Finding a new job during the pandemic is possible. Daniela Stanton, a 2019 cinema arts alumna, is proof.
Crunchi, a toxin-free cosmetics and skin care e-commerce company, hired Stanton as a videographer/video editor for its in-house creative department in May. PK Cummings, Crunchi’s director of operations, said Stanton was just the person they were looking for: a passionate creator with exceptional interpersonal skills and an ability to work well on deadlines.
The company’s hiring managers were impressed with Stanton’s extensive hands-on experience and the video she submitted in the interview process, Cummings said.
“Daniela is a shining example of PBA’s alumni, and we look forward to hiring more PBA graduates as Crunchi continues to experience rapid growth,” Cummings said.
As part of her duties, Stanton conceptualizes, storyboards, produces and edits videos for Crunchi’s website, social and marketing campaigns. She’s also responsible for post-production and managing the work of outside contractors.
Stanton’s interest in film began when she was a high school theatre student at the G-Star School of the Arts. She and a group of friends learned of a White House Student Film Festival and were selected as finalists for their entry “Give It All Away,” a poetic exploration of what it means to give back. The teens went to the White House and rubbed elbows with Academy Award winners and then-President Barack Obama.
“I was really questioning what to do,” Stanton said. “That opened the door with film.”
With an enthusiasm for sharing the gospel, Stanton switched her major to intercultural studies at one point before deciding to finish her cinema arts degree. She obtained a lot of hands-on experience with the cinema arts department at PBA. As a student producer, she scouted locations, worked with the cast and did whatever it took to make a shoot happen. In one of her cinema arts courses, she was required to produce three spec commercials.
After she graduated, her husband encouraged her to start her own business, which she did. She made a good living creating videos for various clients, but as a people person, she was lonely shooting, editing and producing by herself.
Stanton, of Lake Park, Florida, prayed about a new job and found the videographer position at Crunchi while looking for film jobs on Indeed. With the pandemic, much of her work so far has involved “speaking the language of film” with a contractor and editing, managing and planning for future shoots, Stanton said.
The company’s creative director has created a nurturing environment, she said.
“She really wants you to succeed,” Stanton said. “I feel valued.”
