'Gilly' nominated for 2020 SVG College Sports Media Award

At last August’s TexAgs Kickoff, Texas Filmworks debuted their new film, ‘Gilly’.

Much like Cullen Gillaspia himself, the documentary quickly became a fan favorite on TexAgs and has now picked up an award nomination.

On Thursday, Sports Video Group (SVG) released the list of finalists for the 2020 SVG College Sports Media Award, and ‘Gilly’ received a nomination in the category of Best Special Feature by a professional company.

“My initial reaction was excitement,” said director and producer Clay Taylor. “We took a lot of pride in the production of this story. I was grateful that our peers in the industry looked at this project and appreciated it for what it is and would consider our work against some of the industry giants.”

The Texas Filmworks’ production is nominated alongside special features from titans of the sports media industry. Brandon Jones and Andrew Kilzer were executive producers on the project, and Lindsay Caudle served as the film’s editor.

“It would be a great sense of accomplishment to win it,” said Taylor. “We’re a small, mom-and-pop production company out of College Station, Texas, and we’re going up against sports media giants like ESPN, FOX Sports and CBS Sports. Just to be in the ring with names like that is an honor.”

The 22-minute film follows the magical journey of Cullen Gillaspia from his time at Katy Taylor High School to being drafted by his hometown Houston Texans in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft. It also documents his years at Texas A&M, where he became the most recognizable 12th Man in program history next to E. King Gill.

“This film just feels like the cherry on top of all of these magical moments in his life leading up to him starting his NFL career. I can’t think of a better way for him to leave his A&M days behind.”

Gillaspia’s life and unlikely path to the NFL are detailed during interviews with Gillaspia’s parents, former Katy Taylor junior varsity football coach Matthew Glover, TexAgs’ co-owner Billy Liucci and Cullen Gillaspia himself.

“What makes this film special is that Cullen opened himself up to that chance of failure,” said Taylor. “There was that chance. All the credit is to him. The story wouldn’t have happened without that.”

TexAgs

Gillaspia celebrates after crossing the goal-line to score the first touchdown by a 12th Man in Texas A&M history.

The film includes the story of the first-ever 12th Man touchdown (Gillaspia’s 4th quarter score in the 2018 Gator Bowl against NC State) as well as footage from the draft day party.

“Being able to capture those raw emotional moments, that’s what we love,” said Taylor. “There’s a lot of magic to that.”

Texas Filmworks partnered with both TexAgs.com and the 12th Man Kickoff Team Foundation to create this special feature, which has garnered over 130,000 views on TexAgs.

“We knew it would be a big hit for TexAgs, current students and former students, but we didn’t know it would be appreciated so much by our peers.”

The 2020 SVG College Sports Media Awards will be held on Thursday, July 25 and will be available for streaming on YouTube. Reece Davis, Tom Rinaldi and Andy Katz will be among some of the hosts for this 12th annual awards show.

‘Gilly’ is available to watch for FREE on TexAgs.com, as are many other TexAgs Films.