Pro version template tags instead of shortcode

Is there a way to display a lightbox for a video link in a template tag instead of using a shortcode? I have a template that produces a dynamic link to a video and would like those to be opened in a lightbox the same way the shortcode would.

My link already produces an image as well, so lazyload is not necessary. I only need the link to open the video in a lightbox and be responsive.

This is my link/image code:

<a href="<?php $the_embedded_film_url = types_render_field("embedded-film-url", array("output"=>"raw")); echo $the_embedded_film_url; ?>" class="the_film_image"><?php if(!empty($film_image)) { echo $film_image; } ?></a>

https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-responsive-video-embedder/