Bossier Parish Community College (BPCC) has teamed up with the Prize Fest to serve as the Bossier-based screening site for the 2024 Film Prize, a tenant of the 2024 Prize Fest celebration. 

Prize Fest 2024 is a five-day festival celebrating food, comedy, film, and music, It took place from Oct. 16-19 in Shreveport-Bossier. Film Prize features 20 short films, all shot in Louisiana, competing for $50,000, the largest cash prize in the world for a short film.

“The Prize Fest team knows how to get a crowd motivated, so it makes that energy infectious,” said Jennifer Robison, assistant professor of photography for BPCC and champion of the Prize Fest partnership. “This gets our students engaged, excited, and participating in the community more than anything else.”

Festival goers had the unique opportunity to view the Top 20 films and cast their votes to help decide the best film at BPCC’s Stephen W. Slaughter Theatre in Building C at the Bossier Campus, 6220 E. Texas St. 

“We need community involvement, so our students know what it takes to have a career in the arts. The students need to understand what opportunities there are outside of the classroom,” Robison said. “Film Prize helps with that.”

Before teaching at BPCC, Robison had experience working as a contract photographer for Prize Fest, which gave her the chance to work with Gregory Kallenberg, executive director of the Prize Foundation and founder of the Film, Music, and Food Prize competitions, to secure passes for students to work at various Prize Fest events.

“I started thinking how I could tie those two worlds together. It’s difficult to teach that experience in a class. Students need to go into the community with a low stakes environment where they are learning but not getting in the way,” said Robison.

That paved the way for the Golden Lens Photography Competition, now in its third year and a staple of Prize Fest. Sponsored by the BPCC Foundation, the Golden Lens competition invites photographers of all skill levels to capture the spirit of Shreveport-Bossier. Up to 30 photographs will be selected for an exhibition by a jury, with one winning the 2024 Golden Lens First Place Award and a $1,000 prize.

“I have a lot of support from the BPCC Foundation and Jennifer Lawrence, BPCC vice chancellor for external affairs and chief of staff. She knows what I’ve done outside the college and trusts that when I ask for funding that I will deliver,” Robison explained. “We know after two years that we now have a bigger partnership giving exposure to what’s in the community while leveling out the bias of how creatives can make a living in the arts.”

She noted that the partnership with the Prize Foundation is important because it is about engaging people. Specifically, getting students to engage with traditional media and the community to engage with the students.

“Our students need to work in the community to gain practical experience. The more people we can connect our students to for real world projects, the more success they will have when they leave our program,” Robison said.

This partnership is another way BPCC is innovating its approach to reaching students and maximizing its resources to create meaningful education. 

Robison noted that the impacts of the creative efforts of BPCC students can be seen throughout the community. She specifically highlighted a prominent billboard advertisement on Interstate-49.

“The Willis-Knighton Eye Institute billboard ad was done by one of our students. They shot still and motion footage of a surgery in a hospital for a social campaign, photographed a patient for the billboard, and turned that into social media and print ads,” she said.

Jennifer added that she wants her students to see the commitment level that is required for a real world career in the arts. 

“The more community partners we have creating opportunities for them, like the Prize Foundation and Willis-Knighton, the more we can help them bridge that gap.”