I sat in the audience, dressed in my best suit and tie, waiting nervously as the emcee rattled off the winners in the other filmmaker categories.
Hurry up!
I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach as I waited for what seemed like hours, hoping that I would eventually hear my name.
Was I at the Academy Awards, you ask? Pfft. Hardly. Otherwise, you probably would’ve heard of me by now.
No, I was a 10th grader, sitting in a large ballroom at the GAYLORD OPRYLAND Hotel in Nashville, crammed in with thousands of other people who participate in a Christian youth development program called Lads to Leaders.
How do I describe the program. Well, it’s kind of like the Bible Olympics. The program offers young people, grades Kindergarten through College, dozens of different competitive events wherein students learn to find their interests and develop their skills in service to their churches and their communities.
And I loved it.
I started out in the public speaking arena, but then when I was in 10th grade I learned there was a short filmmaking category. I jumped at the chance.
That first year my friends and I wrote a modern day morality tale about a son who becomes a Christian and the conflict that it brings upon his relationship with his Dad, who is defiantly anti-religion. The son wants to heal his relationship with his dad and help him understand why faith in Christ is so important.
Participating in this event was really the first time I learned that filmmakers can deliver important messages through their art. We take that for granted as adults, but when you’re a kid movies are pretty superficial.
Famed archaeologist faces off with bad guys in edge-of-your-seat action set pieces in a race to find an ancient treasure.
Young boy from a distant planet sets off to free a princess and learns how to wield a magical force and do battle with a laser sword.
A friendly alien stranded on Earth has to rely on the goodness of kids to help him contact his people and get back home.
Children often can’t see the underlying themes and they don’t understand that films can be vessels for delivering impactful messages about ourselves and the world around us. And that those stories can be metaphorical commentaries on our current conditions.
I started learning these lessons by participating in this annual competition.
I also realized that my fledgling skills could be put to use for greater purposes than just my own amusement.
Now that I’m a parent, I think both of these lessons are so important for kids to learn at an early age. But you don’t have to be a parent yourself to pass along these ideas. Become a mentor.
Help kids understand that film as an art can be full of subtext, symbolism, social commentary, and it can help audiences see people and situations in new perspectives.
Encourage them to find their talents and use them in service to something bigger than themselves. Learn to give back.
Those lessons are more important than any trophy you could ever receive.