NCBA is currently inviting cooperators everywhere to submit their video stories for a chance to win a $2,000 cash prize and recognition at our 2nd annual IMPACT Film Fest! Plus, you’ll be contributing to a co-op video collection everyone can use for public awareness, advocacy and education work.
Now through July 31, we’re accepting videos that showcase how cooperatives transform communities, businesses and the broader economy. This year’s film fest will again award the best Long Form, Short Form and Social Media videos at our IMPACT Conference in October in Washington, DC.
The winning video in each category will receive a $2,000 cash prize. We’ll feature the winning submissions at the 2026 Cooperative IMPACT Conference—and the first 10 video submissions get a free IMPACT 2026 registration.
Demystifying video storytelling
To kick off this year’s video storytelling competition, we hosted a webinar last month with Bond Studio, the team behind the film that won Best Long Form Video at our inaugural film fest.
In case you missed it, we sat down with Jarami Bond, Founder and Executive Producer of Bond Studio, and Erick Salazar, the studio’s Creative Director, to dive into pro tips for video storytelling. The recording of that webinar is up on our YouTube channel—check it out to learn how to leverage video storytelling to inspire change and boost impact.
During the webinar, Erick shared a simple framework to demystify video storytelling. You can learn more by watching the recording, but here are three components that make up Erick’s storytelling framework:
- Hero: Define who your hero is
- Goal: Define the goal your hero is trying to achieve and why achieving that goal matters
- Tension: Identify the central tension or conflict – What’s pulling your hero away from their goal?
Even if your video is about an abstract concept like a cooperative value or your co-op’s mission, grounding it in one person—your hero—will make it feel real and meaningful, Erick said. “People will always connect with other people in a way they can’t with ideas or institutions,” he added.
“People will always connect with other people in a way they can’t with ideas or institutions.” – Erick Salazar, Bond Studio
This story structure also helps your video resonate more deeply with your audience.
“When you’re telling a story about a co-op, there can be a layer of complexity to the cooperative structure and governance,” Jarami said. “That’s where leading with the person, not the organization, can benefit your story. Show the transformation first before explaining the structure behind that transformation.”
Erick and Jarami also shared tips for new video storytellers just starting out who don’t have resources to hire a production team and want to maximize their smartphone’s video capabilities. “It can be hard to find the financial margin to invest in storytelling when you’re navigating a tight budget,” Jarami said.
In those cases, a few simple, affordable tools can help you capture high-quality video and audio using your smartphone:
- Wireless mic (Erick recommends RØDE mics)
- Compact/sturdy tripod and adjustable smartphone mount
- Ring light kit
In other cases, your story deserves more production value. That’s where a film production company like Bond Studio can be a smart investment. They’ve worked with cooperatives like the New Orleans Firemen’s Federal Credit Union and Shared Capital Cooperative to inspire change and accelerate growth through impact storytelling.
However you choose to tell your cooperative story, we hope you’ll consider submitting a video to this year’s storytelling campaign.
Recognizing our film fest sponsors
Once again, we’re grateful to National Co+op Grocers, our premier film fest sponsor. We also want to thank Principle 6 Cooperative, a new film fest sponsor this year, and our in-kind film fest sponsors, Digital Development Communications (DDC) and Art.coop.