A new concept in audio post that the partners believe will stir things up opened Monday in two different locations and with a female engineer/sound designer at the helm of one studio bringing her LA vibe to the city’s audio post business.
Full-service Stir Post Audio is the new venture of Greg Allan of Sonixphere and David Kaplan and Mindy Verson of Audio Producers Group (APG) that’s been in the works for exactly one year.
“Stir is a natural progression for both of our companies,” says Kaplan, cofounder of APG with Verson in 2004. “We’ve been friends and business colleagues with Greg for years and talked a long time about how we could work together. Mindy and I felt it was time to grow our business and Greg was looking to diversify his and Stir is the result.”
Allan is handling Stir’s business development and executive producers Kaplan and Verson are alternating between the two locations.
Three Stir studios are spread across two agency-friendly locations. Two new studios are located at 445 E. Ohio in Streeterville, and the third is at 200 N. Dearborn in the Loop, “within walking distance from many agencies now south of the river,” Kaplan notes.
“They offer identical services, so if a project is started at one studio it can be seamlessly finished in another.”
Award-winning Amber Tisue, whose background includes five years as in-house sound designer at Goodby Silverstein/LA, has settled into Studio A at Stir/Ohio Street. She has the distinction of being one of only two Chicago female engineers among some 40-50 male counterparts.
“Amber is immensely talented, a pleasure to work with and someone who hears things differently than any other mixers in town,” says Allan. “It was hard to get her to pick her life up and move it to Chicago, but she saw an opportunity to become part of this new collaboration and did so.”
Stir/Ohio Street was custom-designed and built in 3,400-sq. ft. of Sonixphere’s space by famous studio architect and acoustician John Storyk of Walters-Storyk design group. Stir has a separate entrance from the Sonixphere offices.
The studios there, says Kaplan, “are furnished like a comfortable living room in Mid-Century Modern. “The main work space is a couch and a coffee table arrangement that’s conducive to comfort while keeping an eye on function. Behind it is a typical work table.”
Peter Erazmus is the head engineer/mixer/sound designer at Stir/Dearborn Street, where the 27th floor office a balcony with sweeping views of the lake and river.
The partners are scouting a third engineer for Studio B at Stir/ Ohio Street.
