Life behind the lens takes a steady hand to capture moments and build stories. But for some, it’s always been a calling.
For Kim Capiral, life behind the lens was something he was always striving for. The storyteller’s own tale doesn’t begin in the Border City; it started in the Philippines.
The founder of Lloydminster-based Narra Studios was born north of the capital city of Manila and never considered leaving the Philippines. His mom, Rita Capiral, however, had a vision for the family.
“I always tell people she’s the one that has the vision, I never wanted to leave,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave because I feel like my life is kind of set in the Philippines.”
He had attended university to become an aircraft mechanic.
“I was an aircraft mechanic, I did four years of aircraft mechanic in university,” said Capiral. “I did two years working at the airport, the international airport in the Philippines (in Manila).
“I don’t know why I took aircraft mechanic, really.”
Capiral explained his mom always told him to do something he enjoyed in life, which was something he found difficult to follow.
“I didn’t listen to her because, I lost my dad when I was 11 and I was the eldest,” he explained. “As the eldest kid, there’s more responsibility put on your shoulder. Now, my brain went, I need to be able to provide.”
The pull to a life of visual storytelling wasn’t far away for the young Capiral.
“I told my mom, ‘I think I want to move to a different career.’ That’s when I found photography,” he said.
Capiral received a Nikon D60 from his mom, which gave him the opportunity to see what life behind the camera was like.
“I fell in love with it,” Capiral said. “I was holding it, it feels good in my hands. I was taking pictures of my friends and like macro shots of plants and insects.”
He used his free time to test out his skills.
“While I was working at the airport, I was dabbling with taking pictures of friends and whatnot,” he said.
Before pursuing a full-time career in media, he spent time teaching English to Koreans of various ages over the phone.
“The interesting part is, the ages. We would be calling kids from five to like 60-year-old professionals,” he said. “They needed to learn English in the business. The kids would obviously want to stay and learn the curriculum and then the older people, they just want to chat.”
This job wouldn’t be permanent as he found himself moving into the TV industry.
“I had a high school friend who was working in the TV industry,” he said, explaining the friend was looking for someone to take behind-the-scenes photos.
He began looking to make a career switch, realizing if he could secure another job, he could make a living off what he was doing.
The same company he had been working with, TV5, had an opening for a camera position.
“They said, ‘Hey, there’s an opening for a cameraman, for video camera, not for news, it’s for entertainment, so you’ll be following celebrities,’” he said.
Once he got the job, he was placed into a program to learn how to work the camera and the theory behind it. He worked for three years as an entertainment camera operator.
“We were following celebrities, we were following reality shows, Amazing Race in the Philippines, we were one of the camera guys there,” said Capiral.
His mom’s vision was finally coming to fruition and the family would be coming to Canada. After nearly two years, he had almost forgotten about the whole move.
Things for Capiral were good in the Philippines, dating his now wife, Glaiza Capiral, while he was there.
“I was dating my wife back then,” he said.
When it was time for Capiral to move to Canada, he knew he wouldn’t be going alone.
“When that conversation started, it was never an option to (just leave),” said Capiral, explaining he wanted her to come to Canada as well.
“It was never an option for her to be left there.”
The pair connected through work they did together. Glaiza also worked in the TV industry as a makeup artist.
Eventually, the move happened, and Capiral arrived in Lloydminster in October 2013 and began searching for work.
Newcap, who was hiring at the time, had just closed hiring for a master operator position but Capiral submitted a resume hoping to find a position anyway.
After meeting with management, for an interview and recounting his life story up to that point, Capiral got the job as a master controller.
After half a year, he moved into a new position as an ENG cameraman.
“I would be in Marwayne one day, then the next day I’m in city hall, then the next day you get to meet farmers again. I was like, we’re doing stories on what? Mosquitoes?” he said.
Moving into the creative department, he said he made a lot of friends while with the TV station.
“Then, I transitioned to doing creative writing. It’s basically just like creative within the company,” said Capiral. “We were responsible for doing ads for a company. That was a fun chapter.”
Work was going well for Capiral, and eventually, he and Glaiza tied the knot in 2014 and welcomed twins in 2015.
The twins helped Capiral re-evaluate his focus, which led to the decision of starting his own wedding videography business the year they were born.
“It just pushed us to be like, ‘OK, let’s risk and start your own business,'” he said.
“The good thing about weddings is they book you a year in advance. So, at least you know what money’s coming in the following year.”
He was doing 20 to 25 weddings a year, keeping himself very busy.
“I would have never been the Narra now without the weddings,” he said.
Capiral explained his company’s name Narra Studios is short for narration, “because our videos tell a story.” Narra is also a national tree in the Philippines, prized for its durable, rose-scented hardwood.
When he was leaving Newcap and starting to begin his new journey, he met with his friend Jessie McEachern who worked for the Lloydminster Catholic School Division and did freelance wedding photography.
“I have these weddings booked, but I also wanted to do some video commercials. If you have a campaign, we can promote it,” said Capiral. “I was never pitching to the company, I just need, like, affirmation that, ‘Hey am I doing the right thing?’ Because it’s scary.”
The two began discussing work Capiral would be doing with the school division. At the time, his calendar was empty, something McEachern told him would change.
“She’s like, ‘Well, you remember this day, because one day, this calendar will be full,’” Capiral recounted. “She believed in me, always believed in me. It’s nice to have those people in your corner.”
Their relationship extended beyond the classroom and into their wedding work.
“We would refer each other. If she was photographing a wedding, ‘Oh you need a videographer? I got the guy.’ Then I would do the same,” he said.
Capiral expanded his ventures into the custom apparel business and recently purchased Kolab Print Co. He finds himself involved in all aspects of the business and prints the apparel in his studio in town.
“I had no idea what I was doing but we had to learn it,” he said.
Looking back, Capiral credits his success to the relationships he’s made in the community.
Today, you’ll still see the Border City videographer around town telling stories, firmly behind his camera lens.
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