Nonprofit Video Production in Kansas City

We make video for Kansas City nonprofits — impact films, donor appeals, gala videos, volunteer recruitment and grant support. We have done this work for University Academy, Donnelly College, Autism From the Start and Connections to Success. Pricing starts at $2,000 and every number is published on this page, which matters more here than anywhere: you probably have to put a number in front of a board before you can say yes to anything.

The two failure modes in nonprofit video

The first is the sad-piano film. Slow motion, desaturated color, a voice listing statistics, and a subject filmed in a way that makes them look like a problem rather than a person. It raises money in the short run and it costs you something harder to measure, because the people in it have to live in this city afterward.

The second is the annual-report film. Every program gets forty seconds, nothing gets a story, and the board is happy because nobody was left out. Nobody outside the room finishes it.

The films that work are narrower than either. One person, one thing that changed, told by them. A donor does not give because they learned your service model. They give because for ninety seconds they were somewhere specific with somebody real.

What we make for nonprofits

Impact and mission films

The anchor piece: what you do, for whom, and what is different afterward. Lives on the homepage, opens the gala, goes in the grant application, gets sent to a major donor before the ask.

Donor appeal films

Short, specific, and built around one ask. Year-end campaigns, capital campaigns, giving days. The best version of this is almost never the ED talking — it is a participant, a volunteer or a front-line staff member.

Gala and event films

The film that plays in the room before the paddle raise, cut to the length your run-of-show actually allows. If you are running a full conference or multi-session event, that is covered on our event video page.

Participant and alumni stories

One person, filmed with care and with consent, saying what changed. This is the most reusable footage a nonprofit can own, and the most important to shoot responsibly.

Volunteer and staff recruitment

What the work actually looks like on a Tuesday. Useful in a sector where the pitch is rarely the salary.

How we shoot people who are not professionals

Most of the people in a nonprofit film did not choose a public-facing life. That changes how we work, so it is worth saying plainly:

• Consent is a conversation, not a form. Participants should know where the film will run before they sit down, and they should be able to change their mind.
• No script, no coaching toward a line. We ask questions and let people take their time. The hesitations are usually the best part.
• Dignity over pathos. We shoot people at eye level, in their own clothes, in a place they chose. If a shot only works because somebody looks defeated, we do not use it.
• Minors and vulnerable participants. Bring us your policy and we will work inside it. If your policy says faces cannot be shown, we can still make a good film — that constraint is normal and we have shot around it.

What you get

• A crew of two — the same two, every shoot. In this work, unfamiliar faces in the room cost you something.
• We come to you, anywhere in the metro, at no travel charge.
• Licensed music, color, sound mix and captions.
• A long cut for the site and the grant, a short cut for the gala room, verticals for social, and stills.
• Unlimited revisions. Boards have notes. Ours do not cost extra.

What it costs

These are the published prices. They are the same whether you call in January or in October, and they are the same for nonprofits as for anyone else — we would rather quote one honest number than inflate a rate and then discount it.

• The Short — $2,000. A shoot of your space and your people cut to music with text on top. No interviews. A good way to get real footage of your programs on a small budget.
• Story Film — $4,500. One location, interview-led, cut into a single polished film. This is where most impact films, donor appeals and participant stories land.
• Brand Package — $10,000. Multiple scenes across a shoot: a hero film, cutdowns for each program, social verticals and photography. If you need material for a whole campaign year, this is cheaper than three separate shoots.

Full pricing for everything we make is on our video production cost page.

On using it in grants

Two things worth knowing. First, a lot of funders will watch a three-minute film when they will not read a twelve-page narrative, so the film is often the highest-return asset in the application. Second, video production is a legitimate line item in a communications or capacity-building budget — nonprofits regularly ask us for a quote specifically so they can put a real figure in a proposal. Ask and we will send you one in writing.

Organizations we have worked with

We have produced work for University Academy, Donnelly College, Autism From the Start and Connections to Success. Different missions, same underlying job: make a stranger care about something they have never personally needed.

We are happy to walk you through what we made and what we would do differently for you. Ask on the call.

How it works

1. A call. Thirty minutes. You tell us who the film is for and what you need them to do after they watch it. We tell you which package fits and what it costs. No deck.
2. A shot list, and consent. We agree who we are filming and get the permissions sorted before the day, not on it.
3. The shoot. Usually one day, at your site or wherever your work happens.
4. The cut. First version back within a couple of weeks. Collect the board's notes in one pass and we revise until it is right.

Where we shoot

We film across the metro every week — Kansas City, Independence, Overland Park, Olathe, Liberty and everywhere between, on both sides of the state line. There is no travel charge inside the metro.