Marketing, event and communications company Studio46 Media is set to open its new 22,000-square-foot space in Lexington in the coming months.
Studio46 Media, a division of Davis H. Elliot, Inc., started out as the marketing and communications department for the electrical company. Now, with clients across the country, the production company is bringing all 17 of its employees under one roof to provide event production and video production to businesses across Central Kentucky and beyond.
“The one thing that sets us apart from other production companies in our market is we offer businesses both video and event production services all under the same roof,” Nicole Corbin, Studio46 marketing and business operations manager said. “[Our employees] range from videographers to drone pilots to video editors, to event specialists, and much more. With the main focus on production services; both video and events, we can o.er businesses an amazing product.”
Studio46 Media started out, however, handling video production for Elliot. Headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, Elliot is a full-service electrical contractor specializing in overhead and underground distribution, transmission, substations, lighting, traffic signaling, utility locating and industrial/commercial services.
With offices across the eastern side of the country, Elliot needed a way to streamline communication with its employees, Corbin said.
“We needed a way to reach all employees and make sure that they heard the message,” she said. “We were doing not just corporate communication and leadership videos but also training videos because being in the electrical industry, safety is a huge factor. So whether it’s training on working in underground enclosures or how to properly climb a ladder, we implemented the training through video.”
Initially, the department was a cost center, she said.
“We realized, if we hired the right people and purchased the right equipment, that we could turn the marketing and communications department into a profit center,” she said.
Now Studio46 Media produces video content and event production services for Elliot, as well as for other clients all over the United States, marketing itself through digital marketing, print publications and sponsorships. The company is also an active member of several chambers of commerce and nonprofit organizations where it networks to build its client base.
“We’re primarily based here in Lexington, but, yes, we do travel and Studio46 Media is a national brand,” Corbin said. “We recently worked with Toyota’s Lexus Collision Center, Tractor Supply, Target and Keeneland.”
And coming soon, the company will have a new facility where all of its employees can come together to work their marketing and video magic.
The new building at 605 Blue Sky Parkway offers more than 4,000 square feet of studio space, green rooms, editing suites, and a warehouse.
“We came together as a team, put our dreams to paper and developed a state-of-the-art building for our clients to enjoy just as much as we will working in."
“We came together as a team, put our dreams to paper and developed a state-of-the-art building for our clients to enjoy just as much as we will working in,” she said. “We’ve been working in a small studio and a virtual event stage. With hiring individuals with decades of experience and purchasing state-of-the-art equipment, we are more than ready for the future of Studio46 Media.”
The new building will also provide space to expand its association with CreativeMornings.
CreativeMornings is a free-of-charge, monthly meeting for the creative community to come together. Started in New York in 2008 by Tina Roth Eisenberg, the meetings serve as a way to build local, face-to-face communities of creatives through a breakfast lecture series. Now global, there are more than 200 chapters around the world with one in Lexington.
Past lectures have included discussions with Geof Rochester and Ramel Bradley of AppHarvest on how creatives can connect with and work with AppHarvest, as well as a presentation from Twyman Clements, cofounder and CEO of Space Tango, a company that creates automated products to operate in the microgravity environment of low- Earth orbit.
“Studio46 Media partnered with CreativeMornings during the heat of the pandemic to assist CreativeMornings with streaming their monthly events virtually,” Corbin said. “Since then, we have taken their events from a virtual format to a hybrid live/ virtual format, to back to in-person events.”
Like most companies, Studio46 Media had to pivot to accommodate changes made necessary because of the pandemic. The company built a virtual event stage when most of its clients were forced to cancel their events. This allowed them to still o.er their event just in a different way: virtually.
“During the pandemic, we noticed a lot of people had to move their events to being virtual, but they really needed that video aspect too,” she said. “We could take care of their event production needs and also offer them the option of incorporating the video aspect.”
In some cases, that meant taking control of the virtual event, she said. With so many clients using Zoom to have virtual events, Studio46 Media in some cases plays the role of Zoom host, where they can flip back and forth between speakers, as well as provide breakout rooms for the event. In some cases, clients want hybrid events, where Studio46 Media will go out and film testimonials or other shorts that will be presented live to a small gathering of people.
Since summer, however, she said the company has seen its clients cautiously return to the world of live events.
As details come together for the new facility, Studio46 Media will be planning its own live event to celebrate the grand opening of the space. Currently though, they’re waiting on finishing touches to be finalized before scheduling the event.
“We plan to have a big celebration in the early weeks of 2022,” she said.