Wisconsin’s biggest new-construction production complex will be built in an area that’s better known as a sportsman’s paradise than a media production center.
West Bend-based EPIC Creative, Wisconsin’s biggest production company with an impressive $6.3 million in sales, will nearly triple its space when it moves into its new 33,360-sq. ft. corporate headquarters next winter.
EPIC’s new headquarters will be built on one acre in West Bend’s downtown redevelopment area, alongside the Milwaukee River and amid scenic nature trails.
Construction will start in November, says Jim Becker, EPIC’s founder/president, whose company started as a video production house 19 years ago and wound up a full-service advertising agency and production company.
“Video production remains the core, or 50%, of our business,” says Becker.
Of the total new building space, 13,224-sq. ft. will be devoted to the Production Complex. Of this, 11,420-sq. ft. will be devoted to the stage area that will and contain a 5,200-sq. ft. sound stage ? available as a rental — with a 144-ft. cyc on two walls and drive-in access.
The stage will be second in size only to Milwaukee’s Third Coast Studio’s existing 7,200-sq. ft. stage.
The stage area will include a cafe (designed as a kitchen set), dressing rooms, green room, stage office, media storage, workshop (also a shop set) and warehouse.
The Production Complex will devote an additional 1,800-sq. ft. to post production: Four edit suites, a video graphics suite, an audio booth, video duplication, and engineering.
