OKRP expands Whiskey & Banana Studio

After completing
thousands of TV, radio,
and social projects,
since launching
three years ago,
the operation moves
into a home of its own

Independent marketing agency O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul is expanding its Whiskey & Banana’s production company, moving the growing unit to its own floor, one flight below the agency’s headquarters’ office at 328 S. Jefferson.

Whiskey & Banana launched three years ago as a stand-alone, production based collective of producers, shooters, editors and motion graphic designers to develop and produce video and digital content to meet increasing client production needs.

In 2018, W&B completed 25 productions on behalf of 13 clients. In addition to growth in volume of work produced, W&B expanded its reach into digital, social, web development, out-of-home, point of sale and experiential.

 
WHISKEY & BANANA STUDIOS

 

“We have invested in building W&B to meet the growing demand for storytelling solutions that go beyond traditional :30 broadcast spots,” explained Matt Reinhard, Chief Creative Officer at OKRP. “Whisky & Bananas is a flexible model that meets the needs of our full-service clients as well as project-based partners in need of bringing ideas to life quickly and efficiently across all channels.”

W&B has strategically added new-model talent to its team while drawing on the resources of a best-in-class freelance network.

The operation is led by industry veteran Scott Mitchell, Head of Production. Scott has assembled a stealth team of hybrid producers with non-traditional backgrounds, including Mallory Sohmer a documentary producer, shooter, director and editor, former reality-tv producer Charlie Ferraye and Austen Williams, former segment producer for C-Span/Bloomberg and Vice Media’s content company Carrot.

“The talented team at Whiskey & Bananas has a maker mind-set that finds unconventional ways to bring ideas to life,” explained Scott Mitchell, “We continue to look for smart, highly engaged problem solvers who bring different capabilities to the table in order to execute ideas across the constant changing media landscape.”

In 2018 alone, Whiskey & Bananas produced over 200 television commercials, 130+ unique radio spots, 800+ digital/social videos and several thousand versions of still content including photography and social posts. It also produced and shipped over 1400 print, OOH and POS materials.

 
About Whiskey & Banana Studios
Whiskey & Banana Studios is an independent production company that is a unit of independent marketing agency O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul. It offers full service production capabilities including video and digital content as well as online video, print, out of home, point of sale materials and immersive experiences for brands.

 
Send your production updates to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.