How Transferring to the Hilltop Rekindled Sam McFarland’s Love for Film

St. Edward’s University was the first college Sam McFarland '25 toured as a kid from Houston. After spending two semesters at the University of Colorado Boulder as a film studies major, McFarland grew tired of the cold, so he returned to the state and enrolled as a transfer student studying Communication on the hilltop. 

McFarland always had a knack for creating, and he felt sure that he’d be in a career that reflected his creativity. “Game of Thrones” inspired him to make short films. But after experiencing burnout from studying films instead of being hands-on and creating his own, he changed his major and didn’t see himself returning to film.

With a beautiful campus, tight-knit community and thoughtful accommodations for transfer students, he envisioned himself thriving on the hilltop.

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McFarland connected with Bella Harris ‘23, who was the current president of Topper Radio, the student-run radio station. He told Harris about his interest in film and she connected him with Professor of Journalism and Digital Media Jena Heath. Next thing, Heath was in McFarland’s inbox notifying him about an internship as a Camp Counselor at the Austin Film Festival. Here, he helped a group of young filmmakers create a movie in a week, reigniting his passion for film. 

Around this time, Heath and colleagues created a new interdisciplinary major in the School of Arts and Humanities, Digital Storytelling and Content Creation. This was the hands-on kind of storytelling McFarland was craving and opened the door to festivals, internships and countless experiential learning opportunities in the entertainment business.

“Digital storytelling is just everything I'm interested in, so I don't mind absolutely packing my schedule with it. I have not spent much time studying at all because I just do the things I love,” McFarland said.

Inspired by a film club at CU Boulder, McFarland worked with the officers of the organization to build a similar club at St. Edward’s. McFarland coined it Hilltop Productions.

“It’s a lot of effort running the club, (and) keeping people together for it. But we were able to make a couple things,” McFarland said. “What I got out of that was like five or six people who really cared about filming and were good at it.”

Despite the club’s sunset, McFarland appreciates the connections and friendships he made because of it. The former club members even plan on making a feature-length movie together.

Heath also encouraged McFarland and his classmates to submit a film to the 48 Hour Film Project, a weekend event across different cities where local teams brainstorm and create a film within a given genre with specific requirements. Each team has two days to write, shoot and edit their short film. McFarland and his 11 peers were members of the team “Goats” and created a political comedy titled “RFK Jr.’s Journey of Self Growth.”

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“Goats” Team Roster:

Sam McFarland - Writer, actor

Hector Resendiz - Camera operation, actor

Dash Byrne: Writer, actor, director

Grace Latham: Writer and actor

Ariel Harper: Writer and actor

Michael Ventura: Writer and actor

Pablo Matthews Garcia: actor

Allyssa Vasquez: Writer, actor, director

Conor Tompkins: Gaffer

Pao Sanchez: Writer, actor

Michael Contant: Actor

Rafael Ruiz: Camera operation, sound recordist

The “Goats” won second place for Best Film of 2024. “RFK Jr’s Journey of Self Growth” also won Audience Choice, Best Individual Comedic Performance, Best Use of Genre, Best Sound Design and Best Special Effects. 

McFarland is wrapping up his studies at St. Edward’s with “Special Topics in Digital Storytelling and Content Creation” taught by professional filmmaker Chris Beier. Beier creates videos for companies like Google, Spectrum and Texas Monthly. McFarland shadowed his professor’s work at South by Southwest in 2023. At SXSW, Beier and his crew film panels and edit footage in real time live videos, also known as “live-cutting.” For SXSW 2024, McFarland worked as Beier’s Production Assistant, manning multiple cameras and filming multiple panels.

“(Sam is) more professional now. He understands what’s expected of videographers when they’re on set. He’s learned to respect the procedures and customs that are expected of professionals,” Beier said. “Before taking this class, Sam was using a so-so camera, and his settings were all out of whack. Now he knows how to use a proper DSLR with interchangeable lenses, and how to dial in the right settings for the best possible image. He also has an understanding of basic lighting, and what it means to shoot within limitation. All of which results in his content looking more professional, and of course, his confidence strengthening.”

McFarland hopes to make a movie after graduation and submit it to the Austin Film Festival. He defines his style as dark humor, and draws inspiration from some of his favorite shows like Robert Kirkman’s “Invincible” and Rob McElhenney’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” McFarland will cross the stage on May 10, 2025 and plans to continue learning first-hand from Beier as his production assistant.