The Call of the Entrepreneur

Produced by the Acton Institute (2007)

The Call of the Entrepreneur is a documentary that explores how entrepreneurs shape our world. It tells the true stories of three entrepreneurs: Frank Hanna, a merchant banker; Brad Morgan, a failing dairy farmer; and Jimmy Lai, a refugee from Communist China. The first one risked his savings; the second risked his farm; the third risked his life.

Why do their stories matter? Because, say the authors of the movie, how we view entrepreneurs—as greedy or altruistic, as virtuous or vicious—shapes the destinies of individuals and nations.

The movie is based on Rev. Robert Sirico’s book The Entrepreneurial Vocation. Together with Michael Novak, George Gilder and other experts, he shows that, contrary to popular belief and the way entrepreneurs are depicted in most movies (greedy, selfish, dominating, exploitative), true entrepreneurs are other-directed and are rewarded for how well they serve their fellow human being. They are co-creators and can be powerful agents of change. True entrepreneurship is not a zero-sum game but a way of bringing resources together so as to produce value.

“This creative aspect of the entrepreneur is a vocation akin to that of being a parent,” says Sirico. “Even if not quite as sublime as, say, motherhood, the keenness of insight required of the entrepreneur remains sacred.” Watch this sixty-minute documentary and discover the depth and power of your own entrepreneurial vocation. Share it with your team and reflect on what it means to be an entrepreneur in today’s world.