LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. – A documentary from a Pasco County middle school student is one of the prize winners in this year’s StudentCam competition from C-SPAN.


What You Need To Know

  • Pasco County middle schooler Trevor Lucas took home an honorable mention in a film competition for his documentary on inflation 

  • Trevor said the film started out as a project for his seventh grade civics class

  • Trevor interviewed financial experts for the documentary, which runs about six minutes

“I was actually playing video games, and my mom got the e-mail. She screams, ‘Yes! Yes! Trevor, come look!’” Trevor Lucas said of the moment he found out he’d won. “So, it’s pretty cool.”

Trevor, 13, was one of 97 honorable mention winners in the contest that included submissions from 40 states, Washington, D.C. and Abu Dhabi. According to C-SPAN, his documentary, “Inflation and Its Impact on America,” was one of 150 films honored out more than 1,500 entries.

Trevor said the film started out as a project for his seventh grade civics class at Charles S. Rushe Middle School. He said students had to answer the question posed by the C-SPAN contest: “If you were a newly elected member of Congress, which issue would be your first priority and why?”

“I picked inflation because it’s…affecting me and my family. So, I thought that was a really good topic to pick,” he said.

Aside from editing experience, Trevor said he’d never attempted anything like this before. His mom, Diane Lucas, owns a video production company, SineWave Creative, and helped out with equipment and an editing program.

“A lot of times, he hears about it, but he doesn’t actually get to see me in action. So, that was kind of cool, to watch me set up everything,” Lucas said of getting to share her skills with her son.

Trevor interviewed financial experts for the documentary, which runs about six minutes. He said editing was the most challenging part of the process, but also one of the most rewarding.

“It was kind of cool to see at the start what the video was of the raw footage, and then see as we edit, kind of see how it kind of broke down and turned into the final product,” Trevor said.

The honorable mention comes with a $250 prize.

“I’m super proud of him for not giving up on this project and seeing it all the way through,” said Lucas.

Trevor said he plans to get behind the camera again for next year’s StudentCam competition.