We created this Code of Ethics as a public document to disclose standards and establish accountability for Prodigium Pictures and people who work with us. It recognizes our responsibilities to act intelligently, ethically, and sustainably as a company and provides a framework for how we connect with our clients, partners, friends, and the world at large.

Our managing partners are leading by example, and expect all involved in Prodigium projects to follow the code as well.

We create high-quality social impact entertainment (SIE). That is – commercials, branded content, short and feature films, startup videos, animation and documentaries that empower audiences to become critically thinking citizens. Our mission is to make people think more critically through socially impactful entertainment, and to foster an egalitarian society with equal opportunity for all. We do this through crafting stories that let audiences learn from role models and the consequences they experience from social and environmental decisions.

Our employees are what gives Prodigium Pictures its heartbeat. Most of our work is imaginative and requires our employees to be creative and critical. That is why we strive to provide a healthy workspace and a stimulating working culture. We stand with equal opportunities, diversity and inclusivity of all people – in front of and behind the camera. We are here to help our employees maintain financial, psychological and physical security.

We expect our teams to be respectful of each other’s intellectual diversity – including differing political views. This is usually how the best projects are made: when different people come to the same table to make something together. Prodigium does not allow harassment or discrimination, of any kind. We provide opportunities for our employees’ professional development, such as professional events, educational materials and creative rewards that nurture each employee’s talents and skills.

Our clients and partners entrust Prodigium with their financial resources and sensitive information – which requires a strong base of trust. We disclose our budgeted line items upon request to make sure our clients understand our pricing structures and fair profit margins. Moreover, we ensure that our clients are aware of the possibility of additional fees that could occur due to changes in their requests after our initial agreement or unforeseen production or post-production circumstances.Our business model is designed in a way that is safe for us to operate and provide a fair compensation to our employees. Our clients trust that the work we deliver matches or exceeds their requirements, and that we provide services on time and in a professional manner.

We expect that all employees and subcontractors treat our clients courteously. We believe in fair and healthy two-way business relationships. We also circle back each client after our delivery of the project to assess their experience and address any potential concerns immediately. By establishing a long-lasting relationship with our client, we are going to be able to provide better service and understand what our client really needs.

Prodigium Pictures is committed to exclusively produce marketing and advertising materials with a high ethical standard. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards utilizing fake news, disinformation, or false advertising in our work. All of our marketing work undergoes ethical analysis in content to prevent misleading portrayals and false stereotypes, while increasing inclusion across ethnicity, gender and ability. Our creative work has a mandate of being fact-driven, and focuses on the positive social and environmental values of businesses and organizations.

Prodigium Picture is privately held LLC with no outside source of funding. We balance profit with the well-being of employees and the environment. This protects the sizeable investments that Prodigium Pictures, its partners, and clients have made into this organization over the last decade.

We rely on our production vendors to provide the highest quality services available. These include, but are not limited to, camera and lighting equipment rental companies, production design material suppliers, film permits (usually through non-profits like Film LA or local governments), staffing and casting platforms (such as Actors Access and StaffMeUp), website hosting, accounting, bookkeeping, printing, software, and connectivity. We believe in the prompt settlement of bills to Prodigium Pictures and a quick resolution to any disputes with suppliers. All things being equal, including quality of services provided and cost, we maintain the right to choose vendors, suppliers, and other partners that are owned by women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented groups. We will always prefer working with B-Corporations, “conscientious capitalism” companies, social enterprises, mission-driven companies, and not-only-for-profit organizations.

When it is available, Prodigium Pictures will always work with professional organizations to provide educational opportunities, sponsorships, or doing pro-bono activities locally. Nationally and internationally, we will continue to invest into our impact R&D and help the world become a more critically-thinking, more equally opportune place. Prodigium Pictures will continue to evaluate the environmental impact of our projects, enforce our evolving “green set protocols” by having a sustainability production assistant to encourage our cast and crew to minimize waste, use low-noise, re-useable bottles to avoid single-use plastic water bottles and engage with conscious catering and craft services. We aspire to keep sustainability a core value of our practice, our work habits and workspaces, and our aspirations for ourselves, our clients, and our planet. We make a tiny difference in every commercial and film project, and are taking part in the pioneer work of  “Green Hollywood” initiatives.

Our managing members take an active role in demonstrating this Code of Ethics, and encourage all employees and our suppliers to follow the same. We will also review our Code of Ethics annually to ensure that it reflects our values and missions as well as our prompt actions. This code of ethics can be accessed publicly on our website to act as a role model for other production companies.

The only way to know if Prodigium Pictures is upholding this code of ethics, is if our employees, clients, colleagues, partners, and friends let us know. As a mission-driven organization striving to constantly innovate, we always welcome your feedback and accountability.

Prodigium Pictures will ensure any personal information collected will be handled with care. Normally, we work with our crew and cast on a project-by-project basis but collect information only upon first hire. Documents and invoices will be imported to our accounting software and the original copies (if paper) are usually shredded or locked away by project wrap. Other production documents that includes sensitive information will be shredded or locked away as well. All sensitive data is privately stored and not shared with third parties outside of financial and accounting service providers we use internally. Digital information is currently stored indefinitely.

Digitally stored information is protected by HTTPS and user identification; it is accessible only to managing partners, payroll staff and accountants for payment and archival purposes. Any statistics we publish on diversity and representation are  scrubbed of PII (personally identifiable information) before data processing, and are  anonymized before publication.

Each LLC partner and every employee at Prodigium Pictures is committed to providing a minimum of 2 hours of pro-bono work per week, which amounts to 5% of our total business hours each year. In our pro-bono work, we serve organizations, especially nonprofits, by providing our expertise to help them strengthen their corporate storytelling (Impact Story Lab). We also create educational resources to share our insights (from our combined 20+ years of experience in the media industry) on creating social impact entertainment (ex. the Launch Video Impact Guide, our Insights articles, the CSR Video Guide we are currently working on, and our co-founder Tobias Deml’s work for Open Source Medical Supply).