Joe Porter never planned to become a professional photographer. With no money and a restless four-year-old son who wouldn’t sit still for pictures, he maxed out a Best Buy credit card to buy his first decent camera. A year later he brought it to a wedding “just to help out.” People saw the photos and started asking, “Will you shoot mine?” Before he knew it, Joe had photographed over 400 weddings and built a thriving full-time business.
But God had bigger stories in mind.
An unexpected invitation led him to serve as Communications Director at Whitewater Crossing Church in Cincinnati. For ten years Joe had the rare gift of developing his craft: moving from still photography into video storytelling, while on staff salary. It was there, surrounded by believers yet sensing something was missing, that Joe’s understanding of faith in the workplace was transformed.
“I saw the gap in the traditional model of ‘get them to church and then they’ll meet Jesus,’” Joe says. “I started asking: How can I actually be Jesus to the people right in front of me every day?”
That conviction changed everything.
Three years ago, Joe stepped out in faith and launched Innovatory Films, a production company that creates short documentary-style films primarily for faith-based nonprofits, helping them raise support by telling powerful stories of life change.
But the mission goes far deeper than great videos.
Joe has built his company around intentional discipleship. Weekly team meetings begin with genuine care: “How are you really doing? How can we pray for you?” Core company values, crafted with help from Christian business mentors, include what he calls “secret Jesus values” woven right into the culture.
One moving example happened after an exhausting filming trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon for Luke 5 Adventures, a ministry that helps people with disabilities experience the outdoors. Joe’s lead editor, who wasn’t a believer and had never hiked anything like it, pushed his body to the limit to keep up.
That night around a hotel fire after climbing back out, the young man looked at Joe and asked quietly, “Do you think I can actually have a relationship with God?”
Joe simply listened, created space, and answered honestly. No pressure, no sales pitch: just authentic relationship. Today they continue walking together, and Joe says moments like that are the reason he built the company in the first place.
Through Innovatory Films and the nonprofit Cincinnati Filmmakers (born out of a wild COVID-era feature film project that drew over 100 people – many far from faith – into community), Joe is living out a profound conviction: “I’m not waiting for people to come to church to meet Jesus. I’m called to be the church where I am: on set, in the edit bay, around the campfire after a shoot.”
Joe’s story is a powerful reminder to every Christian business owner and professional: Our workplaces are not a detour from mission. They are the mission field God has sovereignly placed us in. When we remain sensitive to the ongoing leading of the Holy Spirit, say yes to the scary steps, and build our companies around Kingdom values, ordinary work becomes extraordinary gospel opportunity.
As Joe puts it simply: “I was born for this.”
If you’re a ministry or faith-based nonprofit needing stories told with excellence and heart—or if you’re a Christian entrepreneur hungry for examples of what faith-filled business can look like, reach out to Joe at innovatoryfilms.com. You’ll be glad you did.
Because some of the most powerful sermons today aren’t preached from pulpits. They’re filmed, edited, and lived out by believers who refused to compartmentalize their faith from Monday morning.
