Lights, camera, fundraiser. Highland Park LitFest annual fundraiser FlickFest hosted at the Angelika Theater, brought together film clips, popcorn and conversations.
“We showed clips from multiple projects the director had worked on, with more discussion in between,” English teacher and Litfest faculty sponsor Rachel Pullen said. “There was also a moderator, which made it more engaging and interactive for the audience.”
The Keynote speaker this year was David Hale Smith, a Dallas Native literary agent. Smith founded his agency in the early 1990s, and has represented hundreds of books, turning them into movies.
“This year is especially nice because there’s already that crossover. It was kind of a happy coincidence he’s not only going to talk about Dark Matter, but also other projects he’s worked on.” Pullen said.
Choosing David Hale Smith as keynote speaker also connects the event to the local community. Smith grew up in Dallas attending The Episcopal School of Dallas.
“He runs his agency in Dallas, and has accomplished a lot, including 14 Edgar Award nominations. Many of his clients have won awards, and having him locally keeps the focus on our community,” student Biviyana Bhattarai said.
Throughout the event, FlickFest highlighted the journey from book pages to a big screen, showing how authors’ stories are transformed into movies and shows. Rather than watching a single film, Smith shared clips from several movies he has worked on. He followed the clips with discussion to give attendees a deeper understanding of the creative decisions behind the adaptations.
“It’s an opportunity to integrate arts into literature. People often forget that plays, movies and similar media are also genres of writing, so it helps show how literature can be expressed in different ways,” campus instructional technologist Amy Brown said.
FlickFest serves as LitFest’s annual community fundraiser, helping fund events and activities like the Elementary Poetry workshop and the community Keynote event for Litfest.
“FlickFest also helps fund LitFest so we can bring in more authors, musicians, playwrights and directors,” Brown said.
Students also play an active role in promoting and preparing for the event, helping ensure FlickFest runs smoothly.
“As students, we help set up for the event and promote it to other students. For example, we work with National Honor Society and National English Society to encourage their members to attend,” Bhattarai said.
Over the years, attendance has moved from students to parents, however FlickFest is created for both students and the community.
“[We would like to] remind students that this event is for them too, that it can be exciting and fun and not something they feel excluded from. We really want students to feel welcome and engaged,” Pullen said.
