Awards season may have wrapped in Hollywood for 2018, but April brings with it a big night aspiring young videographers and the non-profit organizations they serve.
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Update: Since this story ran, the organization has rebranded as BexarFest. The headline has been modified to reflect this change.
After a long career as a journalist and public relations professional, Randy Lankford retired a few years back. He figured he’d do a little volunteering.
One day, while walking a dog at a local animal charity, he realized he could use his media skills to recruit more volunteers.
“I could walk one dog or I could make something that would bring in more people to walk multiple dogs,” Lankford said.
That revelation led to the creation of a non-profit, TRL Productions, in 2016. Lankford’s goal? To educate the public about local community groups in need of aid—while minimizing production costs for the groups themselves.
“Non-profit organizations need help telling their stories in today’s media landscape. Advertising is expensive, and it can be hard to get the attention of reporters and editors. But there are thousands of great stories out there, waiting to be told. Go into any non-profit and you’ll find these stories and a real need for resources and people with the experience to tell them.”
While working on an early project with TRL Productions, Lankford discovered yet another unmet community need: teenagers who wanted to acquire skills for a successful media career.
“It dawned on me that I could feed a couple of passions at once. I could teach young people that they don’t have to go to Los Angeles or New York for a career and help the non-profits at the same time.”
Which is how the Bexar County High School Film Festival came to be.
The first festival, held last year, prompted teams of young people at area schools to create three-minute videos featuring area non-profits. The videos were screened publicly and then donated to the community organizations for use online or with presentations.
“For the first year we had 21 schools participate with about 10 students each, all from San Antonio. This year we have 36 schools with teams of 15 kids each from 8 counties. Incredibly 19 of the original schools returned, which is pretty exciting.”
Lankford said that for 2018 the competition—slated for April 23 in the Alamo City—has expanded to include not only each team’s video but also a poster contest. “We saw a need to showcase talent of graphic artists, too, so we’ll have a separate awards category this year.”
Last year’s premiere party was Hollywood-esque, complete with a red carpet and celebrity-style goodie bags at the Santikos Mayan Palace.
“We received a grant from the John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation, a fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation. In addition to that, Santikos Entertainment donated the use of the Mayan Palace Theatre for the premiere event,” said Lankford.
He added that this year’s festival will be held at the Tobin Center.
“The county gets the use of the center a few nights each year, and Judge (Nelson) Wolff has graciously given us one of those nights. Placing this year’s event in the heart of the city, in the jewel of San Antonio culture where the symphony and ballet perform, sends a huge message to our young people about the importance of their work.”
“The wonderful thing about this festival is that it creates a collaboration between high school students and our nonprofit community,” said Lisa Miele, the Low Vision Resource Center‘s executive director. Students at MacArthur High School collaborated with Miele’s organization to create an original video (above) for the 2017 festival.
“After this year’s film festival, over 55 different non-profits will have their own videos, their own media assets to share,” Lankford said. “I still get a little overwhelmed thinking about that and all the good it can do.”
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On Monday, April 23, 2018, high school production teams from Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson Counties premiere their videos about the nonprofits that serve the San Antonio area. For more information, see the Bexar County High School Film Festival’s website and Facebook page. Tickets to the event are $10 each and available through the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
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