VOL. 37 | NO. 47 | Friday, November 22, 2013
Merger brings together Nashville’s PK Pictures/NuMynd Studios, Zoe Creative Services
By Tony Troiano
Picture this: Your laptop screen is a framed picture of a dragon, like in a museum. You take your smart phone, switch it to camera and look at the laptop. All of a sudden, the dragon leans out of the frame, looks up, down and all around.
It’s like gadgets gone wild.
This is just one example of the capabilities of Nashville’s PK Pictures/NuMynd Studios and Zoe Creative Services – two firms that have joined forces to create an experienced television, video and new media production group.
Zoe founder D.J. Goller and PK’s President and CEO Greg Page have known each other for ten years and worked on numerous projects together. Talks on combining the companies started the first of the year.
“Our companies complement each other very well,” Page says. “We’re both well-known and respected in our fields, and now we’re raising the bar dramatically. Bringing on the team from Zoe really adds diversification to our client mix.
“We’re not putting all our eggs in one basket. The pencil is sharper now.”
PK and Zoe are nothing short of visionaries in the realm of creative media. PK’s core business has been large-scale media extravaganzas for Fortune 500 companies.
Zoe is more about broadcast, film and music. Its complete business communications feature videos, DVDs, live events, trade shows, presentations and interactive development. On the list of live events: Oprah Winfrey’s final show at the United Center in Chicago and work with Madonna and the Winter Olympics.
The combined teams’ client list now includes corporate giants like Bridgestone, Coca Cola, Walmart, Exxon, Sony, Mazda, Aflac, TNA Impact Wrestling and BMI – plus internationally-released films, television and music videos, and some internationally-released films and music videos.
The pristine visual and other effects generate awe. What comes out of Page’s and Goller’s minds and computers is nothing short of Hollywood in Nashville.
“Greg and I have a lot of commonalities, we’re like-minded tech nerds,” Goller says. “We like to chase what’s coming next. With our complementary, skill sets we’ll be able to adapt to whatever the industry morphs into. There are a lot of amazing things coming out and we want to be on the cutting edge.”
In contrast to all the high-tech equipment and modern accessories, PK’s Nashville facility – off Elm Hill Pike near Fesslers Lane – features an eclectic décor. There are antique projectors, theater chairs, popcorn boxes and posters.
In the main lobby is a huge 1930s studio boom from Howard Hughes’ studios.
Along with the work being developed, the building itself is jaw-dropping.
PK recently added a 3,200 square feet warehouse where Zoe’s artists will compose and edit their work.
NuMynd Studios, a working studio available to other production companies too, is housed in the same facility, and is a separate brand under PK Pictures.
Another core element of the company is its environmental awareness.
In one studio, an array of lights consuming 4,000 watts each has been replaced with lights using just 440 watts with the same quality and level.
There is a new insulated roof and solar electrical installation. Outside, organic gardens, a vineyard and fruit trees surround the building.
“D.J. and I have a passion for what we do,” says Page. “We want to be the best and brightest out there. We just made good better.”