Cineclectic

Profile

Location

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Profession

Managing director, executive producer

Darryl is an established and experienced entrepreneur based in Northern Ireland. His career has spanned 17 years in independent film and TV production before branching into on-line retail and technology ventures. Through his film production company, Black Star Films, Darryl was responsible for most of the Northern Ireland Office anti-violence TV commercials that garnered many international awards. Darryl also produced the feature film “Korea” (winner of Asta Nielsen European Film Prize, Copenhagen, 1996 and the Special Jury Prize, Amiens, 1996). Darryl is a graduate of EAVE - European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (1992), the Film Business School (1995) and ACE (1997).

In 1997 Darryl founded blackstar.co.uk, the Belfast-based online Video and DVD store, in 1997. During his tenure as CEO, he built BlackStar from idea to a company with over 250,000 paying customers in over 160 countries, employing 80 people with an annual turnover of around £10m in just over 3 years. BlackStar won numerous awards including Invest Northern Ireland’s E-business Exporter of the Year and the British Video Association Online Retailer of the Year. In 2000 Darryl was nominated for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.

When Darryl sold BlackStar, it was turning over £1.2m per month, had brought over £30m into the local economy and had recruited and trained the first generation of Northern Ireland’s web developers, many who are now working in senior positions in software companies worldwide.

In January 2002, Darryl set up Banjax, a digital media studio based in Belfast. Banjax co-developed the animated feature film “Gene-Fusion” which is now in production in the US & Canada, and developed, financed and produced the first series of “Lifeboat Luke”, an animated 52 x 5 min. Hi-Def TV series for international broadcast. The company is now concentrating on web applications and e-commerce in partnership with a number of key clients.

Website: banjax.com