The History behind the Jon Lanier Video Testimonial
The Jon Lanier video testimonial started long before Spring Creek Ministries was a concept and long before Hamil Bros Studios was doing video production in any real capacity.
In the fall of 2001, Ross and Jacob were attending Midland Christian School.
This was the first semester of Ross’ Junior year in high school and one of his classes was government. Jon was Ross’ teacher in that class.
Ross recalls, “the most vivid memory I have with Jon in that class, naturally, was on 9/11. The planes hit and the towers were collapsing. Government was one of my classes before lunch and I remember everyone in class going to Jon’s house which was literally across the street from the school. We all piled in his living room and watched as the events unfolded on the television.”
In the coming years, after Ross’ graduation, Jacob would join the MCS tennis team and be coached by Jon, attending many tournaments and sealing what would become a long-standing family relationship.
Within a few years, Jon would retire from teaching to go into business for himself selling coffee as Coffee Jon while Ross and Jacob’s father, Lonnie, would go on to establish Spring Creek Ministries.
From Friend to Donor to Recipient
During the ministry’s infancy, Lonnie began a grass roots fundraising campaign, personally reaching out to anyone he could to look for donors for SCM. Where did he start? With friends and family, of course.
Fortunately, Jon was one of the first several friends to invest in the mission that would spread through West Texas communities.
Jon found the nonprofit mission easy to get behind.
Little did he know that, in the coming years, Spring Creek Ministries would walk through the end of both of his parents’ lives with him, providing support and encouragement in more ways than one.
The Task of Video Production
In early 2026, Spring Creek Ministries applied for a grant. Part of that grant was to create some new video content to assist with fundraising and awareness.
Wanting to maximize the budget for the production on this, we decided to get some testimonials and also do a formal introduction of the board members (more on that later).
Our first shoot for this project was in Midland with Jon.
We made the trek south from Lubbock and arrived at Coffee Jon’s office shortly before he did.
Uncertain of how big a space we would be working in, we over packed.
Lighting in Tight Spaces
Once inside the office, we realized we were very limited on space. Jon didn’t need a big office, so he didn’t have a big office.
Fortunately for us, we have some Aputure lights with a very small footprint.
Keeping things simple, we only used two lights.
For our key light, we employed our Aputure P300C Nova with its softbox. Being a panel light, it doesn’t have much depth, so the largest part of the setup is the baby stand that it sits on.
Our next light was our back light, for which we used our Aputure Storm 80C.
Those two lights, with two cameras and a boom microphone took up nearly every inch of usable space.
The Interview
Jon’s years of experience teaching gave him an edge when it came to being in front of the camera. His answers were clear and concise, which made editing his video testimonial much easier.
It was over before we knew it and it was no mystery that we had something great on film.
It’s not a stretch for Spring Creek Ministries to gain donors after providing help, but it’s not as often that we get to help donors and that made for a touching story.
Post Production
The post production on the Jon Lanier Video Testimonial was fairly simple. It did not take long for Jacob to get it put together with the photos and motion graphics and for Ross to get color graded and get the audio mixed.
What’s Next?
Having done several testimonials for SCM over the years, we wanted to answer the question of, what’s next?
Creating video for video’s sake doesn’t accomplish anything. So, what were we going to do with these videos?
After several discussions and a lot of work going into the vision of what this project could and should do, an entire end-of-year plan was made and execution began.
Jacob began furiously getting photos and quotes together and commenced building a queue of marketing materials that would fill up the pipeline of content going out for SCM, with designs on getting more people involved, whether that is spreading the word, donating, or helping others find help with the ministry.
We are anxious to see how this campaign unfolds and how effective it is.
If nothing else, it is an exercise in expanding our horizons at Hamil Bros Studios.
You Deserve to be Heard
Your nonprofit already has the story. What it often lacks is someone who knows how to tell it so people actually feel it — and then act.
Hamil Bros Studios has spent years sitting in tight rooms, tight budgets, and real West Texas lives, turning relationships like Jon Lanier’s into films that raise awareness and move donors. We don’t manufacture emotion. We find the thread that’s already there — the teacher who became a donor who became a family the ministry walked with — and we put it on screen with care.
If your organization needs video that does more than “look professional,” hire us to help tell your nonprofit’s story.
hamilbrosstudios.com — tell us what you’re trying to say. We’ll help people hear it.