UST’s MAX Studios create original Catholic videos, podcasts
February 23, 2021
Alex Yemeck, host of UST MAX Studios’s podcast “BOLD - Living a Life of Service” talks with Darnell Miller, a producer at UST MAX Studios. The new effort by the University of St. Thomas produces digital content with a “Catholic lens.” (Photo courtesy of UST MAX Studios)
HOUSTON — In his lifetime, St. Maximilian Kolbe founded and ran a radio station and several publications to spread the Gospel message. In this tradition, the University of St. Thomas (UST) began digital content creation with MAX Studios, a new video and podcast studio for the university.
Inspired by St. Maximilian’s passion and by St. John Paul II’s encyclical “Redemptoris Missio,” MAX Studios’ goal is to provide fresh monthly content and conversations, all through a Catholic lens.
Using a missionary perspective, MAX Studios aims to encounter the surrounding culture while highlighting the diversity of the Catholic faith tradition and introducing others to the person of Jesus Christ through truth, goodness and beauty.
At the helm are two UST alumni, producers Darnell Miller and Bridget Richardson.
Miller said they are driven by the desire to share the Catholic faith.
“I am thrilled to be a part of the founding of MAX Studios,” he said. “My time at UST has been filled with people who have inspired and encouraged me to dig deeper into my faith. My hope is that through MAX Studios, we can provide that same encouragement and inspiration to others as they grow in their faith.”
Miller and Richardson are joined by a team of collaborators from the university community, who bring their experiences and expertise into the conversation. Those collaborators include Nicole Labadie, director of campus ministry; Max Linnville, campus minister; alum Larry Payne, and students Alex Yemeck and Isabel Garcia.
“I’m so excited to be a part of the MAX Studios team,” Richardson said. “This studio has a wonderful opportunity to evangelize in a way that both speaks to the culture and covers topics through a Catholic lens. I look forward to the many conversations with guests, but even more than that, I look forward to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our content and helping UST be a driver of reflective and meaningful conversations.”
Richardson said each show has its own essence, all relating to its main mission statement or goal.
“We choose our content according to what’s going on in the world — culturally and in the news — and what is happening liturgically,” she said. “We have production meetings to discuss what is relevant.”
MAX Studios content, which launched Dec. 14, 2020, is available on their main YouTube channel and related social media pages.
“We also have a website that includes the latest, ustmaxstudios.com,” Richardson said. “Subscribing to YouTube would be the best.”
Some of their flagship content includes “Protagonists of Change” with Sister Norma Pimentel; “For Such a Time as This,” a show which asks and seeks answers to the big questions in life and the current issues of today through the lens of Catholic social teaching and social justice through conversations with thought leaders from the community; and “The Rundown,” which features reflective conversations with experts on current events seeking to dialogue about the common good while combining faith, culture and the latest news.
For more content from MAX Studios, subscribe to their YouTube Channel, and visit the website or follow them, @maxstudiosust, on Instagram and Facebook.