Jacob “Colby” Thompson may not seem like a totally over-the-top interesting guy on the outside with his hoodies and jeans, but this seventeen year old is much more than meets the eye, in fact instead of looking at him through your eyes, maybe look at him through the eyes of a camera, as this senior does a lot of work in film. 

It started out with an apple film camp, which Thompson notes is “…weird, I kind of hate Apple though, which is even weirder because I use all their products…” that led to starting a youtube channel to show his work, which he admits, at that age, may have been “…how I thought I could make money…” But, even though he made maybe only 3 cents, it got him hooked on Youtube having three of his own channels (Thompson Bro Films, Colby’s Creations, and Colby’s Youtube Channel) and two he runs for his parents (UStorage and Storybook Homes). 

This led to Thompson expanding, last year making his way from an unpaid internship at Arkansas PBS to a paid video intern at Kanga Studios, who he thought had good marketing, choosing to pursue them due to, as he totes, “If I’m gonna go work at a marketing company, I need you to have good marketing.” He interviewed for their social media position, which he didn’t make but then they offered him up the position of being their video intern and he accepted, since “…that’s what I really want[ed] to do.” Some interesting projects he has done at Kanga recently were things such as filming a hat for an hour, as well as socks and coffee cups, later saying “…it’s (the job) random, and I really enjoy that.” He also has helped with projects done for Conway Schools “We did the talent show for [the junior high] last year.” 

“One project I did recently, Mr. S was in, we did some stuff for…” “Conwaycation! (Mr. S interjected)” You may have seen the video where Mr. S was dancing around singing a parody of Hamilton The Musical’s “You’ll Be Back” in the perspective of a person who complains about everything in Conway all the time, yet won’t seem to leave, that was him. He particularly enjoyed this film project because he “…got to see it in front of a live audience, like people seeing my video, which is not something I normally get to do.”

Thompson recently submitted a video to a film festival, called the “All-American High School Film Festival” where each contestant picked a category, and he chose action sports. When deciding to join he mentioned that “…[it] might take some effort, but I actually stand a shot at getting in with this one.” He submitted a video with Josh Lemon, a fellow High School student that is on the mountain biking team, and they accepted it into the festival. You could go see the festival if, as Thompson says, “…you really, really felt like it” explaining that the festival is in New York and the ticket prices plus plane, board, and food could most likely rack you up a ton, so he suggests heading on over to his youtube channel, “Colby’s Youtube Channel,” to check it out.

Thompson still has more coming in his film legacy, posting youtube videos, working at Kanga Studios, and maybe, just maybe, getting into more film festivals. He is president of the Film Club at the school and suggests all who want to join do so.