Denham Springs High School Students Take Top Prize at SLU Film Festival
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. – A team of four students and one alumnus from Denham Springs High School (DSHS) won the top prize at the 2026 “Take Your Shot” Student Film Festival, hosted by the Southeastern Channel at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.
The team’s short film titled “Loyalty and Other Crimes” is a Tarantino style film about a mob boss and his associates. The scenes were shot in and 
around Denham Springs. Current SLU Student and DSHS Alumnus Austin Reynolds wrote and directed the film and submitted the film in the contest.
The team includes Reynolds and DSHS students Chase Gordon, Beau David, Tyler Beatty and Layden Lewis. The four high school students worked alongside Reynolds, providing assistance with production, editing and acting.
All members of the team were involved in the project are current and former DSTV students. The school’s student-led video production and creative media program. DSTV has received more than 1.2 million views on the video content over the past two years.
The team was recently recognized at the DSHS STEMMYS, which was held earlier this month by the DSHS STEM and Robotics Center, to recognize outstanding student work in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
With the local accolade under its belt, the DSHS-based film team plans to enter the film in a national short film contest this year.
“I’m so proud of our students, for the creative energy and many hours they put into creating this short film,” said DSHS STEM Broadcast Instructor Johnny Lombardi. “This project took a lot of
collaboration and a lot of extra personal time to being on location and getting the final product they wanted.”
The SLU film festival features screening and awards for undergraduate and graduate students, often with cash prizes for winners.
This is the third year that the Southeastern Channel has sponsored the competition. The Southeastern Channel is the official television presence of Southeastern Louisiana University. Broadcasting content 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Southeastern Channel is available internationally via Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV, as well as through our live webcast available here on our website. It can also be seen on Charter/Spectrum Cable Channel 199 throughout the North Shore area.