‘Eyes with Pride’: New film documents American Fork High marching band’s rise to historic heights
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- The American Fork High School marching band is shown in an undated photo during a show in 2024.
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- A family waits for the start of a premiere showing of the new documentary “Eyes with Pride” on Monday, May 19, 2025, at American Fork High School.
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- American Fork High School senior and band percussionist Jacob Schmuhl is pictured in an undated photo during a night rehearsal.
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- Filmmaker Matt Judkins speaks to a crowd of attendees ahead of a premiere showing of the new documentary “Eyes with Pride” on Monday, May 19, 2025, at American Fork High School.
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- Writer David Rodeback speaks to a crowd of attendees ahead of a premiere showing of the new documentary “Eyes with Pride” on Monday, May 19, 2025, at American Fork High School.
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- American Fork High School senior and cello soloist Jayden Belnap is pictured in an undated photo during a night rehearsal.
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- Students, parents and community members are shown following a premiere of the new documentary “Eyes with Pride” on Monday, May 19, 2025, at American Fork High School.
Dozens of students, parents and community members gathered Monday in the auditorium at American Fork High School to watch — or in some cases relive — the magical moments that catapulted a long-awaited accomplishment for the school’s marching band last fall during the premiere of the new film that documents their rise to historical heights.
In a story of grit, determination and pride, the documentary titled “Eyes with Pride” takes viewers behind the scenes into the marching band’s journey to placing eighth among the best marching bands in the country during the Bands of America Grand National Marching Competition in November 2024.
“Eyes with Pride” was written by David Rodeback of American Fork, and filmmaker Matt Judkins directed and produced the documentary.
The pair collaborated just over a decade ago on a previous documentary, “Champions of the West,” which followed the marching band’s 2013 journey to Grand Nationals.
Judkins, who is also the band’s videographer of 12 years, describes watching the band as a source of energy.
“Even being at rehearsals is electrifying, because it’s this amazing combination of music and a physical art form,” he said.
Rodeback, who has had two sons in the band, said Judkins approached him with the idea to do the second film a little over a year ago — and it didn’t take much convincing for him to get on board with the plan.
“‘Eyes with Pride’ is several things, including a volunteer project for both of us,” Rodeback said. “For me it’s also a personal thank you note to the students and teachers in a music program that has had wonderful effects on my sons and an entire community. To make a film about them is to spend many hours in extraordinary, inspiring company.”
The hourlong documentary does not rely on narration but instead uses a collection of different interview clips to tell the story.
Heartbreak fuels passion
“Eyes with Pride” tells a story of overcoming defeat in pursuit of achieving a coveted goal.
The American Fork High School marching band’s road to becoming a finalist at the 2024 Grand National Championships in Indianapolis was a test of resilience.
But the band is no stranger to success, as it is consistently crowned state champion and has made several appearances at the grand nationals.
“Eyes with Pride” shows the heartbreak the band endured when they came within a hair’s breadth of becoming a finalist in 2022, on the same national stage.
“We were 13th place,” said Orien Landis, the school’s band director, in an excerpt from the film. “Thirteenth place is like you’re the first of the losers.”
The championship event begins with roughly 100 bands, narrowed down over two days of preliminary competition to the top 30 semifinalists. Those bands then compete for a chance to make the top 12, who are then chosen as the finalists who go on to compete again for judges to select winners.
The American Fork marching band hadn’t scored a finalist ranking since its first trip to the competition in 1995.
The film shows the band’s burning fire to reach that milestone once again, fueled by the near miss in 2022.
“Eyes with Pride” took nearly a year and a half to make and spans decades of the band’s history, with a focus on the past three years leading up to the 2024 nationals, the filmmakers said in a press release.
According to Landis, when the idea was first presented, the project started as a simple video archive for students to reflect on their achievements but then evolved into an hourlong documentary.
During the film’s premiere at American Fork High School on Monday night, he expressed hope that the band members will always remember their historical accomplishments with pride.
“The memories don’t fade, and (I hope) they understand that they accomplished something that was really historical,” he told the Daily Herald.
Jayden Belnap, a senior who led the strings section and played the cello last season, said the film took him right back to the emotions and excitement he experienced as a band member throughout his time at American Fork High.
“To go back and watch and relive some of the emotions that we went through, that it means a lot to me,” he said. “(It) just helps me remember the relationships I had with the whole band and my closest friends.”
Belnap said he hopes the film shows others the effort and the love that the students, staff and band leadership put into their craft.
But one doesn’t necessarily have to be a band member to feel a sense of motivation in watching “Eyes with Pride.”
“It just kind of inspires people to go after the things they love,” said Abigail Gunter, a senior who operates equipment in the school’s auditorium “A lot of these people have been doing this for like four like three or four years, and that’s crazy, because I’ve never been able to stick to something that long.”
She notes how exciting it is for other American Fork High students to see their school gain such national recognition.
“Eyes with Pride” was filmed during competitions at several locations in Utah, including American Fork High School, Lavell Edwards Stadium at BYU, and St. George; as well as Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis where the annual BOA Grand Nationals competition are held.
The title, according to Rodeback and Judkins, comes from a yell that has become a rehearsal tradition for high school and college marching bands across the United States.
“It begins with a director or drum major asking, ‘Where are your feet?'” Judkins explained. “The band answers, ‘Together!’ It ends by asking twice about their eyes, and the answer both times is, ‘With pride!'”
“I’ve never participated in the yell,” Rodeback added, “but just hearing and seeing them do it together is stirring.”
Two premiere showings of the film were held Monday, and its slated to begin streaming on the band’s YouTube page within the coming weeks.
