Macre to head restructured audio post division.
By SUSAN LIN
Prompted by the growth of interest in its music services, Video Post & Transfer (VP&T), Dallas, has restructured its former audio post division into Cuppa Joe Music, a full-fledged music/sound design/mixing company. Joe Macre, who was head of audio services at VP&T, will take the helm of the shop as senior engineer/composer.
The new music house will become the fourth postproduction subsidiary under the VP&T umbrella, joining broadcast graphics shop Hothaus Design, Dallas, film-processing arm The Lab, Dallas, and recently formed telecine boutique Pacific Data Post, Santa Monica (SHOOT, 1/28, p. 7). As with its Dallas-based sister companies, Cuppa Joe will work out of the main VP&T facility, in the same three-studio wing it had occupied as a VP&T division.
According to Macre—the "Joe" in the shop’s nickname—VP&T had decided to start up Cuppa Joe because his juggling 10 hours of mixing during the day, and composing music during the evenings and weekends, was becoming a matter of course. "I didn’t want to fall into that trap of being a one-man band, so I started interviewing people [and putting together a support staff]," he said.
Although the positions at VP&T required heavy mixing, Macre said he looked for people "that would [also] become a part of the scoring team." In the past year, Macre hired a staff of three. The first on board was engineer/composer Scottie Richardson. In the three years prior to VP&T, Richardson had worked in-house at J.C. Penney in a similar capacity. Macre also added engineer/composer Eric Jenkins, who had been freelance producing and engineering out of his apartment in Ft. Worth, Texas; and engineer/sound designer Jeff Barbian, who for the past 10 years had been earning his livelihood as a drummer in different swing bands.
Macre himself was a composer/live performer before he settled into the more routine lifestyle of a staff mixer. After eight years of working independently, Macre’s first full-time roost was Beachwood Studios, Cleveland, where he was director of audio services/senior engineer. After two years at that post, he relocated to Dallas, where he began with VP&T.
In ’96, the audio post department at the facility consisted only of Macre and former senior engineer Bruce Buehlman, who had brought Macre on board as a mixer/engineer. When Buehlman departed in ’98 (to Complete Post, Hollywood), Macre took on his job.
Cuppa Joe’s staff has already mixed a reel’s full of commercials, including several for McDonald’s via agency Moroch & Associates, Dallas; as well as Ford via JWT Specialized Communications, Dallas. Cuppa Joe also recently wrapped a 10 ID package for Showtime, called "No Limits." The shop scored and mixed the ID via Hothaus.
Endeavor Group Sells Professional Bull Riders, On Location and IMG To Parent of WWE and UFC
The parent company of WWE and UFC is buying Professional Bull Riders, On Location, and IMG from Endeavor Group in an all-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion.
The deal is part of Endeavor's efforts to shed some of its assets as it looks to be taken private in a proposed transaction with private equity firm Silver Lake, which was announced in April. Ariel Emanuel, who serves as CEO of Endeavor, is also executive chair and CEO of TKO.
Professional Bull Riders is a bull riding league that has more than 200 annual live events, approximately 1.25 million fans, and reaches more than 285 million households in more than 65 territories. On Location is live event company for more than 1,200 sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, Ryder Cup and NCAA Final Four. IMG is a distributor and producer of sports content, packages and sells media rights and brand partnerships, and provides consulting, digital services and event management to clients such as the National Football League and National Hockey League.
Parent company TKO Group said Thursday that the acquisition from Endeavor Group will complement its existing businesses as well as broaden its reach in the premium sports market.
"PBR, On Location, and IMG are industry-leading assets that meaningfully enhance TKO's portfolio and strengthen our position in premium sports globally," TKO Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro said in a statement. "Within TKO, they will help power the growth of our revenue streams and position us to capture even more upside from some of the most attractive parts of our sports ecosystem: media rights, live events, ticket sales, premium experiences, brand partnerships, and site fees."
As part of the deal, Endeavor will receive about 26.14 million common units of TKO... Read More