What’s New & Noteworthy at Media Power Youth
Lights, Camera, Community! Youth Film Festival 2025
Over 150 family and community members gathered for Media Power Youth’s Second Annual Film Festival in a celebration of creativity, leadership, and the impact young people can make. With red carpet photos, popcorn in hand, and powerful stories on the screen, this morning of cinema captured everything Media Power Youth is about: teaching kids how to use media to learn, lead, and connect.
Hosted by Red River Theatres, this festival gives young filmmakers an opportunity to show off their media creations and engage in meaningful conversations with families, peers, and community leaders about a wide range of topics. We featured 11 short films on themes such as mentorship, managing emotions, conservation, and endangered species. With heart and originality, these media creators shared their unique perspectives and inspiration on how each of us can make an impact in our community. All proceeds from the event supported digital wellness and media literacy programs, ensuring our young people are equipped to thrive both on and offline.
We kicked off this year’s festival by honoring our Community Impact Award winner, Kara Carlson. Her tribute to her architecture teacher, Steve Jones, reminded our audience of how powerful mentorship can be. “Mr. Jones is always there for his students; whether for an architectural critique or someone to talk to, he is always there to truly listen,” says Kara. “Additionally, he brings his students together, creating a community of people who want to work hard and succeed. Whether during lunch, study hall or class time, Mr. Jones is there to help his students grow into well-rounded, achieving people.”
We also enjoyed films from our summer filmmaking programs. These short films were made by middle school youth in collaboration with the SEE Science Center and NH Audubon. One of the highlights of the day was a film titled Surprise, which explores this powerful emotion through a story about a forgotten birthday (or so we thought). These young filmmakers explored the concept of Foley Art, incorporating creative sound effects to bring their story to life. They also taught us about groundhogs, invasive species, migrating animals, and even vernal pools. 
We were introduced to Shreya, a Youth Advisory Board member, who shared her experiences with MPY’s mission and how teens nationwide are using creativity to lead real change. Guests received materials from a youth-led driver safety campaign, including water bottle stickers to remind us all to be a little more chill on the road. We concluded the event by awarding our filmmakers certificates of achievement in filmmaking and giving away a collection of exciting raffle prizes. Nine lucky winners walked away with some fantastic experiences, such as museum tickets, a private movie screening, a skate party, baseball box-seats, and more. Best of all, the event served as a joyful reunion for program participants with educators Sydney, Casey, and Shreya. The energy, the laughter, the tears, and yes, even the turtle (really!) made it a day to remember. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!
Special thanks to our incredible community of supporters: NH Department of Justice, Bear Foundation, Labombarde Family, Lustbader Family, Exeter Public Library, NH Charitable Foundation’s Corbit Family Fund and Ernest & Corinne Null Family Fund, Studio Lab, SEE Science Center, NH Audubon, Systems Engineering, First Light, Red River Theatres, Dartmouth Health, Bank of New Hampshire, Remix Skate & Event Center, Granite State Escape, Double Midnight Comics, The Common Man, Red Arrow Diner, McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
We would also like to give a shout out to Garrett Calusdian, our volunteer photographer, whose took photos throughout the event. To learn more about our 2025 summer filmmaking experiences and view theses films highlighted at the festival, visit our recent blog post here.