“Go-getters” is how BostInno labels their annual 25 under 25 honorees. It takes just a brief conversation with Emerson student Brynne Norquist to understand why.
Norquist, a senior visual media arts major, is among this year’s young leaders recognized in the annual high-profile list of entrepreneurs in the greater Boston start-up scene. She earned her spot on it as the co-founder of Hiike, an independent film festival research and management database.
Hiike consults with independent filmmakers to help distribute their films to local film festivals. By collecting historical data from film festivals, it is able to suggest the right festivals to optimize a film’s success and audience.
The idea for Hiike was planted in Norquist during her sophomore year at Emerson, when she successfully helped secure multiple Oscar-qualifying festival acceptances through her work as head of the distribution program at Frames Per Second, the college’s longest-running film organization.
Though the program was not marketed outside of Emerson, film students from other schools in the Boston area began submitting their films.
“That’s when I was like, ‘all right, I think that there’s more of a need for this,’” said Norquist.
She observed the abundance of Emerson’s student film productions, providing students with plenty of opportunities to be involved on set.
“And yet, when these films were finished, they were really only going to YouTube or Vimeo or Instagram or TikTok, and I wasn’t seeing films have much success,” said Norquist.
Determined to find a pragmatic solution, she enrolled in a start-up class during her junior year and incorporated her idea for Hiike.
Through mass-connecting with people in her network, she met Tyler Knohl, 22, a data science and business major at Northeastern University.
Knohl has a data science and technical background in addition to her experience as the associate festival director of the Boston SciFi Film Festival. These qualifications, combined with Norquist’s experience having grown up as a child actor and screenwriter in New York City, made them a perfect business match.
“When Brynne was discussing this problem with me, I was like, ‘oh my goodness, I see this all the time,’” Knohl recalled. “When she came to me with this idea I thought, ‘wow, this is fate.’”
There is no slowing down for either of them now.
Both women graduate in December 2024 with plans to head to Los Angeles. They believe the move will be perfect for Hiike, due to the city’s thriving tech and start-up ecosystem and its close proximity to the entertainment industry.
Norquist’s love for film is palpable and her determination to succeed is indisputable. “I’m just so passionate about building this product, I genuinely see no other option for me. I’m going to make this happen,” she said.
Though she will soon say her farewells to Emerson, Norquist is not planning on parting ways with the school’s community.
“I’m so happy that I chose Emerson because it is really just such a thriving ecosystem, and there are so many amazing creative people. It’s what drives my work,” Norquist said.
She says that Hiike keeps her classmates and the Emerson community at the core of her product.
“Now I just hope to give back. I hope that I can be an alumni that is very present in the community, and I hope that my products can really affect the school,” Norquist said.
To Norquist, being included on BostInno’s 25 under 25 list is a great honor, but not yet a victory lap. “We know that this is only the beginning. We haven’t even launched yet,” Norquist said.
Hiike is set to launch as a recommendation system in April 2025. Later, through direct collaboration with film festivals, they hope to accept submissions directly through the platform.
“We are so excited to just keep building and really bring our product to market,” Norquist said. “Once we start seeing the impact that we can have on our users and seeing the real change we can drive, that’s when the real recognition comes.”
