Last year was lousy, and the beginning of this year hasn't been a lot better. Still, mixed in with all the difficulties, there have been moments of joy. In 2010, on a whim we created our first "Smiles" video - a short montage of happy faces, compiled from a year's worth of footage. It's been an annual post for the last few years (see below for videos from past years). If you need a little shot...

Reflection Films has been fortunate to work with a variety of clients in the higher education space, including two community colleges: MassBay Community College and North Shore Community College. For the latter, we were asked to produce two 15-second animations that highlight the value of a community college education from the perspective of a traditional student and a student who attends a bit later...

Back in mid-February I attended an event, "Building Inclusive Work Cultures for People with Disabilities".  I wanted to go not only because I am a fan of Yolanda Coentro and the Institute for Nonprofit Practice (INP), who co-hosted the event with State Street. I also knew I had a lot to learn.  I had the chance to speak with Catherine Hyde Townsend, Disability Inclusion Expert, and Regina...

Needless to say, video production is currently a bit different than what it was a couple months ago. As a reflection of this, we were recently asked for the first time to participate in a video production with Zoom. Reach Out and Read (ROR) is an organization we've enjoyed working with on several occasions. They partner with pediatricians in an effort to educate families on the value of parents...

 Culture Reframed raises awareness and provides education and resources in order to build resistance and resilience in kids to hypersexualized media and porn culture. As the mother of a 14-year-old boy, it was upsetting, though not surprising, to learn: How accessible porn is to both young children and teens How violent the images are and how hard core is now mainstream How much...

It is with great joy that we learned that the International Institute of New England (IINE)  recently raised over $1 million at its Golden Door Awards event honoring MIT President Dr. L. Rafael Reif.  We had the pleasure of creating a tribute video in his honor.   In my opinion, one excerpt from Dr. Reif’s speech perfectly sums up the value that immigrants bring to our community: In...

                          Last week I attended a powerful workshop organized by TSNE – MissionWorks called “Moving Beyond Diversity to Inclusion.” Co-facilitators Stewart Lanier and Trina Jackson offered loads of food for thought, including feedback shared by people of color about white-led institutions:   “There are good intentions but a lack of substance.” As...

  Some of you may remember that around this time last year, Geoff and I had the bittersweet opportunity to record Heather McManamy on video.  She was a friend of my sister's, 34 years old with Stage 4 cancer.  She wanted us to capture messages and stories that would get shared with her 4-year-old daughter, Bri, as well as images of Heather, her husband, Jeff, and Bri all together. Sadly,...

Carla C. Cataldo, Principal of Proposals, Etc., has more than twenty years of experience in fundraising and non-profit work. She helps nonprofits, cities and towns raise more money, and helps for-profit companies access Workforce Training Fund grants. She answers two questions on how development professionals can hone their focus to raise more funds. Q. How should busy fundraising professionals spend...

I did a short interview with my friend Julia Campbell, who does a lot of marketing and social media work for nonprofits. I wanted her to share a few social media tips for nonprofits. Here is the first half of the interview. The second half will be next week. How do you decide which is the right social media platform for your organization? JC: I think organizations need to focus on strategy first...