IPA, The Editing House, the little post house on Webster St. that for two decades catered to independent producers has been closed for five years now, but don’t tell Scott Jacobs, its founder and former president.
On Sunday, Sept. 18, Jacobs and his partners will hold a 25th anniversary of former employees, clients and friends at The Wishbone Restaurant.
“This isn’t a wake, this is a celebration,” Jacobs said. “IPA came on the video scene the same year IBM and Microsoft introduced a thing called ?the personal computer’ and we spent the next 20 years trying to figure out how to use all this new technology to expand the number of voices we hear in our media.
“We were there making television for the first broadcasts on CNN and MTV, helping establish “Image Union” on Ch. 11, putting “The New Explorers” on A&E, finishing “Hoop Dreams” for Sundance,” said Jacobs.
“We were sending the first video over phone lines in an ISDN experiment with Illinois Bell Telephone and, all along the way, breaking down technical barriers so independent producers could take their shot.”
“It was quite a run. But now it’s time to stand down and celebrate. The revolution is over,” he said.
In 2000, IPA merged its operations into Post Effects where Jacobs, now a consultant, is VP/special projects. His latest is the children’s puppet show “Jack’s Big Show,” produced by Spiffy Pictures. It premieres Sept. 12 on the Nickelodeon and Noggin cable networks.
“Our run on Webster Street was an exhilarating, mutually-satisfying experience in a wild west environment that produced some wonderful television,” Jacobs said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the creativity we fostered or the atmosphere we helped create.”
To celebrate IPA’s 25th anniversary, Jacobs has invited over 300 former employees, friends and clients to the party.
“If I didn’t get an invite out to you, it’s because I lost your address,” Jacobs apologized. “But come anyway. It’ll be fun.”)
The Wishbone restaurant, whose owners slept at IPA when they first came to Chicago, will close for the occasion. Dinner and cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m.
Around 8 p.m. the entire party is invited to walk down the street to the Aron Packer Gallery, 118 N. Peoria, where a live auction of some 26 art pieces that once decorated IPA’s walls.
The collection ? contributed by employees, friends and clients ? includes a number of artists who paid for their video time by contributing art pieces. The artists include Chip Lord, Don Peterson, Mary Jo Toles, Kay Rosen, Roger Brown and Jules Backus.
In recent years, most have seen their recent work sell for anywhere from $1,000 to $12,000.
A complete catalog of the IPA art auction collection and description of the artist and artworks is available online at www.theweekbehind.com. Jacobs promises that any piece not sold online will be auctioned off with bids starting at 50% of the listed price.
“If we had a plan for the evening, I’d tell you,” Jacobs said, “but we’re just going to wing it. It’s worked before and it all seems to come out well in the end.”
