In early September, Avenue Edit owner/CEO Jonathan Turk announced the company would be refinanced by a New York investment firm in order to expand into other services. The deal apparently was never finalized.
Without an infusion of funds, compounded by internal problems and the shrinking local advertising economy, Turk shuttered the 28-year old company on Oct. 31.
The equipment, including many new Avids that were purchased for the 2007 move, will be auctioned off by Joseph Finn, Boston-based auctioneers, on Dec. 9, with a preview on Dec. 8.
Avenue Edit’s demise was called “a tragedy” by sound designer/engineer Corey Coken, a 13-year Avenue veteran ? and one that he and other staffers felt could have been averted.
Avenue Edit was founded in 1980 by editor Rick Ledyard. He treated his staff well and they were loyal in return. For most of its existence, Avenue was Chicago’s top-grossing post house. At one time it had a staff of 80.
Sales were $12 million when Ledyard sold Avenue in late 2005 to Turk. A venture capitalist and entrepreneur with an MBA from the University of Chicago, he had acquired numerous companies, several of which were related to the media.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Ledyard had a two-year contract to remain as COO. It ended last June 30, when he quietly departed without fanfare to his Montana ranch.
Avenue’s staff of 63 moved in April, 2007 from 525 N. Michigan, its home of 25 years, to what Turk proudly called “the most technologically advanced HD post house ? if not in the city, then in the country,” on a floor-and-a-half at 440 N. Michigan.
