The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

to ~ WATEHMX) CHMKIIE - Wednesday. November 3, 20m .- Huckleberry Film Studios help business clients visualize their stories Br CHARIDITE Poona PM“ - ‘ Chronicle Sta/f / ' n Darnell has stopped dreaming l, N \ I about the cam r she wants, and started , creating it. .-»« , ,, After a d02en years working as a software . j project manager for big corporations. she _ P M lost the passion for her work _ l . 04:1 was doing these huge global projects. , 1 but I wasn‘t learning. The responsibilities , . ~ hit getting bigger and bigger, but i wasn't . . . , having fun," she said. . : 7 _ if iv “50 the Elem native returned to her first if ”3“ She had always loved books. and earned a i, 3“. degree in literature at the University olWelt- #‘ t, 3 7 1 ’ . 1; ' fin Ontario before getting a master's in ', “a! library and infomiation science 1. ' "g j'xfl‘é ' . Her corporate career took off quickly. and " 5:12:1â€" shortly after graduating she returned to t" ‘ Waterloo to work at Cyberpleic in 1998, she " was the project manager for their Chapters 2 account, the biggest e-commerce site in l , Lanada at the time. % , she moved to 8.0 for a similar 1 .msb‘eqtricklyrealizeditwasonlythe l golden handcuffs that were keeping her ' chained to her desk. ' “i couldn't remember the last time i had i learned, something amazing and new” Dar- ‘ nell said. She debated going to law school or film i , schoolâ€"she hadalreadypicked upaninter- 5 est in amateur videography ‘ But eventually. like the character that Brennan Bell, Sheila Trask, Von Darnell, Kate Colmer and Mar King are all part of the team at Waterloo-based Huckleberry Film Studios. hispheddienmneoiherbushiessshedecid- mmmmm° edtotakeariskandiustplungeinheadfirst. _ She quit her job and invested in upgrad- everything fromtaxes to marketing corporate image and their brand, and their ing to editing. lighting, sound and colour ing from amateur equipment to professional Now she‘s got a roster of videos under her conversation with their own customers, to grading. grade. She took courses online to learn the belt, made for clients such as RIM. ComDev thenextlevel.” “My lob is to make sure that every single anoftilmmaking andClassl. Darnellhasalso put her project manage- thingweproduce.lfeelpersonally proud of And then she put her corporate skills to One of her first clients was a golf retail merit post to work while building the Huckle- â€" that we've done the but lob of telling that worhquicklypickingupjobsmakingvideos drainwhowanted54trainingvideosabout berrymSheworkswithagmupofpeople story." ,, foreman businesses andapromotional video customer service and merchandising â€"-â€" in who specialize in everything from filming The passion that she was missing all fortisedtyoquuamish bothFrenchandl’nglish andedltirrgtomarketirgandgtaphnlr'ach comesbackwhenshedeliverstheoomplete But in order to take My Film Stu- Her broad buttress experience helps her member is expected to be well-versed in package to a Huckleberry client dios to the next level, Darnell decided to to identify a client’s needs, whether it's lr't'fite morethanone aspect of the business. “it‘s just really rewarding. when you hand return to Waterloo in 2008. Her previous areaof sales and nmrketing, internalorexter- “We“ got breadth. and we've got depth," over a video and you hit play and watch for business experience meant she had a wide rial training. or promotion. she said. “I have a philosophy of â€" Hire peo- their reaction. They’re leaning fomard on the network of contacts in the region, but she But what she does in a nutshell is tell sto- pie whoare smarter than you and better than edge of their seat. They can't believe how missed her family too, and she wanted to ties you. and your life is going to be easier . . , I good they look. how good they sound, how come home. "Your company is that great? Really? Well, don't want to be overwhelmed by being a cog polished the whole production is." Darnell She went to the Waterloo Small Business what‘s your story?” Darnell said. in myown machine." said. “ Centre. where adviser RoyWeber helped her "We can go in there and have that oonver- But she has worked hard to continue At the end of the day, it's the love of the register the business and advised her on sation, and really help companies take their learning the business end to end, from film- story." “5 it! s g , r'ff . . Our gift 4, e .. to l nu“ i;- i ' \ V r p ._ ‘ ‘ 4 | .-