Local videographer hopes to use his talent as a catalyst for change

Arlee Warriors’ head basketball coach Zanen Pitts compares the team videographer Jordan Lefler’s dedication to his craft as one in the same with Arlee Warriors’ star basketball player Phillip Malatare.

“Lefler has a camera (in his hand) just like Phillip has a basketball wherever he goes,” Pitts said.

The community and reservation of Arlee’s first-ever 2017 MHSA Class C victory was just the tonic the community, mulled by tragedy, suicide and untimely deaths that involved many of their community members, needed. Lefler, who has chronicled the success of the Warriors all on videotape, and the Arlee Warriors’ basketball team decided to utilize his talents to make a difference.

Armed with a platform of back-to-back championship seasons, the Warriors team and Lefler collaborated to produce a suicide awareness video for their own therapy and to raise awareness of a growing national problem that is reaching epidemic proportions and hit the community and reservation of Arlee supremely hard.

Arlee and Lefler produced the video for all of the right reasons.

“Last season, within a span or three or four weeks, we had five or six suicides on the reservation within our community,” Lefler said. “That is something that our community and reservation faced last year and this year one kid from Two Eagle took his life right before the Divisional tournament. That is how the idea for the video came about. The boys talked to Zanen and asked ‘what can we do?’ That is when Zanen and the boys came to me and asked if I would make them a video dedicating the Divisional tournament to the victims of suicide and the reservation.”

Lefler, a veteran videographer was aware of the small probability of the video going “viral” and expected a minimal response from the production after the team defeated Manhattan Christian 69-60 at Hamilton High School.

Prior to Lefler’s viral suicide awareness video, his biggest YouTube video generated a total of 17,000 views.

“In the first video, Zanen and I were expecting maybe a thousand views,” Lefler said of his initial expectations. “Then, it blew up and we decided to do one dedicating the State tournament to suicide awareness. It got over one million views and completely exceeded our initial expectations for the video. I think it was like within 24 hours and the video had gotten close to 23,000 views and almost a thousand views in an hour, if I remember correctly. When it got a few thousand shares, I thought to myself ‘this thing is going to blow up.’”

Lefler’s intuition on the video’s reach was confirmed when he noticed something different on the Arlee Warriors’ basketball page on Facebook.

“I am the administrator on the Arlee Warriors’ basketball page and the page itself had gotten a lot of private messages in my inbox,” Lefler said. “People were sharing their stories on how suicide impacted their life, or they know someone or maybe even themselves contemplated. We were able to get a lot of positive feedback shining a light on the subject.

A few local celebrities, including the junior United States Senator from New Jersey and Montana Senator Jon Testor both embraced the movement the video created.

“They made us a video congratulating the boys on their state championship and thanking us for making the suicide video,” Lefler said. “They made it and posted it on Facebook supporting the Warrior movement.”

Lefler began his career in videography when he was in junior high and filmed him and his friends skateboarding.

“We would make little sketches,” Lefler said. “As far back as I could remember, I had a camera and I was into filming things.”

Lefler also used the camera to film his brother wrestling and when the coach made a highlight video, that is when Lefler first experienced the true power of the medium of video.

“That is when I first saw the magic of how video could make people feel,” Lefler said. “When I graduated from high school, I took it over for Arlee and made wrestling videos a few more years for my brother. Football videos are what I’ve done the longest and I’ve done basketball highlight videos for four or five years.”

Lefler continued to work on honing his craft.

“As I got new and better equipment, I got a stabilizer,” Lefler said. “I walked around with it and shot footage with different cameras, shot cameras with slower motion and frame rate, and purchased different camera gear. It just became an ever-evolving thing. I continued to learn new processes and how it fits into each sport in particular.”

Lefler, who got his bachelors degree in media arts, said learning the technical nuances really helped elevate his ability to the next level, and having all of the references really helped Lefler excel in college.

“It really helps and even before you get into the media arts program and before you shoot video, you start off with still frames,” Lefler said. “You work your way up to that. It really helped to have that background having filmed in Arlee before I was accepted into media arts.”

Lefler and his brother recently started a clothing line called Rise Up Montana and they are using the Warriors movement simultaneously to promote positive change in communities.

As Lefler continues to film Arlee Warriors’ basketball, he will continue to develop his career and passion in what has become an increasingly competitive genre in part because of the advent of technology.

“Things are starting to pick up a little bit and we are still working on creating new products but it kind of took a backseat over the basketball season,” Lefler said.”

Since chronicling so much of the history of Arlee athletics, Lefler has said he has felt like he is “part of the team.”

“It’s been amazing and the boys have made me feel like I am part of the team.” Lefler said. “I’ve been filming these highlight videos now for eight years,” Lefler said. “We have a championship season on film last year and it’s pretty awesome, and we have another one this year.”