This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It was a gutsy move when the recession was hardly over, but Metcom Studios' jump to a new building, a new brand and a new name apparently succeeded.
"We were taking a giant leap of faith to say, 'You know what? There's a lot of work to be had out there. You just have to find it,'" said Brent Marshall, the top executive at Salt Lake City-based company.
Until this year, the audio and video production firm was known as Metropolis Integrated Media. Marshall was president; partner John-david Brewer was vice president of development. The pair continue as partners in Metcom.
The pair weren't planning to leave their old quarters. The location at 445 S. 300 East was ideal, Marshall said. On the east side of the downtown city library, it had been home since Metropolis was launched in 1998.
Fate intervened.
In 2009. Mayor Ralph Becker unveiled plans for a public-safety complex that also would be east of the library. Metropolis would be in the way, so it wasn't long before city real estate officials came knocking. Rather than fight city hall, Marshall chose to negotiate a sale price.
"I was a willing seller under threat of eminent domain," he said. Eminent domain is the power a city has to take over property at fair market value for the good of the community, even if the seller is unwilling.
"I was convinced that [eminent domain] was a good thing, and if we were able to negotiate, it would be advantageous for us to do that rather than take the legal route. And it turned out to be true. It was a good thing … and they were fair in their dealings with us," Marshall said.
He looked at several locations before settling on the old Replicolor building at 352 S. 500 East. With settlement money from the city, a bank loan and his own cash, Marshall bought the premises. The building was demolished in the spring of 2010, and a new state-of-the-art production studio, complete with large sound stage, video edit bays, recording control rooms and voice booths opened in January.
"It's fantastic," said Greg Windley, whose Handstand Productions company rented the soundstage in March to shoot a training video for a corporate client.
"They've done a great job of being able to build a building from the ground up and make it the way [they] want it. The whole thing is really well done and well thought out," Windley said.
Windley said comparable studios exist in Salt Lake City, but none are new.
"Everything else has been hodgepodged and glued together, whereas these guys started from scratch and put it together from the ground up," he said.
The city's use of its right to acquire Marshall's property became the catalyst for changing the Metropolis name and the way it does business. In its early years, the company provided local television and radio advertising production services. That hasn't changed, but the company's focus has broadened. A lot of its clients today are big corporations, including American Airlines, American Express, Capital One and UPS.
Metcom now bills itself as a full-service audio and video production company with 16 directors, editors, recording engineers, producers, storyboard artists and animators The company's services include corporate marketing communications for trade shows, product launches, TV and radio commercials, video for the Internet and dubbing for movies and television.
Metcom also supplies recording and management services for clients such as Microsoft's Tellme Networks division, which provides directory assistance and other voice services. Another client is Nuance Communications, which develops speech recognition and voice authentication software.
A new division, Metcom Global, provides foreign language services for clients with international operations. Marshall said the division was established to meet the need of companies that need foreign language voice-over work and translation services. The work is done by freelance linguists, translators and interpreters.
The climate for Metcom's services "is very good. There is work out there to be found," Marshall said.
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