Mid-Atlantic Video Firm Donates Meals to Mercy

Local video production agency Zinnia Films recently donated more than 60 meals to frontline healthcare workers at Mercy Personal Physicians at Lutherville.

“Frontline workers are putting in long hours and risking their lives for the public,” says Zinnia principal David Morley. “There aren’t many ways we can really say ‘thank you,’ but a good meal is a start.”

Zinnia reached out to its client, La Prima Catering, to provide the meals to Mercy, also a client. Catering companies have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, with La Prima forced to lay off 148 of its 160 cooks, account executives, drivers, and waitstaff.

“We have great clients,” Morley explains. “Supporting our clients in ways that go beyond the standard client-vendor relationship, and creating ways to tie their services together to help each other is not only the right thing to do. It is how all of us can get through this pandemic.”

Mercy Medical Center’s Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs Ryan O’Doherty notes, “We select our vendors because they understand the Mercy mission. Zinnia has certainly gone above and beyond to support our Mercy family.”

“Telling stories is what we do,” Morley says. “But COVID-19 is a story that requires action and partnership, not merely storytelling. Stories raise awareness, build empathy, and call people to act. Community and organizational partnerships help put that action in place.”

Founded in 2010, Zinnia initially focused on journalism and documentary filmmaking. Among other projects, Zinnia worked on By and By: New Orleans Gospel at the Crossroads, the story of a New Orleans gospel quartet in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The leadership at Zinnia decided to make the shift to corporate storytelling, translating the lessons of nimble and flexible documentary storytelling to the corporate landscape.

Zinnia currently has offices in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Columbus, OH. For more information, contact David Morley at 410-440-4541 or david@zinniafilms.com. You can visit the company website at https://www.zinniafilms.com/.

Video of the donation is available at https://youtu.be/TpnZdjOErPs