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Adam Henderson never expected his time at Carroll ISD to launch him into a well-respected film editing career. More than 15 years later, his newest project is making the rounds on the film festival circuit, and he couldn’t be prouder.
A 2004 Carroll graduate, Adam started his media career as a KDGN member helping produce the morning broadcast every day. Adam says his love for editing happened by accident during his junior year.
“It was early on in the year where I was working on a project where I attended and filmed a football game and had to edit it down to fill a two-minute slot,” Adam says. “The second I imported the footage onto the computer, found the right music track and began editing, I instantly knew this is what I wanted to do for a career.”
After graduating from Carroll ISD and enrolling in the University of North Texas’ Radio, Television and Film program, Adam edited everything that he could, from shorts and feature films to documentaries and even music videos. Then in 2019, film director and colleague Richard Reens approached him about editing his short film called “Pant Hoot,” a documentary about a man named Stany Nyandwi who could communicate to chimpanzees by speaking their language, or “pant-hooting.”
“As intimidating as it was, as I began to watch all of the beautiful imagery and emotional interviews Richard had captured, I knew this was a very unique opportunity to potentially create something meaningful,” Adam says. “And I knew I would be a better editor after working on it.”
After months of editing and locking in an edit in early 2020, the film was released to critical praise, winning four festival awards including Best Documentary Short at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
“Working on 'Pant Hoot' was a wonderful, life-changing experience for Richard and me,” he says. “The future for 'Pant Hoot' is yet to be determined, but we want it to be accessible to anyone and everyone around the world so they can also fall in love with the chimpanzees and an extraordinary man that has devoted his life to saving them.”
To see where you can screen "Pant Hoot," visit its Facebook page or its website at PantHootFilm.com.