About Portlight

We listen for a living.

Portlight Creative is a small team of documentary filmmakers in Sacramento. We help growing companies attract people who believe in the work, by finding the stories that show why their best people chose them and putting those stories on film.

A Portlight interview set up on a Sacramento rooftop: the subject on a stool under a softbox, a camera operator in a hard hat and safety vest at the tripod.

Our story

Nearly thirty years of being trusted in the room.

1997The business begins as William Foster Photography.
2005First press credentials, followed by the Senate Press Gallery and the Governor's Press Office.
2007 and 2008Official photographer to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
2013The same company becomes Portlight Creative, and the work moves to film.
TodayHelping growing companies hire people who are all in.

Portlight started with a camera and a press pass. Covering the Capitol and the governor's office taught us something every documentary filmmaker eventually learns: people will tell you the truth if you're patient, respectful and actually listening. That habit has carried through everything since, including twenty years embedded with global firms, from the Fortune 50 to smaller companies with outsized reach.

Over the last dozen years, our work has moved from still photographs to film. Our films have helped pass a $415 million public safety bond, win nine-figure construction bids and give a technology company's own people a reason to believe in their work. Along the way we kept seeing the same pattern. Companies were spending heavily to attract people with benefits and perks, then waiting months for new hires to understand what the company actually stood for.

So we turned our attention to that gap. Today, everything we do is aimed at one outcome: helping the right people see who you really are before they ever apply, so the ones who say yes arrive already connected to the mission.

How we work

A few things we won't compromise on.

We listen longer than is comfortable.

The best material rarely comes in the first answer. We stay with a conversation until people stop telling us what they think we want to hear.

Your people tell the story.

Candidates believe the people who do the work far more than they believe a company. We build every film around their words, not a script.

We never invent what isn't there.

We won't film a version of your company that doesn't exist. If the story isn't true, it won't survive a new hire's first week anyway.

If we can't help, we'll say so.

Not every company needs what we do, and we'd rather tell you plainly than sell you something that won't move the needle.

The process

No camera until we've found the story.

Every engagement runs the same way, whether it ends in a film or a written report. Here is what we do at each stage, and what we'll ask of you.

01
We listen first.

Most crews start with a script and a shot list. We start with conversations. We sit down with the people who do the work and stay with them until they stop telling us what they think we want to hear.

Your part
An hour of your time, and introductions to the people worth hearing from.
02
We find what's true.

Out of everything we heard, we decide what matters most to the people you want to hire and who should say it. Nothing is invented. If the story you hoped for isn't there, we'll tell you before we go further.

Your part
Review what we found and agree on the direction before any filming starts.
03
We make it with your people.

For recruiting films, a half day of planning and one day on location, scheduled around shifts and deadlines. For a culture diagnostic, thirty to fifty confidential conversations over six to eight weeks.

Your part
One point person to keep schedules moving. We handle the rest.
04
We hand it over ready to use.

Films are cut for the places candidates actually look: your careers page, your job posts and your first conversations with a candidate. Diagnostic findings are delivered in person, so you can ask everything you need to.

Your part
Put it where candidates will see it, and tell us what you hear back.

Most of the work happens before anyone presses record. It's the reason candidates believe what they see.

Book a conversation

The team

Three people, on every project.

We're small on purpose. When you work with Portlight, the people you meet in the first conversation are the people who listen to your team, shoot the film and deliver the work.

Founder / Creative Director

William Foster

Early in my career, I held press credentials to The Senate Press Gallery, The White House and the Governor’s Press Office in Sacramento, capturing news as a freelance photojournalist. I was documenting events like presidential inaugurations, State Of The Union addresses, hearings and more. That work led to an appointment from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as his Chief Photographer.

Through all that work, I discovered a love for authentic, documentary storytelling. For the last dozen years or so, my work has shifted from still photography to motion pictures and my passion for the craft has only deepened.

Director

Carl Rettinger

Throughout my professional life, I’ve worked in multiple industries in different capacities: from leading a team of 100+ team members in one of the fastest growing wireless companies in the country, traveling the Seven Seas working for a cruise line, guiding white water rafting trips in the Northwest, to many years as a pastor and chaplain. But the through line is people. I’m driven by hearing people’s stories and curious about what motivates people and discovering their uniqueness, which is why I love my role getting to find great stories in unexpected places and share them to offer others a fresh perspective on people, companies and their missions.

Director of Photography / Editor

Grady Foster

Grady is a graduate of Digital Film Production from Grand Canyon University. Starting in middle school, Grady began exploring his creative pursuits in video production. Through the years, his expertise in creatively using the various tools from cameras and lights to software and technology has deepened. Every project is an opportunity to explore something new and with the speed with which AI is changing the filmmaking landscape, there’s an endless amount of avenues to discover.

The wider crew

For culture diagnostics, a small team of trained anthropologists conducts the confidential interviews, so we can hear from thirty to fifty people in a matter of weeks. William and Carl read every conversation and write and deliver every report themselves.

Start here

Give us one conversation.

Tell us about the people you've hired and the ones you wish you had. If we can help, we'll show you how. If we can't, we'll say so.