DeLong and Miller work out of their own office condo

David Miller and Michelle DeLong

After renting office space for the nine years they’ve been in business, Michelle DeLong of Mimi Productions and partner/husband David J. Miller of Viral Film Video purchased a storefront condo, saying it wasn’t essential anymore to have an office downtown.

“This is our third and final move,” says producer/editor DeLong. “The way business has changed, nobody needs a studio anymore. We do 100% of our filming on locations with our clients and for our own TV and web series.”

DeLong and Miller recently moved from seven years in a large loft space at 18th and Canal, to their own 1,100 sq. ft. condo at 4343 N. Western, in the hot North Center-Lincoln Square neighborhood and a scant mile from the couple’s Irving Park home.  

The condo, one of two in a seven-year old building with apartments upstairs, “is a good investment in an excellent neighborhood that’s full of life,” DeLong says. 

They have two big offices, one with an editing suite and the other for graphics and a common area for conferences.  It was in move-in condition and all they chose to do was repaint the walls.

The company has been busy, DeLong says, with repeat business for RBS Citizens, a world bank of Scotland, a 10-spot campaign for a Downstate physician and “lots of corporate videos.”

On the entertainment side of their business, DeLong and Miller for the past 18 months have been producing, shooting and editing “Cultural Xchange,” poduced in partnership with Conduit Productions and due to debut on Ch. 26 next month.

Comedian Damon Williams and Corinna Crade co-host the half hour show in which they explore the different cultures in Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.

Miller has been producing non-stop web series for several years. His “Assisted Living,” “Hey, Girls,” “Pitchman” and “Tight Quarters” can now be seen on YouTube.

DeLong says they continue pitching their own show ideas to cable outlets with the help of associate producer Lauren Delaney.  She also plans to restart her popular “How to Pitch Non-Fiction Shows” seminars shortly.