E1 Studios Celebrates Rebranding and Expansion as it Debuts New Production and Post Facility

E1 Studios, the boutique post production company that specialises in pre-visualisation, animation, and content development for global agencies and brands, has announced a move into a gleaming new penthouse space in Manhattan as it expands its services under its recently inaugurated rebranding. 

Formerly Edit 1, the company has adopted a more reflective identity, now going by the name E1 Studios. Since making the switch late last year, it’s been busy putting the finishing touches on its new production and post hub, which it opened in partnership with Hobo Audio, an independent audio post house. 

Designed with comfort and efficiency in mind, the new space is flexible enough to accommodate hybrid work schedules but quickly able to take on ramped-up projects in areas such as motion/facial capture, live action production, animation and design, according to E1’s Mike Zimbard, owner and chief creative officer.

The expansion was part of an integrated plan that started with the switch to E1, Zimbard explains. “Our new identity was the result of organic growth for us as a company,” he says. Initially launched in 2000 primarily as an animatic and test commercial company, Edit 1 saw its range of capabilities swell over the past 12 years. Recent agency work for the company includes Saatchi/Publicis, Grey Group, McCann, Marketsmith, Evoke, and FCB. Its roster of projects and brands includes everything from P&G, Kellogg’s, and Nestle Purina to the New Jersey Department of Health, Blistex and others. 

“When I took over in 2010, we heavily expanded our CGI and design capabilities,” Zimbard notes. “In the years that followed, we began to offer much more complex pre-visualizations than we had in the past. As our agency clients saw the level of work we were creating for pre-vis, they began coming to us with animation and VFX projects that were intended for broadcast, online, experiential, etc. With that, we began to move far beyond just test work.”

“As our capabilities expanded, we simply outgrew the name Edit 1,” says design director Erica Singer, “and as much as we loved it, it didn't really represent who we were as a brand anymore. Our range of work became so much wider, and the change to E1 Studios represents that evolution.” Adds Zimbard, “The decision to adopt a new name wasn’t made in a cavalier fashion. We’d just come off our most successful year ever, both from a creative and a business perspective, and we didn’t want to disrupt a formula that was clearly working. But it was time to move the company forward.”

Now working under the E1 umbrella, executive producer Mike Donovan notes that the studio’s senior talent roster includes leaders of the pre-vis studios Edit 1 used to compete with. “We’ve got a great culture here, as evidenced by the fact that over half of our staff has been with us more than ten years, some more than 15,” Donovan points out. He cites people like VP/creative director Ken Kresge, and fellow VP/creative director Rob Aiello as key players. 

“To have been able to bring this dream team together, and now be working alongside one another, gives us an almost limitless potential,” Donovan  states. “And we can do that while maintaining a boutique size and philosophy, where the client experience is valued equivalently with creative excellence.”

E1, along with One Health, its internal division that creates content focused on healthcare marketing, has kept busy, producing projects for such clients as Pfizer, Genentech, Apellis, GSK, and AstraZeneca, via agencies like Fox & Gazelle, McCann Health, Area 23, FCB Health, 21 Grams and others.

This workload, coupled with the changing nature of how work is being produced and posted in the post-pandemic era, motivated the move to new quarters. “In the same way we had to re-imagine a new workflow over the past three years, we also saw an opportunity to re-imagine the very idea of our ‘facility.’ To us, this represents a new model for how modern post studios can be structured,” Zimbard remarks, as the independently owned E1 and Hobo Audio can now share resources while reducing overhead. 

In addition to its common areas, edit/VFX suites, and Hobo’s audio post studios, the new space will boast a rooftop patio to boot, just in time for Summer, Donovan notes: “We had a balcony at our old home, and we’re very excited to be creating another wonderful outdoor setting at the new studio. As before, it’ll offer an amazing extension of our space for clients and staff  to enjoy.”

That nod to staff wellbeing is heartfelt. “My goal has always been to create a tightly knit culture that incentivizes people to stay and grow with the company” Zimbard, points out, “and now our team can enjoy a beautiful new home that was designed to encourage comfort, foster ideas and provide a superior experience for our clients.”