planning to follow the women's basketball team as it was on track to break the record for the most wins in a single season, Lutz shifted the focus of his film after hearing about Lampkin and her story. The 23-minute documentary Dear Kasen serves as a letter to her son.

"You find out that it's arguably the best player on the team that has a 5-year-old son," Lutz says. "It's remarkable what she's been able to do."

Lutz describes the film as a "time-capsule" for the Lampkin family.

"It's not made for an audience," Lutz says. "It's made for them 10 years from now, 15 years from now, where they can look back at it."

The film's success required persistence on Lutz's part to get close with the Lampkin family and seek their input.

"I was on so many phone calls with her," he says about Tameka Lampkin, Tommisha's mother, "asking her, 'How do you feel about this direction? How do you feel about this part of the story?'"

In the end, Lutz feels he did right by the Lampkins.

"I felt like I told the story -- not a story, not my story," he says. "I told the story that needed to be told."

In addition to this award, Dear Kasen was accepted into the Denton Black Film Festival. Lutz also received NATAS Student Production Awards nominations for two of his other films, Armando Lutz Sports Compilation and Denton Development. For the latter, he spoke to business owners around Denton Square about their economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finding Purpose

Despite his achievements with the films, Lutz's college career has been far from easy or straightforward.

After enrolling at UNT in 2016, he decided to take a break after three years to focus on his mental health and seek out purpose in his career field.

Following a nearly four-year break, he returned to school -- a huge factor in his decision being his father's death in 2021.

"When he passed, it was so sudden," Lutz says. "We never had thought something was wrong."

Lutz's father had always been a big supporter of his son's career.

"No matter what I did," Lutz says, "he was like, 'I'm so proud of you for that. You're going to become famous.'"

Lutz returned to college not for himself, but for his dad.

"His biggest thing was, 'I want to see you finish,'" Lutz says. "Once my dad passed, I was like, 'I need to do it for him.'"

He approached his degree and coursework with a new sense of purpose, which showed itself in the quality of his films.

"I never did that for a grade," Lutz says about Dear Kasen. "I didn't care if I got a zero."

Has to be Sports

Lutz advises current journalism students to "go all in" on what they're passionate about. "If you have something that you believe in -- in yourself and your career -- go for it," he says. "You're going to fail. You're not going to get that job you wanted right out of college. That's OK. You'll be fine. Just keep fighting."

Looking forward, Lutz plans to continue in sports broadcasting, especially play-by-play broadcasting.

"I never got an adrenaline rush more than I had doing play-by-play and color commentary," he says. "That rush is what I'm seeking in the future."

Currently, he is the regional sports editor for the Cleburne Times-Review and Weatherford Democrat. For Lutz, no matter the job, it must involve sports.

"I need to be a sportswriter, a sports broadcaster. I need to have that 'sports' in front of it," he says. "I've been put on this earth to do sports journalism."

Other UNT Lone Star Chapter NATAS Student Production Awards Winners:

• April Pierdant, reporter, in the category of College News: General Assignment—Serious News for ntTV News, Border Issues Package
• Robyn Key, reporter, in the category of College – Short Form – Non-Fiction for Vaping
• Category of College – Sports: Live Event for ntTV SportsZone NFL Draft Special
• Andrew Mowrer, Host
• Trey Francis, Producer/Director
• René Ramirez, Graphics Operator
• Amanda Hasbell, VTR
• Jaden Reese, Floor Director
• Lowry Nash, Camera Operator
• Jamarion Menefee, Camera Operator
• Erin Sharp, Jib Operator
• Landon Gregg, Camera Operator
• Kate Downs, Audio
• Bailey Starcher, Highlights Editor
• Abraham Park, Director
• John Phillips, Analyst
• Makenzie Freeman, Analyst
• Jazra Williams, Analyst
• Jalen Alexander, Analyst
• Jayden Lathon, Analyst
• Adam Seay, Analyst
• Taggart Kent, Analyst
• Isaiah Ortiz, Analyst
• Stephen Lucero, Analyst
• Wyatt Schott, Analyst
• Jose Moreno, Analyst
• Gabby Pippins, Analyst
• Chanel Young, Talent, in the category of College – Talent for Chanel Young Talent Reel
• Abraham Park, Director, in the category of College – Director for Abraham Park Director Reel
• Spencer Stevenson, Writer, in the category of College – Writing for My Girlfriend is a What? Writing Sample