Shreveport Siblings Battle at Film Prize 2025

A deep family love for filmmaking has taken one Shreveport family right to the heart of the indie film scene. This year, the city gets to follow their journey as two talented siblings battle it out at Film Prize 2025.

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Parents Patrick and Susan Kirton have always inspired their children to embrace the arts, even if that means a little friendly competition. Their kids, Haley and Eric Kirton, will be competing head-to-head this year, each with their own unique short film.

The Shreveport Film Community That Started It All

The Kirton family has been involved with Film Prize in some capacity for nine years, but Susan admitted she and Pat never thought they could actually make a film due to the complexities of camera work, editing, and sound. But that changed after they saw the incredible support of the local filmmaking community.

A true "game changer" was seeing the film “The Bespoke Tailoring of Mr. Bellamy,” which won Film Prize that year. Susan knew immediately they had to call the director, Alexander Jeffery, and his sound designer, Paul Petersen, if they ever made a project.

Before jumping into a feature film, the family encouraged both Haley and Eric to write and direct their own shorts to learn the many complexities of the process.

The Inspiration Behind Each Competing Film

The inspiration for each sibling’s short is incredibly personal. Haley’s film, “Ramone Makes a Movie,” was inspired by watching actor Gio March embody two completely different characters in past Film Prize entries. When she pitched the idea, Susan said, “That’s it. That’s your short. Write that.”

Eric’s film, “Disorder,” grew from a difficult but relatable family memory. It was inspired by the struggle of raising a child with ADHD while his father, Patrick, was offshore for 10 years, forcing them to complete homework over the phone. When the family came up with the film’s ending, Susan said, “it moved us to tears, and we knew that was the one for him.”

While Haley teamed up with Alex Jeffery again, Eric formed a strong bond with filmmaker Rob Senska. The family helped with both projects, Pat and Susan even tackled the huge, often thankless job of craft services!

The kids knew they were competing, but as Susan says, their attitude was perfect: "The point is not winning; the point is to make the film."

Now that they’ve got their shorts under their belts, the Kirtons are ready to gather their film family once again to tackle that feature film. "They both learned a ton. And we think we are ready to tackle that feature now. We’ve got a couple of ideas in the works, and we’re looking forward to gathering our film family together once again to make it happen," said Susan Kirton.

How to See the Dueling Siblings and Cast Your Vote

Want to see Haley and Eric's films along with 18 other competing shorts, and cast your vote for the $50,000 cash prize? Here are the details for Film Prize 2025!

Filmmakers from all over the world traveled to Louisiana to make short films, and now they will premiere their work and vie for your vote to win the coveted Louisiana Film Prize of $50,000 cash!

Screenings are on Friday and Saturday only (See all 20 films!)

Where: Various venues across Downtown Shreveport and Bossier City. You can get all the information and tickets by clicking here.

(P.S. Fun fact: Patrick Kirton worked in the LA movie industry for over 10 years and even met Michael Jackson on the set of the "Black or White" video!)