Testimonial · OJ Brigance Courage Award
The pilot film
“Thanks for proving everybody wrong.”
An FCA project
Produced as Regional Marketing Director, FCA Mid-Atlantic
The problem
The first one we ever built. No template, no proof it would work.
FCA gives the OJ Brigance Courage Award every year, but it had never lived anywhere but a stage. Brandon and I thought a story like this deserved to be on film, so donors could actually feel it.
Kristen's was a different kind of story than the ones that came after. Not one hard year, a whole life. As a baby she was told she wouldn't survive, that she'd never eat or talk. She is an all-abilities athlete who has spent her life quietly proving that verdict wrong.
The approach
Discover the Heartbeat
I sent Kristen a simple set of questions ahead of time. Because she carries her story with so much joy, the goal was never to shape it for her, it was to get out of the way and let her tell it.
Craft the Narrative
We built it as her own narration: where she started, what the doctors said, how it shaped her whole life, and how her faith and FCA let her keep thriving. The throughline is her own closing prayer, thanking God for proving everybody wrong.
Bring it to Life
I only had one camera that year. So John, who knew Kristen, asked her the questions while I shot one angle, then we ran the whole interview again so I could roam for a second. Two passes, cut together, so one camera reads like two. Kristen carries the whole thing herself.
“
Jesus taught me how to breathe, how to eat, but I like to eat and drink and just be my joyful self.Kristen Higgins
The result
It played at the annual Maryland FCA Funders Dinner, and the room gave Kristen a standing ovation. It was one of the more emotional films I had made to that point. I got emotional watching it back myself.
The pilot that made it a film every year after.
It launched the series · Zoe, McKenna, and beyond
What we delivered
A story film, the Funders Dinner premiere, social and YouTube cuts, and reuse in the follow-up with donors.
Have someone whose story a room needs to feel, not just hear about?
Every film needs somewhere to land. The Storytelling System is the part that makes sure it does.