About Mind Shift

Mind Shift is a Detroit-based video production company specializing in fire department, police, military, and tactical content. Mind Shift is the team behind BURN, the firefighting documentary featured on Netflix.

The Story

Mind Shift was built on 20+ years of production experience and one defining project: a full year embedded with the Detroit Fire Department on the production of BURN. Living alongside the crews of one of the busiest fire departments in America taught us something no film school does. The fire service does not need another highlight reel. It needs storytellers who understand the job, respect the operation, and know how to translate the real work into stories the public and the next generation of recruits actually feel.

BURN reached Netflix and put Detroit firefighters in front of millions. Since then, we have carried that same documentary discipline into everything we produce for public safety agencies: recruitment films, ongoing social media content, training documentation, and brand films.

Who We Serve

Fire departments, police agencies, military units, and tactical organizations. We are based in Michigan and work nationwide. Whether your department is spending a SAFER award on a recruitment campaign or building public trust one post at a time, we bring the same standard: cinematic craft, fireground awareness, and measurable impact.

Joel Knoop, Founder

Joel Knoop is a documentary filmmaker and video producer with more than 20 years of production experience, including a year embedded with the Detroit Fire Department on the production of BURN, the firefighting documentary featured on Netflix. He has filmed over 1,000 hours on firegrounds and leads every Mind Shift production. More at joelknoop.com.

What We Believe

Storytelling is a force multiplier. A department that tells its story well recruits better, earns deeper public trust, and gets the budget votes and grant awards it deserves. Our job is to make sure the story your community sees matches the work your crews actually do.