Alumni Share Video Messages with Stoneman Douglas Community

by Guest Contributer February 24, 2018

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By: Carly Levy

A Marjory Stoneman Douglas alumnus created a video bringing former students from all over the country together to show their support after the deadly massacre which took 17 lives.

Premiering at the CNN Town Hall, Ryan Blitzer, produced a tribute video called #MSDStrong which was compiled using submitted videos from alumni showing their Eagle spirit.

Alumni Share Video Messages with Stoneman Douglas Community 3

Ryan Blitzer

Now living in Dallas, Blitzer graduated from the Parkland school in 2013. He then went on to graduate from Southern Methodist University After he joined the Facebook page for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School alumni, Blitzer answered a request for video messages. Since he owned his own production company, HiRai Creative, he volunteered to take on the project where he sifted through 150 minutes of footage, then spent two days editing.

His video soon received the attention of USA Today, BBC News, WSPN, WLPG and Graycon New. On February 21, the video premiered on CNN.

“Just seeing the reactions of people in the crowd – and practically all of them were crying. That’s when I finally broke down [in tears],” said Blitzer. “I wanted it to be that message of support that I hope students, teachers, and staff can take and heal a little bit.”