By Cole Fox
Two UNI college friends shared a passion for visual storytelling and, with the brashness of youth, they decided to take a leap of faith and start a video production company.
They named it Around the Corner Productions to underscore its local roots and their dedication to developing local talent.
Twenty years later, what Eric Braley and Michael Rueber have achieved with their company is a testament to the adage that with passion and purpose, entrepreneurial enthusiasm can grow into a lifelong commitment to make a dream come true.
What has been accomplished so far deserves appreciation, the founders agree, but aspirations about the future await, too.
In fact, the story of Around the Corner Productions mirrors the stories of countless local businesses in various lines of work, which all share the common thread of dedication and navigating through challenges, all tested by time and circumstances.
As they started running their own company, the friends eventually became business partners, and over time, landed at the University of Northern Iowa’s Communication and Media department, where Braley teaches classes in media and sports journalism and Rueber is in charge of the engineering duties, oversees the TV and podcast studios and guides students on how to start their own podcasts, video projects or their own programs through Radio UNI.
Braley reflects on the company’s longevity
A lot has changed in the media business since the duo started the company while at UNI during the 2000s.
Since then, social media, streaming services and artificial intelligence have created a lot of challenges for production companies, big and small, but some new opportunities have also opened up.
Just this year, the State of Iowa launched new funding for the first film rebate program since the 2009 tax scandal that abruptly shuttered the Iowa Film Office, affecting freelancers and production studios across the state.
But Around the Corner Productions has stayed the course and continued to grow, despite national and local ups and downs.
The reason for that resilience, Braley says, is the company’s forward-facing vision for the future and the community of fellow creators and supporters who make the model work.
“It’s something that a lot of people have had their hand in, and we’ve accomplished a lot over the last two decades,” he said. “I’m thrilled, excited, and the foundation is set for the future.”
The two men credit one another for their respective skills, but ultimately, it is the “friendship-turned-partnership” that, Rueber says, has ensured that the investments in Around The Corner Productions have paid off.
“Eric’s entrepreneurial spirit is the ‘let’s take a risk’ mentality,” Rueber said. “He’s found talented people and made them feel like they belong, everybody feels like an important piece of the puzzle.”
In addition to the work it creates for clients, the company has opened opportunities for budding videographers through internships.
“I see talented students that need hands-on experience, whether it is working sporting events or creating video content,” Braley said.
They have a lot to show for it, as Around the Corner Productions has launched the careers of dozens of videographers. In fact, a classmate of the founders, Brad Wells, has been with the company for 18 years. He is now an executive producer. More recently, UNI grads Prushia Golden and Emma Criswell joined the company. Today, Golden is the lead project manager and Criswell is the ESPN director and producer.
Additionally, the company has become a foundational stone in the professional development of former students who have moved on to other careers.
UNI grads Cassi Uben, the very first intern, for instance, is now president of VGM Forbin, a Cedar Valley-based digital marketing and IT services company.
A more recent intern, Austin Hansen, is now the Assistant Director of Athletics Content Development and Broadcasting Operations at Loyola University in Chicago, a coveted position.
How Around the Corner Productions found its niche
The company first gained traction with a show about local sports called Panther Sports Talk, a 30-minute talk program highlighting weekly UNI athletics events.
The show’s expansion to YouTube has garnered over 1,000 subscribers, as short-clipped sports highlights dominate online sports media.
Today, Around The Corner Productions has expanded well beyond its founders dreams, servicing universities, Fortune 500 companies, and growing businesses across the U.S.
Some notable clients include NBC Sports Chicago, Iowa PBS, ESPN, and NFL Films.
They have produced TV shows like “Iowa Entrepreneur” which aired on Iowa PBS from 2016 to 2018.
The show explored the stories of 72 Iowans who cultivated homegrown businesses.
The times keep changing, and so does the company.
“Video production at the level that we’re at has kind of gone from standard to niche,” Rueber says, as artificial intelligence expands and access to production resources becomes more costly.
Some of its current projects, like corporate videos, Rueber says, have come to their studio because such projects may be too complex for many in-house business media and public relations departments.
Around the Corner Productions also contracts with ESPN+ and UNI Athletics and offers several internship opportunities for students interested in sports media.
In a typical year, Around The Corner Productions operates 70 ESPN+ broadcasts. Making precise business decisions that best fit the company’s mission is at the forefront of Rueber’s and Braley’s responsibilities, Braley told Cedar Falls News Hub.
With operations expanding geographically, the company’s name now remains as a nod to the neighborly service they first envisioned two decades ago.
“While we started in the Cedar Valley, in just the past year we have traveled coast to coast…” Braley said. “We just joke like ‘Hey! We’re just around the corner.’”
