After nearly eight years as a mainstay in the Chicago community, NuWorld Editorial has announced it will effectively close on Dec. 1.
The closure was precipitated by the recent sale of the company’s vintage three-story brownstone building to a group of investors. The four NuWorld partners—editors Bob Carr, Yamus (a.k.a. Jim Mudra), Joe Malecki and Mike LaBellarte—will go their separate ways.
Carr has agreed to join the Chicago branch of Red Car, which also has operations in New York, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Dallas; he told SHOOT he plans to start there Jan. 1. LaBellarte said he will launch his own as-yet unnamed Chicago-based creative editing shop. According to Carr, Yamus plans to pursue work as a freelance creative editor, while Malecki was still examining different opportunities. Yamus and Malecki hadn’t returned SHOOT phone calls at press time.
Another of the shop’s editors, Tom Brassil, said he would be joining LaBellarte’s new company. Editor Craig Lewandowski and NuWorld’s audio mixer/ sound designer Drew Weir related that they are in the process of finding another roost, most likely within the Chicago market. NuWorld’s general manager/executive producer Ed St. Peter said he was in the midst of discussions with several e-commerce companies.
The shop’s four partners launched NuWorld in 1993 after defecting from Chicago-based postproduction facility Optimus, in order to refocus on the craft of creative editing (SHOOT, 4/9/93, p. 1). Carr had spent 20 years at Optimus; in fact, he was the first employee hired by former Optimus owner Jim Smyth. Yamus had been at Optimus for 18 years, Malecki for 11 years and LaBellarte for three.
According to Carr, after he and his partners agreed to sell the NuWorld building to developers—who made an offer "we couldn’t refuse"—they subsequently began to weigh their options for the future. "We thought, ‘What do we do? Do we move on to another location—do we buy another building?’ " said Carr. "As each of us examined our opportunities ahead, we started to see that there were slightly different paths that everybody wanted to pursue."
Carr reflected that he has run NuWorld for eight years and had been an Optimus employee for 20 years before that. Deciding that being an employee "wasn’t all that bad," Carr chose to join Red Car’s staff. "I love editing," said Carr, who related that his longstanding relationships with Red Car owner/editor Larry Bridges and Red Car/Chicago general manager Vivian Craig were key factors in his decision. "I can devote more of my energy and time to the thing I truly love."
LaBellarte said that his planned venture will likely open immediately after NuWorld shuts down. In addition to Brassil, he related, he intends to hire other editors for his company. "We’ve had a great run," said LaBellarte, "and I’m going to keep going. I love being an owner and love being an editor. I find joy in teaching young people and editing projects for myself."
Before joining NuWorld two years ago (SHOOT, 10/2/98, p. 8), St. Peter was a partner in now defunct commercial music/ sound design shop Chicago Music Works, which he founded in ’84. His background combined with the visual and technical knowledge he’s picked up over the past two years, said St. Peter, represent a skill set that he thinks would be well suited for the Internet arena.
Over the course of their editing careers, the partners’ work has won numerous industry honors, including Cannes Lions, Clios, Emmys, One Show Awards and Golden Marble Awards. Three of Carr’s spots have earned Clios in the category of editing: "Football" for Bud Light via DDB Chicago in ’81, "Night Moves" for Michelob, also via DDB, in ’86, and "Wildman" for Levi’s via FCB San Francisco in ’87. Yamus was also recognized with an editing Clio in ’82 for the Bud Light spot "Downhill" via DDB; another Yamus-edited spot, "Heartland" for Bud Light, earned Clio Hall of Fame recognition in ’83.
Carr said he’d received several offers from people interested in purchasing NuWorld’s equipment, including a Sonic Solutions DVD system and a Jaleo. He noted that Dec. 1 is the target date to complete all pending projects, while they plan to close on the building Dec. 20.
"Our biggest concern has been how the clients are going to receive this news," said Carr of the pending closure. "We’ve gotten nothing but great responses from clients. A lot of people have said things like, ‘Congratulations, you’ve hit the jackpot,’ and ‘Now you can retire and go down to that island in the Bahamas.’ No such thing. I think we’re four working guys; we have to work for a living. We’ll just continue to do our thing."
