Last month, I had the pleasure of interviewing the folks at Neighborhood Film Company, a company that melds for-profit with non-profit to train, mentor, and employ adults in recovery through the process of filmmaking.
This week, Tim Høiland has an article for Christianity Today’s This is Our City project that expands on NFCo.’s story, digging deeper into the ins and outs of their business model and further exploring the dynamics of their community-oriented approach. Though big can sometimes be better, the founders of NFCo. believe they are called to orient the process of transformation in their business as they observe it in Jesus’ approach to discipleship.
Høiland summarizes:
Numbers are intentionally kept small; there are currently three apprentices, with plans for three more next year. “For us, the philosophy is shrinking our focus to people with names and faces and stories that we know,” says Dan Walser, 29, executive director of Working Film. “This is what we see when we look at Jesus and his ministry with his disciples.”
By working with a limited number of trainees at a time, NFCo. and Working Film can personalize the program while holding each apprentice to a high standard of excellence. “We tell our guys, ‘Look, the bottom line is that we need to run a company. So if you can’t cut it as an employee, there are plenty of nonprofit programs that will babysit you,’ ” Staub, 29, says. “That may seem harsh, but if I start looking at you like you can’t be the best, I’m not giving you full human dignity…”
…”We’re not the Philadelphia Film Company—our impact and our love are smaller than that,” Lindwall says. “It’s exciting to know that the God who made the universe calls us to love our neighbors. We get to do that by making videos, and we all do it together.”
Read the full article.
Read On Call in Culture’s full interview with the founders of NFCo.
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