Documentary film & video storytelling
We believe in the power of storytelling to improve the wellbeing of people & planet.
Firestarter Interactive is the production studio behind brand films, campaign series and feature documentaries for institutions, foundations and the brands and destinations we believe in — with the marketing fluency to turn a film into audience growth, engagement and conversion.
Projects in focus
Stories that move people.
Reef, sail and sky in a single day: a destination campaign for Qantas with Tourism Queensland — shot solo in 24 hours and edited in the air, delivered before the plane touched down in LA.
A film for a fund investing in Baltimore's creative economy — the artists, makers and founders it backs, in their own words.
Feature documentary · Directed by Willa Kammerer · 2020
Starting at Zero: Reimagining Education in America.
Our first feature: the case for investing in high-quality early childhood education, told through five governors, scientists, teachers and families. Directed by Willa Kammerer and co-produced by Firestarter Interactive with the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation, it premiered in 2020, won the Audience Award at Film Invasion Los Angeles, and has anchored more than 100 community screenings across the country.
What we do
Four practices, one craft.
Documentary-style interviews, rigorous narrative development and cinematic production — applied to the audiences that move institutions.
EducationCampaign, admissions & community films for colleges, universities and independent schools.Explore education
Social ImpactStorytelling campaigns for foundations and nonprofits that catalyze action and investment.Explore social impact
DocumentaryFeature films with a mission — Starting at Zero, and Kelp Movement in development.Explore documentary
Travel & LifestyleDestination and brand campaigns — Qantas, Iceland, Chile, ALOHA, Seagreen.Explore travel & lifestyle
The Firestarter Difference
We don’t create content. We transform it into story — full of the heart and authenticity that makes us care.
Behind every film is a process built by experience: thousands of hours of interviews and more than a decade of developing stories, refined into six collaborative steps.
Client partners
Trusted by institutions, foundations & brands.
Education
Social Impact
Travel, Lifestyle & Business
Why Firestarter
Production roots. Marketing fluency.
We are a production company first: documentary and commercial storytelling since 2009, thousands of hours of interviews, a feature film touring the country. But we also live in the online marketing and brand world, and we know how to build campaigns that grow an audience, hold its attention and move it to act. And we have the platform to back it up: Firestarter Funnels runs film campaigns, audience communication and monetization end to end. Most studios do one or the other. We do both, on purpose — because a beautiful film that nobody sees isn’t finished.
From production
Craft that makes people care.
- Documentary-style interviewing that gets people to open up on camera
- A crew small enough to be in the boat when the moment happens
- Cinematography, editing and story, from a 30-second short to a feature
From marketing
Systems that make it travel.
- Campaign architecture built for audience growth, engagement and conversion
- Short-form and social cuts from every shoot, so one film becomes a season of content
- Firestarter Funnels, our own platform, runs the campaign, the audience and the monetization
The archive, in motion
Films from around the world. Pick one.
Led by Willa Kammerer
“Firestarter Interactive grew out of my belief in the power of collaboration and storytelling to make the world a better place.”
Willa began in documentary radio — an intern at New Hampshire Public Radio, then the Salt Institute — and built Firestarter Interactive into a multi-7-figure creative agency serving Ivy League universities, global foundations and luxury travel brands. She directed the studio’s first feature, Starting at Zero, and is producing its second, Kelp Movement.
Today she also leads FIRESTARTERIX, the brand and growth ecosystem for founders and experts — the same craft, pointed at personal brands.
Client partners on the work
“Exceptional, beautiful, and powerful.”
“It is an absolute pleasure to work with Willa and the Firestarter team. They are expert storytellers and artists who welcome collaboration with institutional partners and put their considerable talents to work in advancing our strategic goals. The work they've produced for us is exceptional, beautiful, and powerful.”
“Willa is a deft and powerful storyteller whose videos for Williams have captivated prospective students, inspired prospective donors, and educated thousands about our college's character, history, and aspirations. She's also wonderful to work with — highly responsive to our input, resourceful with time and material, and relentlessly cheerful.”
“I've worked with Willa on a few projects and each collaboration is more fruitful than the last. She is a thoughtful and supportive storyteller, and has a unique way of extracting powerful narratives out of her subjects. When interviewees meet her it's as if they've known her forever and they immediately feel at ease sharing their thoughts and feelings.”
Part of the Firestarter ecosystem
Production is where Firestarter began.
Firestarter Interactive is the film and production studio. Its sibling, FIRESTARTERIX, builds authority brands, websites and funnels for founders and experts. Same team lineage, same standard — different job.
Fieldnotes
From the intersection of storytelling, entrepreneurship & social impact.
What a capital campaign film series actually isOne film per fundraising pillar, built from interviews, launched across the campaign calendar. How Williams and Brooks did it.Read the post 
How to host a Starting at Zero screening, and what happens at oneMore than 100 communities have used the film to open the case for early childhood investment. Here is how they did it.Read the post 
Why seaweed is the story of our timeKelp grows a foot or two a day, needs nothing from us, and can feed, fuel, heal and de-carbonize. That is a film.Read the post Good to know
Questions we’re asked most.
What does Firestarter Interactive do?
Firestarter Interactive is a New England film, video and content production company — a documentary-rooted creative agency and content studio. We produce brand films, campaign series and feature documentaries for education institutions, impact-driven foundations and nonprofits, and the travel and lifestyle brands we believe in. The studio was founded by Willa Kammerer, grew out of a freelance practice that began in 2009, and is based in Mystic, Connecticut.
Who do you work with?
Colleges, universities and independent schools such as the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Williams, Barnard, Trinity, Bates, UMass Boston and Brooks School; foundations and nonprofits including the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation, 1% for the Planet, GreenWave, Stone Barns Center and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute; and brands and destinations from Qantas and ALOHA to Seagreen.
What kinds of films do you make?
Capital campaign series, admissions and reunion films, leadership transitions and event films for schools; fundraising, initiative-launch and member films for foundations and nonprofits; destination and brand campaigns; social video packages; and feature-length documentaries. See the full archive on the Work page.
What makes Firestarter different from other production companies?
We are a production company with deep documentary and commercial roots, and two feet squarely in the online marketing and brand world. Beyond the film itself we build the campaign around it: audience growth, engagement and conversion, short-form and social content cut from every shoot, and personal brands for filmmakers, founders and experts. We also own the platform to support it: Firestarter Funnels runs film campaigns, audience communication and monetization, from opt-in to screening ticket to course. That combination is rare in the production space, and it is deliberate.
Do you produce short-form and social content?
Yes. Every shoot is planned so the interviews and footage re-cut cleanly into short-form pieces for social, email and events, and we produce standalone short-form content series and personal-brand content for filmmakers, founders and experts.
How does a project work?
Six collaborative steps: Listen, Interview, Distill, Produce, Refine, and Launch & Analyze. We start by understanding your audience and the questions the film needs to answer, conduct documentary-style interviews, distill transcripts into a narrative storyboard, produce and refine the cut with you, then launch it and measure what matters. Our promise: if you're not thrilled, we're not done yet.
How long does a project take, and what does it cost?
It depends on scope. A single campaign film usually runs a few months from kickoff through delivery, multi-film series are planned around an academic or fundraising calendar, and feature documentaries take years. We scope every project individually and tell you honestly whether we're the right partner and what it would take. Send us your audience, timeline and goals and we'll come back with a plan.
Is Firestarter Interactive the same as FIRESTARTERIX?
No. They are sibling companies with the same founder. Firestarter Interactive is the production and film studio. FIRESTARTERIX builds brands, websites and funnels for founders and experts. Brand, website or funnel work lives with FIRESTARTERIX at firestarterix.com.
Where are you based, and do you travel for shoots?
We're a New England production company based in Mystic, Connecticut, an hour from Providence and two from Boston and New York, with roots in Providence, New York City and Portland, Maine. Most of our clients are in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York, and our crews film across the United States and internationally: recent and past work spans Ethiopia, Iceland, Australia, Chile, Argentina and the Northeast.
Have your films won awards?
Yes. Starting at Zero: Reimagining Education in America, our first feature documentary, directed by Willa Kammerer and co-produced with the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation, won the Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Film at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2020 and an Award of Excellence from the Accolade Global Film Competition, with official selections at seven festivals and more than 100 community screenings nationwide.
How do I start a project?
Use the Start a Project form, email hello@firestarterix.com, or call (802) 318-1641. Tell us about your audience, your timeline and what a win looks like. We read every note personally and usually reply within two business days.
Let’s talk
It all starts with a message.
Share your vision, your audience and your timeline. We’ll tell you honestly whether we’re the right partner — and what it would take.