Wrigley Media Group Brings Hollywood to Lexington

by

Business

As a filming site in the upcoming Drew Barrymore romantic comedy “The Stand-In,” Lexington’s downtown played host to producers, directors, cameras, crew and even the star herself in February.

Wrigley Media Group—the media, marketing and production company responsible for bringing the film to Kentucky—hopes that the much-buzzed-about recent production can become something of the norm for the region.

“Wrigley Media Group is continually evolving with the changing landscape of creative and original content. To bring a project like ‘The Stand-In’ to the Bluegrass, starring an actress of Drew Barrymore’s acclaim, is affirmation that we’re doing things the right way and attracting out-of-market clients to the region,” said Misdee Wrigley Miller, the company’s owner and president.

The Best of Both Worlds

A former broadcast journalist and granddaughter to Philip Wrigley—longtime owner of the Chicago Cubs—Wrigley Miller purchased Hillcroft Farm in Paris and moved to Kentucky in 2001 as a result of her passion for horses. (She is a world-class competitor on the combined driving circuit.)

Wrigley Miller officially rebranded Lexington’s Post Time Productions as Wrigley Media Group in 2017, after securing majority ownership from former lead owner Wood Simpson, who is still involved with the new company.

Since then, Wrigley Media has assembled a leadership team whose media production credentials rival the best in the business. Danny Tepper, Wrigley’s executive vice president of original content, has managed and produced more than 1,000 hours of primetime programming for Travel Channel, DIY, HGTV and Food Network. Ross Babbit, Wrigley’s executive vice president of programming and partnerships, is a former senior vice president of programming and development at Travel Channel who oversaw hit series including “Man v. Food,” “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” “Expedition Unknown” and more.

“Having worked in major markets most of my career, the chance to do work on a global scale but live like a sane person in a fantastic town like Lexington has been a dream." — Ross Babbit

“Having worked in major markets most of my career, the chance to do work on a global scale but live like a sane person in a fantastic town like Lexington has been a dream,” Babbit said.

Tepper agreed: “Ross and I did what others [in the industry] only dream of doing. We got out of the big-city rat race and have a fabulous quality of life—and still get to make prime time content in a super-cool production studio. I would put Wrigley Media Group’s facility against any studio in the country. But I can run home to walk the dog or sneak out to Keeneland to place a bet. You can’t do that in New York or Los Angeles.”

A Team-Based Approach

In addition to Tepper and Babbit, the Wrigley staff now also includes an Emmy Award-winning producer, an Emmy-nominated writer, a former film animator with credits in “Spider Man 3” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, a producer who’s worked with DreamWorks and Walt Disney Pictures, a creative director whose credits include HGTV’s Fixer Upper, plus top-tier marketing and advertising talent, editors, photographers, production crew and more.

“We are as capable right here in Lexington as anybody on the East or West Coast,” said Jayne Hancock, who left her own digital marketing company and former role as head of consumer marketing for DIRECTV to become Post Time/Wrigley’s CEO three years ago, as the company was in the process of restructuring.

Under Hancock and Wrigley Miller’s leadership, the company has grown quickly—from roughly a dozen employees in 2016 to 34 staffers today. Wrigley team members work in a fully renovated suite of offices near the intersection of Newtown Pike and New Circle Road, where they’re able to zip from studio to editing suite using one of the company’s red scooters. Creativity is encouraged, with white boards or chalk board walls covering nearly every meeting room space. A Ping-Pong table occupies the middle of one of the firm’s largest shared work spaces—practically begging co-workers to bounce ideas off one another, both literally and figuratively.

“I’m a sports person,” said Hancock, a former college softball player at the University of Arizona. “I think in terms of teams. I always work best when collaboratively inspired, and I’ve always valued inclusiveness in the different types of viewpoints on my team.”

Incentivizing Growth

Hancock is quick to note that securing Kentucky as a location for “The Stand-In” filming wasn’t hindered by the fact that the movie is directed by Ross Babbit’s sister,

Jamie, whose previous directorial credits include episodes of “Gilmore Girls,” “Silicon Valley,” “Girls,” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” as well as several feature films.

Given the film’s premise—that Drew Barrymore’s has-been actress character trades places with her stand-in and falls in love, ultimately, with a slower pace of life—Jamie Babbit was on the search for a city to serve as a foil to New York/Hollywood, and Lexington (and Versailles) provided the perfect spot.

Hancock said the film’s production team, cast and crew raved about the caliber of the production talent available here after the shoot. “They said our team was top-drawer and that the whole process was seamless,” Hancock said.

“Kentucky is such a natural destination to want to make movies, with its beauty, charm and postcard-like cities and towns,” said Jamie Babbit.

Babbit noted, though, that the current restrictions on film industry tax credits in the state could pose a challenge to continued growth in this arena. “It comes down to basic economics. If we can make a film in Georgia for $7 million versus $10 million in Kentucky, the choice becomes an easy one based on the financials,” she said.

Building a Sustainable, Long-Term Industry

While Hancock agreed that increased availability of tax incentives will be key to the film and TV industry’s growth in the region—and that the merits of incentives must be viewed in the long term rather than in immediate returns—she also noted that Wrigley’s business model is based on providing content to an intentionally wide range of sectors.

Wrigley’s recent clients include hospitals and universities, corporate clients, manufacturers, athletic teams, equine industry partners and more, for whom Wrigley has produced high-quality digital marketing campaigns, from concept through creation and post-production.

“Traditionally, an advertising agency would have to come to a production company to execute the contents [of their marketing campaign],” Hancock explained. “We’re both advertising agency and production company. We have all the equipment, all the lighting, the studio, everything under one roof. It’s all right here. It’s more streamlined, and I think it’s more efficient. There’s less room for misinterpretation when you’re all on the same team.”

Wrigley is also producing its own original content, including a successful online/social media series called “My Town,” sponsored by Coke, which follows standout college athletes back to their old stomping grounds and favorite food haunts.

Additionally, staffers are scouting and signing original talent around the country, looking for “people who have a unique skill set or story, who could become the next Chip and Joanna Gaines [hosts of HGTV’s Fixer Upper],” Hancock said.

Ultimately, Wrigley also hopes to do its part to continue marketing Lexington and the region as a well-equipped, go-to spot for media production.

“Billions of dollars of content is being produced around the country, not just films, but commercial work and episode after episode of television,” Hancock said. “When you can bring that here, particularly the television work, that’s when people buy homes. That’s when restaurants go up. That’s when you begin to build an industry that’s long term and sustainable.”