Growing Partnerships
Film Connects MORE Than Just Cast & Crew.
Film Connects MORE Than
Just Cast & Crew.
NFI is building relationships among educators, production professionals, students, community organizations, and Nebraska businesses. Creating more ways for people to connect, contribute, and grow through the work.
The Work Gets Stronger When More People Are Connected To It.
The Work Gets Stronger When
More People Are Connected
To It.
NFI brings different parts of Nebraska’s creative and community landscape into closer contact, creating opportunities for knowledge, experience, resources, and relationships to move between them.
01
Education
Students, educators, schools, and academic programs.
02
Production
Working professionals, mentors, crew, and production resources.
03
Community
Nonprofits, community organizations, and local networks.
04
Business
Nebraska vendors, service providers, and businesses that support the work.
Opportunities Are Created Through Connections.
University of Nebraska at Omaha
NFI has been working with faculty at UNO to develop production-focused learning opportunities shaped around student needs.
The goal is to supplement existing coursework with access to working professionals, real production workflows, and practical experiences that can extend what students are already learning in the classroom.
Nebraska Production Professionals
Working Nebraska professionals are essential to NFI’s production model. Building relationships with experienced crew, developing mentors, and bringing new professionals into the work expands NFI’s capacity and the network available to local talent.
These connections extend beyond any single production. When a student or emerging filmmaker takes something learned on an NFI set and puts it to use on the next one, the model is working. The relationships and experience built through production can lead to future work and give experienced professionals more opportunities to continue investing in Nebraska talent.
The Foundry
NFI leadership participated in The Foundry’s Spark Works program, creating connections within Lincoln’s nonprofit and community landscape while expanding our understanding of and access to the people, organizations, and resources already at work there.
That experience reflects how NFI wants to grow: by building relationships with the communities we engage and working together to find meaningful roles NFI can play.
Omaha Community Foundation
NFI received a $5,000 capacity-building grant from Omaha Community Foundation and participated in its 2025 Nonprofit Capacity Building cohort alongside nonprofit leaders from across the Omaha community.
The program strengthened the organizational side of NFI’s work through focused exploration of leadership, strategic planning, organizational culture, sustainability, and peer connection, helping us build the foundation we need to grow responsibly.
Nebraska Vendors and Service Providers
NFI’s work depends on Nebraska businesses and service providers that support production and day-to-day operations. We rely on them for everything from equipment and professional services, to bookkeeping, supplies, locations, and food.
These relationships help us keep the work, experiences, and resources rooted in the communities we serve while simultaneously establishing the infrastructure that makes consistent opportunities possible.
Relationships Create Pathways.
A student meets a working professional. An educator gains a real-world resource. A local business becomes part of a production. One connection lays the foundation for the next.
A student meets a working professional.
Mentorships, references, future crew calls, and access to experience all begin with an initial conversation.
An educator gains a real-world resource.
Working professionals, production experience, and new connections add to the resources educators have to offer their students.
A crew member finds the next gig.
Experience on one production can open the door to a recoomendation, a new contact, or another call to work.
A local business becomes part of the work.
Equipment, services, supplies, locations, and everyday support connect Nebraska businesses directly to local production.
A community connection opens a new door.
Many of NFI’s expanding opportunities and resources for students and collaborators begin with an introduction or a connection from someone just like you.
Our Story Is Still Unfolding
Growing partnerships are one way NFI is building Nebraska’s future using film.