The Underground Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 611242593
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2019, Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Phone
- 5132214888
- Rating
- 94
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religious Film, Video
- Affiliation
- Religious (unspecified)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $82,253
- Expenses
- $85,186
- Assets
- $35,691
- Liabilities
- $273
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Ann Brinkman (Executive Director)
- Greg Ullman (Board President)
- Jeff Bucalo (Board Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Ann Brinkman (Executive Director)
- Julia Kyser (CFO)
- Greg Ullman (Board President)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to educate students in the cinematic arts, empowering them to contribute to and effect change in a world where moving images have the potential to change lives.
What it reported doing in 2024
Other programs: Teen Film Challenge (TFC) In its 8th year, the TFC competition empowers youth to collaborate in small groups to create a film in 72 hours. The competition is held annually in August. Typically, 150+ local youth participate in the competition each year. After films are submitted and judged, the Film Premiere is held at a local theatre to celebrate the students achievements. Cinematic Arts School For the 2022-23 school year, we are offering a year-long Film Production course in Liberty Township for a local Home School Program. Workshops In the Fall, we offered three-hour workshops in Screenwriting, Film Production, and Film Appreciation. Session topics included Film Theory, Camera Angles/Movements, Directing Actors, and Editing. Other Programs - After School Enrichment Program (ASEP) - Throughout the school year, we offer ASEP workshops for youth in grades 3-8. Students use ipads to screenwrite, film, and edit a short film. Each ASEP is 1.25 hours/week for 6 weeks, serving up to 25+ youth a session. In 2024, we offered several filmmaking ASEPs at schools for youth in grades 3-5 in the Lakota School Districts.Cinematic Arts School Throughout the school year, we offer three-hour workshops in Filmmaking at our studio space. Session topics include Film Theory, Camera Angles/Movements, Directing Actors, Editing, and more. In addition, we offer year-long film courses for homeschool programs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 27.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -13% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -17.8% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $86K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 8 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III program expenses within total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.