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Â鶹ÊÓƵ professor and filmmaker O’Brien Stanley in recognition of his decades-long contributions to filmmaking and film education in Southeast Texas. 

The award was presented during the festival, held Feb. 19–22 in Beaumont.

Stanley, who holds a Master of Fine Arts degree, is a professor in the Department of Communication and Media at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. In 1998, he founded the film program within the department after a conversation with then-department chair Dr. Patrick Harrigan.

“Dr. Patrick Harrigan noticed I had an MFA and said, ‘O’Brien, have you ever thought about teaching a film class?’” Stanley said. “And I remember thinking, this is Christmas in July.”

From 1997 to 2025, Stanley taught courses in film and video production, helping grow the program from modest beginnings.

“We found some old cameras under the stairs, along with a few relics from another era,” he said. “They were sturdy enough you could have used them to stake down a tent. But we dusted them off, got the classes going, and built something from there.”

Around the year 2000, Stanley joined Gordon S. Williams, Chris Castillo and Robert Fong to launch the Spindletop Film Festival after students suggested Â鶹ÊÓƵ create its own event.

“A student pointed out that Angelo State had a film festival. ‘Why can’t we have one?’ they asked,” Stanley said. “So Gordon, Chris Castillo, Robert Fong, and I came together to create the Spindletop Film Festival. It ran for six or seven strong years.”

The foundation laid by Spindletop later led to the creation of the Boomtown Film and Music Festival in 2008, when Chris Dombrowski and his team expanded the vision for a community-centered celebration of film, music and art.

Stanley also reflected on the people who supported him throughout his career, beginning with his wife.

“This came from the House of Ruth, so I have to start there,” he said. “The person who helped me get out the door every day while we were raising three gnarly kids down in Groves was Ruth. And she would get me up and going. She communicates well, and she teaches in the department of communication, which is a fantastic department and well represented here tonight.”

Although Stanley retired from full-time teaching in 2025, he continues to teach part time and remains active in film scholarship and podcasting. He co-authored “” in 2018 with colleagues Nicki Michalski, Lane Roth and Steven Zani, and is currently collaborating on a forthcoming book about time travel in film.

Looking back on how far the festival has come, Stanley urges everyone to savor the present.

“It reminds you to enjoy your time. Some of us have less of it than others, and none of us have much in the grand cosmic scheme of things. So, you enjoy it. You enjoy the work we’ve all done to bring this festival together. You enjoy the dance, the salsa of film, music, and art here in Beaumont, Texas. And you just keep dancing. That’s what carries you forward.”