Former employees of Atlanta-headquartered Internet solutions provider iXL have bought the company’s design division, iXL Digital Video Group, and turned it into New York-based Creative Bubble. The changeover went into effect this month, and while Creative Bubble will continue to work on broadcast design and Web projects, it will have an additional emphasis on visual post work for commercials.
Recent post/visual effects credits for the former iXL Digital Video Group include Tiger Electronics/Chibi-Botto’s "Attack of the Chibi-Botto" via Posnick & Kolker, New York; and Tide’s "Angel" via Saatchi & Saatchi New York. Among Creative Bubble’s principals are general manager Rob Ortiz, senior editors John Tierney and Pat Carpenter, executive producers Robin Horlick and Carl Levine, creative director Doug Dimon, chief engineer Tim Dwight and operations manager Karl Pilegis. Creative Bubble board member and former iXL president Jim Rocco is also a principal.
Creative Bubble’s owners first considered buying the company late last fall, according to Levine. He recalled, "With the change in the market for Internet companies [and the attendant economic concerns] in the past year, iXL decided to focus on its core business, which is Internet solutions." In September 2000, iXL initiated some cutbacks; and in November, iXL chairman/ CEO U. Bertram Ellis announced that iXL would close or sell several branch offices in hope of cutting costs. (The company’s CEO/president is now Christopher M. Formant; Ellis remains chairman of the board.) Staffers at the Digital Video Group inferred that their division was not integral to the company’s new direction—so, said Levine, in January "We approached management and asked if we could buy our division." IXL proved amenable to the idea, and after several months of negotiations, the principals purchased the vast majority of iXL Digital Video Group. IXL maintains a minority stake in Creative Bubble, and the new company has a strategic alliance with its former parent.
About 25 full-time staff members, including Creative Bubble’s principals, work in the 7,500-square-foot Manhattan space that once housed iXL Digital Video Group. The company has two Flame suites, two Avid Symphony suites, three Avid Media Composer suites and two Motion Graphics workstations, as well as duplication, video streaming and online client approval capabilities. Levine cited Creative Bubble’s password-protected site, which allows clients to view a project’s status, "whether it’s script, graphics, rough cuts or audio," as an example of the way Creative Bubble has integrated the Internet into its business.
Despite the economic climate, Levine is optimistic about the company’s prospects: "We think that the configuration we have now is very well suited for what will be needed over the next couple of years. We have a strong client base, and we’re not going to be a large facility—we want to continue servicing clients with high-end work in an intimate environment. We don’t think a major capitalization [will be] required."
