Copy of MATI Jerusalem : Supporting the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow
The Partnership
MATI Jerusalem helps close to 900 entrepreneurs a year launch or grow small businesses — Jews and Arabs, secular and ultra-Orthodox, new immigrants and East Jerusalem residents. When VP of Resource Development Irit Kornblit came to Hudson Films, she had six weeks to prepare a pitch to the Sam Spiegel Foundation, and needed a film that could make an organization this wide-reaching feel immediate, human, and fundable.
The Approach: One Story, Three Audiences
Irit didn't need a single generic reel — she needed the story to work in three different rooms. So we built one: a version centered on East Jerusalem, a version centered on West Jerusalem, and a unified cut that carried both into a single pitch. Same footage, same interviews, three different edits — each one built to speak directly to the audience in front of it, without losing what made the story true.
That meant the entrepreneurs we chose to feature couldn't just be compelling on camera. Each one had to represent a distinct piece of who MATI serves — a different community, a different kind of crisis, a different kind of comeback.
The Stories
Avinoam Shalom — Nature Therapist & Reservist
Why he's in the film: Avinoam's business nearly collapsed after over 60 days in miluim. His story put a face on MATI's Independence for Reservists program — turning an abstract wartime statistic into one person rebuilding, as he put it, "not from scratch, but from the ruins."
"The meeting with MATI was really a point of light for me... I haven't met a place like this, where I come and say, 'Listen, I have a problem,' and they say, 'Come, sit down. We will sit and understand how to solve this for you.'"
Hifa'a Khashan — Director, Rose Kids Daycare, Shu'fat
Why she's in the film: Hifa'a's story anchored the East Jerusalem version — a daycare director who nearly lost everything before MATI walked her through licensing, funding, and rebuilding from four children to a full daycare.
"MATI is a treasure for the Jerusalem area — a treasure because it works with professionalism, and the most important thing is the credibility they have... I feel like they are part of my family."
Tzipporah Schvarcz — Owner, Ceramics Shop
Why she's in the film: Tzipporah's journey — a recent olah who built a business from nothing within a year and a half of moving to Israel — gave the film its immigrant-entrepreneur throughline, resonant with the American donor base MATI was pitching to.
"I truly don't have the words to explain how much of a game changer working with my MATI coach was. I now have a store that is mine — I walk in and think, I made this."
The Results
Irit walked into the Sam Spiegel Foundation with three stories built for three audiences — and walked out with the grant.
"Everyone who you filmed and who you worked with expressed to me afterwards how pleased they were to work with you — how professional it was. I can't recommend you enough. I'm proud of myself that I chose you — I did a good job."
Irit Kornblit, VP Resource Development, MATI Jerusalem
Watch the combined film here:
