The Foothills Academy gala in Calgary during the screening of the fundraising film
Case study

Foothills Academy

The gala film that raised tens of thousands

Calgary · Nonprofit and education · Fundraising film

Gala film Parents and students speaking on camera in the Foothills Academy gala film
The gala filmShown to the room on the night of the fundraiser
Follow-up Foothills Academy teachers filmed for the online course
The second roundNew interviews in 2026, cut for the online course
Discover more
Client
Foothills Academy
Sector
Nonprofit and education
Location
Calgary, Alberta
Format
Interview led fundraising film
Audience
Annual gala donors
Follow-up
Online course, 2026
Director
Jared Ho
Producer & post
Storimatic Studio
About this project

Statistics Don't Move a Room. Real Families Do.

Foothills Academy changes the lives of students who learn differently: kids with ADHD, dyslexia and autism. To change more lives they had to raise more funding. The most persuasive case for a donor is not a chart of outcomes. It is the voice of a parent or student who has lived the difference.

01 / The challengeA fundraising goal dressed as a storytelling problem

At their annual gala, Foothills needed donors to feel the impact the school has, so they could fund more resources and reach more students with learning disabilities.

Statistics don't move a room. Real families do. But getting parents and students to open up honestly on camera about something this personal takes more than pointing a lens at them.

02 / What we didWe built the interview around the people, not the gear

We developed a careful, intentional set of questions designed to draw out the real, unguarded story, then filmed parents and students telling it in their own words: the struggle, the turning point, what Foothills changed for their family.

Those interviews were cut into films built to land in a room full of donors. Honest, specific, impossible to look away from. The families are the heroes. The production stays invisible.

03 / The resultThe room gave

The gala raised tens of thousands of dollars, funding that turns straight into resources for more students. It also gave current parents and the organisation a way to see the impact they are part of.

And it didn't end there.

Brought back

Foothills returned to us this year for a new round of interviews, and together we built an online course that packages their teachers' expertise for educators around the world, carrying the school's impact far beyond Calgary.

From the shoot

Small Room, Big Story

The Foothills Academy gala room during the film screening
Gala night · the room
A parent being interviewed about their child's turning point
Interview · a parent
A student talking to camera about learning differently
Interview · a student
Quiet lighting setup for a sensitive interview
Setup · kept small
Donors watching the film at the gala
Gala night · the room gives
Foothills Academy teacher recording a lesson for the online course
Course · 2026
More work

Explore Our Other Projects

Answers

About This Project

01What did Storimatic Studio make for Foothills Academy?

An interview led fundraising film shown at the annual gala, built from parents and students telling their own stories about learning differently. Storimatic returned in 2026 for a second round of interviews and helped build an online course from the school's teaching expertise.

02How do you film a sensitive interview well?

The work happens before the camera. We develop a careful, intentional set of questions designed to draw out the real story, then keep the setup small so the room stays comfortable. The family is the subject and the production stays invisible.

03Does video actually raise money at a fundraiser?

For Foothills Academy the gala raised tens of thousands of dollars, funding that turns straight into resources for more students. Statistics do not move a room. A parent describing the turning point for their child does.

04Do you work with nonprofits and schools?

Yes. Foothills Academy is a Calgary school for students with ADHD, dyslexia and autism. The approach is the same as any other client: find the true story, tell it plainly, and let the people it happened to speak for themselves.

05Can you produce video for an online course?

Yes. The Foothills follow-up packaged the school's teaching expertise into an online course for educators worldwide, carrying the organisation's impact well beyond Calgary.

Got Impact Worth Funding?

Book a 30 minute strategy call. We will find the true story inside your organisation and build the film that makes people act on it.