New rental stages aim to serve as “a creative Hub”

The Hub, 2155 W Hubbard

Hub studios’ owners, real estate developer Denis Kulich and producer/director Mark Cwiakala, officially opened their new 10,000-sq. ft. shooting stage recently in Ukranian Village, to an industry “Hub Crawl” attended by about 100 agency and production people.

“Drinks, food, music, bonfire, and a special appearance by Mike Muschong and MoPro Chicago’s killer new MoHo was on-site to complete the spectacle,” says Cwiakala.

Cwiakala and Kulich acquired the 100-year old, three story building formerly owned by Space Stage studios at 2155 W. Hubbard St. in October and share management duties. 

‘Their goal is to rent the facility as “a creative hub” for permanent tenants and “make it a place where people can come together and work collaboratively on content creation and production, says Cwiakala.

“You can get everything you want here, under one roof, for reasonable rents, and if you want us to help you out, we can do that, too.”

Hub's client entranceThe building that was once old barrel making factory, had to be completely overhauled, Cwiakala says. “We rebuilt each floor as a fluid, comfortable, open environment.  There’s a lounge and full kitchen, a hair and makeup room, artwork on the walls, so you feel like you can come in and get right to work.

“There are gathering areas for brainstorming and we want everyone at Hub to be able to utilize each other’s capabilities.”

On the first floor is a 1,900-sq. ft. soundstage with a white cyc wall and two open loft rental studios. The second floor features a 2,000 and a 3,000-sq. ft. multipurpose studio and offices are available on the third floor.

Rental for a one-day shoot for an unlimited shoot is $1,200 “and that includes all the amenities,” Cwiakala says.

Hub's large kitchen is also a place to brainstorm“Our next step is landscaping the huge courtyard, building a rooftop deck — we have one of the most beautiful, unobstructed views of downtown. And we’re planning on building out a new control room at the end of the year,” Cwiakala says.

Hub is also the location of Cwiakala’s two companies, He opened Captain, a commercial and digital content agency, in May, 2013 after running creative shop Concentrated for five years. 

Last November, he started Collectors Union, a creative media co-op, producing films, original programming and the occasional board game.

Captain inaugurated Hub stages last December with the filming pharmaceutical commercials for a New York agency, followed by more spots, indie films and “a lot of photo shoots,” Cwiakala notes.  

Captain is currently in production on a feature-length stamp collectors’ documentary, “Freaks and Errors: A Rare Collection.”

For more information about Hub, call Cwiakala at 312/343-2611.