Chimaeric and the art of storytelling
When David Anderson began working for Pure Marketing and Media in May of 2008, he never expected it would be his pathway to entrepreneurship.
In August, the creative-director-turned-business-owner finalized the purchase of Chimaeric, a Pure Marketing and Media spinoff motion picture company founded in 2012. With business partner and co-owner Randy Sinquefield, Anderson began negotiations to purchase Chimaeric, which employs two full-time Columbia-based filmmakers, in March of this year.
Making the match
Sinquefield, who worked as a media editor at Dimensional Fund Advisors in Los Angeles, returned to his hometown of Columbia in January of 2008 to start his own studio, Spectrum Studios. By this point, Anderson’s responsibilities at Pure Marketing and Media had shifted from graphic design, video production and managing freelance writers to motion picture production.
In the winter of 2008, Anderson and Sinquefield met at a Missouri Film Commission mixer in Columbia. The pair discovered they had a lot in common. Both were eager to start families and had a passion for filmmaking. Shortly after, they began to collaborate on projects.
When Anderson began his efforts to purchase Chimaeric, it was only natural to partner with Sinquefield and Spectrum Studios. Sinquefield is a co-owner of Chimaeric, owning 10 percent of the business.
“We solidified what we had already been doing; it just became more effective when we started working together,” Anderson says. “Our partnership increases our efficiency and gives us more flexibility.”
While Chimaeric focuses on creative development, pre- and post-production, Spectrum Studios runs the production, shoots and manages film equipment, even offering film and video equipment rental.
California dreaming?
Although Anderson and Sinquefield have worked on projects in Amsterdam, Bangladesh and even on Navy tanks off the Pacific Coast, Hollywood isn’t top of mind.
“I’m not interested in being famous or creating Hollywood films,” Anderson says. “That’s another reason why Randy and I connected — because he wanted the same thing I did, to raise a family. It was kind of like the stars aligning: two guys in mid-Missouri raising families and trying to achieve Hollywood quality of work.”
Anderson mentions that he and Sinquefield both share the same personality type, which is pretty low-key.
“We don’t get worked up really quickly,” Anderson says. “We do business well professionally and personally. Adding on to the fact that we’re close in age and both have children under the age of 5, we just couple really well together.”
Getting to work
As far as projects go, Chimaeric and Spectrum have consistently done work with a variety of clients, individually and collaboratively.
“We just finished working on a feature film entitled The Middle Distance,” Anderson says.
Chimaeric worked on the video campaign for the University of Missouri’s 175th anniversary. They also worked with Mizzou Athletics to create a 30-second commercial production when the MU made the transition into the Southeastern Conference a few years ago.
Moving forward, both Anderson and Sinquefield plan to grow their already robust client list, which currently includes a variety of universities, hospitals and law firms, in addition to the Mizzou Tigers, Learfield Communications and National Geographic. The pair also hopes to expand the breadth of their services.
What isn’t going to change, though, is their commitment to telling a story in a cinematic and impactful way.
“We do a lot of work with nonprofit organizations, so we’re able to move people to want to do something for the cause and help out,” Anderson says. “You wouldn’t get that without coming from a storytelling standpoint.”
“As human beings, we’re programmed to react and respond to stories,” Anderson says. “Storytelling gives you the opportunity to influence your audience without using a hard sell.”