It was 10 years ago that Chris Conroy launched the Manchester, NH-based
Heartwood Media, a production and post studio that bills itself as a
"soup-to-nuts" operation.
WHAT’S THEIR GIG?
President and creative director Conroy and his team at Heartwood not
only take on projects for local businesses, but also have established a
reputation for doing their fair share of jobs for a number of nonprofit
organizations that give back to the community.
More recently, the company completed a national TV campaign for Primus
LD to promote its "Triple Play" long-distance calling plan. Heartwood
created a virtual slot machine— the three spinning wheels representing
the benefits of Primus LD’s three-part calling plan.
"We’ve always done corporate work, but we’re doing more commercials
now," says Conroy. "Commercials are a lot more challenging than people
think. It’s a challenge sometimes to communicate a complex idea in 30
seconds."
THE COOL FACTOR
Many of Heartwood’s "good works" projects have grown out of the entire
staff’s desire to evangelize for local and personal causes. When
Heartwood started working with the Society for the Protection of New
Hampshire Forests, Conroy’s wife was working at the organization. "I
really got to know their mission and what a great organization they
are," he explains. "We’ve also done a project for the New Hampshire
chapter of the Nature Conservancy, trying to help them raise
awareness." In March, Conroy and his team won a Telly Award for the
Nature Conservancy piece, one of two Heartwood nabbed at this year’s
national awards show.
"When you work closely with these organizations, you really get a sense
for what they’re trying to do," says Conroy. "It’s something that I
personally, and all of us here in the office, feel strongly about. It’s
definitely more rewarding to work on something like that." Heartwood
also sponsors an annual Nonprofit Challenge, in which the company
selects from New Hampshire applicants the most deserving potential
client and produces a video project for the winner for free.
THE GEEK FACTOR
What started out as a one-man operation in Conroy’s home has grown
considerably over the years. Conroy recently gave Heartwood’s Web site
a major overhaul to keep pace with those changes. "We needed a
completely new site to reflect the growth we’ve been experiencing, and
the expanded range of services we now offer our clients." The new site,
however, still features the company’s well-known personal touch: Conroy
hosts an "Ask Chris" section to answer production and post questions
from clients and other online visitors.
Besides working extensively with Apple Final Cut Studio and Motion, and
Adobe After Effects, the company has been doing more with Macromedia
Flash from Adobe, creating interactive Web videos for clients and its
own Web site. This Flash-based section gives current or potential
clients the chance to screen projects with styles similar to what they
might be looking for. "Chances are we’ve done a project— whether a
video, animation, interactive DVD, or for TV— with similar goals, and
people like to see that," says Conroy. "We introduced the Flash
interactive option a few years ago because we realized the playing
field was changing. It’s still our skills as storytellers that
communicate the idea; that idea’s just delivered in a slightly
different format."
WHAT THEY DO
Video, TV and multimedia production and post
WHO THEY ARE
Chris Conroy, president and creative director
Mark Dugas, producer
Cheryl Christner, client services
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