An Emmy-winning story about the potential of Central Indiana
Last year, CICF released“X Marks the Spot, Celebrating the Potential of Central Indiana,” a three-minute film produced by Borshoff about our vision for Central Indiana to be the most connected, philanthropic, and impactful region in the nation. We’re honored to share that the film received an Emmy for Branded Content, Short or Long Form from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Central Great Lakes Chapter.
To tell the story, we chose to feature the people, organizations, and places that represent the relationships CICF has cultivated for nearly thirty years. Each one reflects our commitment to and investment in a more connected region.
Viewers will recognize the B&O Trail, now a seamless 15-mile pathway linking Indy and rural Hendricks County thanks in part to CICF’s Connected Communities initiative. They’ll see longtime CICF partners like Big Car Collaborative; with their new 40,000-square-foot expansion, Big Car demonstrates how the arts can be one of our most effective and enduring neighborhood development tools. They’ll see BY-Plus, one of CICF’s innovative workforce partnerships, which helps connect young people to careers in the construction trades.
The film also includes Leah, Lupe, and Clayton, CICF team members who support the Herbert Simon Family Foundation riding Pacers Bikeshare bikes along the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a reminder of both our longstanding partnership with the Foundation and CICF’s role in helping establish one of Central Indiana’s defining public spaces. Today, this trail serves as the central hub of what is now the Greater Indy Trailways, another initiative developed as part of CICF’s Connected Communities.
Other CICF friends and nonprofit partners you’ll spot in the video include Gennesaret Free Clinic, Indy Fresh Market, Lutheran Child and Family Services, and HAND Cumberland Cottages. Because of them, more Central Indiana residents are getting connected to free healthcare, healthy food, and affordable homes.
CICF offers its sincerest gratitude to Borshoff for bringing this video to life with remarkable creativity and care, and to Neelay Bhatt who partnered with CICF to develop the strategic plan that the video helped launch. Indianapolis artist and Herbert Simon Family Foundation Indianapolis Creative Risk Fund recipient Mina Keohane composed an original score that gives the film its local voice and energy.
Near the end of the film, a simple line captures what we hoped audiences would take away: “People make a community. Not landscape, not geography, not policy. It’s us.”
That belief guides CICF’s work today. We connect donors with causes they care about, strengthen nonprofits, invest in neighborhoods, convene partners around regional challenges, and help turn generous ideas into lasting impact. This video gave us a chance to celebrate so many of the partners that help to accomplish this goal.
Central Indiana’s story is still being written. Every gift, every partnership, and every person who chooses to invest in Central Indiana adds another chapter. We invite you to watch the film again and imagine how your own generosity can help shape what comes next.
