Tonight, the collaboration of Chicago’s long established ARU recording company and Ft. Lauderdale-based Animaticmedia will launch with a party for an expected 175 invited agency guests at ARU’s Michigan Avenue recording studios.
This is a first-time collaboration for both companies. Instead of Animaticmedia setting up a separate branch office here, it teamed with Don Arbuckle and Mark Zeboski’s ARU, specialists in audio for commercials, working out of ARU studios.
“The idea that animator, sound engineer and the client can be in such close proximity is very rare. It allows for a lot of creative options you don’t normally get working anywhere else,” says company founder Scott Ownbey, its founder and creative director, a storyboard artist with 20 years experience directing animatics and also a photographer.
“Together, ARU and Animaticmedia have such breadth of experience and our complimentary services means that our clients can get the best animatic and audio experience in Chicago under one roof,” he says.
At the party, Ownbey will be introducing members of his company to guests.
Angel Nieto is Animaticmedia’s animator/editor in-residence, having moved here from Ft. Lauderdale. The company also has offices in Burbank, New York, London, Manilla and Berlin.
Animaticmedia’s New York-based producer Lauren D’Andrea, responsible for client service and managing production, will be in Chicago most frequently.
With Christopher Lall, Mocap technician working in Chicago, “We are offering the first Mocap studio with virtual camera capabilities in Chicago for 3D cinematics,” Ownbey notes.
Isaac Vratzel, VFX/animation director, also will be working out of Chicago. Additional staff offsite also will provide support to the team as needed, Ownbey says.
“Chicago is the second biggest ad market in US, so it’s always been a city we’ve had our eye on,” Ownbey says about the decision to formally enter the Chicago market.
“After establishing a relationship with Leo Burnett and having worked with a variety of other big agencies, we felt this was the right time to make the move and make a splash with our expanded capabilities in 3D animation.”
“It is also rare to find an audio shop that has a staff member with the level of talent in music composition like ARU’s Tom Haigh, he is a virtuoso and can turnaround original scores quickly.
“We’re really excited about what we’re doing.”
