Ring the Bell: Fancy Films

Fancy Films produces meaningful content and short-form documentary stories for social impact and strategic engagement. They’re specialists in working with corporate, government, public and not for profit organisations to drives change through purpose-driven content.

What motivated you to pursue B Corp certification?Our Founder Keryn Nossal’s passion for social justice and commitment to inclusivity has put social impact at the heart of everything we do. A storyteller at heart, she believes that the best way to make a positive impact is to do what you do best and use that to give back wherever you can – by producing pro bono authentic videos that connect emotionally with audiences. When we found out about B Corp we thought – this is us. This is what we have been doing for over 15 years – the community, the philosophy and the sense of purpose. It looked like such a good fit with our business – we just had to get the B.

Keryn is renowned for her creative and collaborative approach, using her passion for making a difference to build the business since 2002. She is currently studying an Executive MBA in Creative Leadership at The Berlin School of Creative Leadership and is embracing “better business for a better world” as the way forward for Fancy: “I want to do more substantial and transformative work in the world, courageously connect and make changes committing to social and political causes beyond myself. Becoming a B Corp is one step in the right direction towards making those changes.”

How do you plan to celebrate your B Corp certification?Champagne! The certification experience has been a team effort passionately driven by Elsie Shaw, who never faltered in her determination to get the B. It has shown us that we are resilient, once we commit we push for what we are passionate about, do the preparation and turn up to do the hard yards. We look forward to continuing to produce meaningful, purpose driven work knowing we feel good about making a positive difference using business as a force for good. We also can’t wait to make new connections during B Corp Month.

Can you share some of the initiatives or impact areas you do really well in, that qualify you as a B Corp?We are committed to creating lasting impact by contributing to the conversation around the key themes of homelessness & disadvantage, inclusion & diversity, gender equality, indigenous education and cross-cultural awareness and cancer research. Certifying with the business model “Designed to Give,” recognises a standing commitment to provide significant portions of company profits, revenue, equity or time to charitable causes. In other words, our paying clients contribute to funding our pro bono and social impact film work. These stories amplify voices and create social impact, that impact is measured …paving the way for positive change.

Do you have any tips for aspiring B Corps about the certification process?Be prepared to stick it out and have a thick skin, at one moment we nearly cried when we found out we were in the wrong business model category! We embarked on our B Corp journey around 12 months ago and never would we have expected it to take this long. We were on the brink before Christmas, then so close and the major disruption of the lockdown took months for us to finally submit our documents. The hard work makes it all the more rewarding though!