A documentary that recently aired on Arkansas PBS saw a Searcy native returning to the river that shaped his childhood, the Little Red River. Written and directed by Benjamin Garner, a professor at the University of Central Arkansas, the film follows Garner as he learns about the challenges facing the river today.
In addition to the April 11 air date, it has also been screened by the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, at the Searcy Rialto Theater, at Thaden School in Bentonville and Toad Suck Daze.
With a runtime of 56 minutes and 46 seconds, the film highlights the changes seen since the introduction of brown trout in the 1970s and the subsequent explosion in interest when a world-record trout was caught in the river in 1992.
Although the record has since been broken, the impact it’s made on the local fishing scene can still be felt as the river is internationally recognized for its trout. The big question posed by the film is if a balance can be struck between having “wildly popular” nature destinations and keeping them from the effects of pollution and trash.
According to Deputy Director of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission Ben Batten, who was featured in the movie, a 2014 study concluded that the economic value of the Little Red River for the surrounding area is approximately $34 million per year.
“We do find that brown trout on the Little Red River are growing a bit slower than they might elsewhere,” said Dr. Steve Lochmann, also in the film, professor of aquaculture/fisheries at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
“If I boiled the film down to one takeaway,” Garner said. “It would be that Arkansas has some truly amazing outdoor resources, and we need everyone to help take care of them for future generations to enjoy.”
Garner learned how to fly fish for trout in the river when he was young, saying in the film that his earliest memory of the river was at the age of 12. After pursuing his education and completing other documentary projects, he returned to Arkansas three years ago. Upon his return, he reconnected with an old friend, Lowell Myers who was the then-President of the Little Red River Foundation. Myers shared his concerns for the body of water, inspiring Garner to get to work on Arkansas Wild: The Story of Trout Tourism on the Little Red River.
His fifth documentary, and fourth featured on PBS stations around the country, Garner “was interested to learn more and rediscover the river in a deeper, more meaningful way.” He hoped to help others see the river as “an amazing resource that needs our protection.”
Benjamin Garner
“It is a bit unusual for a marketing professor to also be a documentary filmmaker,” he said. “I started making films when I was finishing my PhD at the University of Kansas. In addition to my research courses, I was able to take extra courses in film production, and that training has allowed me to use film as a way to communicate marketing stories and research. Over the years, I have continued to use documentaries to tell stories that impact the broader community.”
He earned his Ph.D. of philosophy from the University of Kansas and also holds a masters degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Arkansas and a general studies bachelor’s degree from Harding University. He said he’s published upwards of 25 peer-reviewed journal articles, but that they don’t get the same attention from people outside of the academic community that his films do.
His first documentary aired through PBS in 2018, followed by two more in 2020 and finally Arkansas Wild in April. Going through the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), his prior film was shown more than 380 times in 30 states. Garner said his movies haven’t quite reached the status of Ken Burns’ films and that the decision to air his content is left up to the individual PBS stations. Audiences outside of Arkansas can reach out to their PBS stations to ask about air dates or to request that the film be aired in their state.
“Each film is a little different in terms of the specific goals,” he said. “But with all of them, I want to raise awareness about the topic, inform the public and hopefully create some positive change.”
His other works follow similar struggles between conservation and growth including topics such as a Kansas farmers market, a failing family dairy farm and Georgia’s wine industry. Being back in Arkansas, he said the outdoor recreation and trout fishing are so big that “it just made sense.” His conversations with the Little Red River Foundation spurred him on to take the next step.
“As a content creator, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why I decide to choose one subject over another,” said Garner. “I think you look for compelling stories in your community that fit your expertise or interests. I always choose projects that I am passionate about, because when things get hard, you need that passion to motivate you to the finish line. I am a marketing researcher, and because of that, I tend to also gravitate towards projects with a consumer, branding or tourism lens.”
Learning lessons with each film, he continues to perfect his craft.
“There are so many things I learned by making this film,” Garner said. “One of the really cool things is that the brown trout on the Little Red are self-sustaining and wild. In other words, they have never stocked any of the browns on this river. They are ‘wild’ in that sense.”
While he hasn’t started another project, he’s interested in doing more conservation films and has some topics in mind for future works. He’s also looking at some non-conservation related subjects around the state.
In the meantime, he’s used his background to create a new course at UCA – Content Marketing – teaching students how to create videos, podcasts, blogs and more to drive inbound marketing. The course has been successful so far, allowing students to produce content for members of the central Arkansas community through service-learning projects.
Outside of the classroom, Garner hopes to continue bringing to light some of the impacts of tourism on The Natural State’s most beautiful locales through his documentary projects.
“I have no doubt that Arkansas is going to continue to grow in popularity over the next few decades, whether through fishing, hiking, mountain biking tourism, etc,” Garner said. “So, my hope is that we can put policies in place now that can handle an increase in tourism and development that still protects our rivers, lakes and wilderness areas. We need some places that are wild now, to stay wild. We may need to grant some more wilderness areas more protection or designate certain rivers as ‘Wild and Scenic’ rivers to prevent too much development. We should be very careful and picky in terms of development. Because you can’t take that back easily.”
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