RainMaker’s Kristin O’Connor and Tilt CEO Ron Carey outside of Tilt’s Shockoe Slip HQ. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
Six years after forming from the merger of two video companies, Tilt Creative + Production has taken on a longtime Richmond sound studio that’s set to serve as its in-house audio arm.
Tilt acquired RainMaker Studios, a 27-year-old studio led by siblings Kristin and Michael O’Connor.
The deal closed a couple months ago and had been in the works for about a year, Tilt CEO Ron Carey said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Kristin O’Connor said she’d been looking to align with a larger company in light of changes in the industry and the economy in recent years. She said Tilt’s formation in 2018, through the merger of video production studio Park Group and Carey’s digital content firm Studio Squared, put it squarely at the forefront of addressing those changes.
“I love that it was born right about the time that all these variables started taking place in the industry. I see that it’s responsive to that,” O’Connor said.
“I have admired Ron and been hearing wonderful things about him for years, so I endeavored to get to know him better,” she said. “The more I talked to my team about it, we felt like there’s so much chemistry and possibility there, because Tilt could use the expansion into audio, and my team is very versatile.”
RainMaker has been based in Shockoe Bottom’s Superior Building since 2000.
Carey said RainMaker will help Tilt provide its clients with more audio-visual services under one roof, at least figuratively. RainMaker will continue as a standalone studio in its current facility in Shockoe Bottom’s Superior Building, while also serving as a satellite sound shop for Tilt, which is headquartered in Shockoe Slip and has a production studio on Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
“We’ve always enjoyed their work and done a few things together,” Carey said of RainMaker. “It has always been a part of our mantra to have all services under one roof for our clients, so when you look at the talent that Kristin had on the team and the caliber of work they were doing, it was just a no-brainer.”
The move gives Kristin O’Connor a more front-end role as a senior business development consultant at Tilt. Carey described the role as wearing one hat versus the many hats she has worn with RainMaker, where she was an executive producer and also led business development.
Also making the move to Tilt is studio producer Clinton Spell, who rounds out RainMaker’s full-time team along with Kristin and Michael O’Connor, its senior sound designer and session musician.
Tilt’s audio work had previously been led by Eric Heiberg, a sound designer and composer who Carey said will continue with the company and who vouched for bringing RainMaker into the fold.
“I think what we were most excited about is the fact that there’s not a whole lot there that we have to change,” Carey said. “It’s an opportunity for RainMaker to be a part of a larger company … but RainMaker gets to do all the amazing work that it’s always done.”
Tilt’s Shockoe Slip headquarters building, which it recently rehabbed.
Started in a Fan apartment, RainMaker moved in 2000 to its Shockoe Bottom space, which was designed by Roger D’Arcy of former London-based firm Recording Architecture. The studio focuses on sound design, mixing and recording for clients such as Harris Teeter, UScellular, Virginia Lottery and Google.
Tilt’s client base includes Audi, HP, Wounded Warrior Project, Capital One and Walmart. Carey and Kristin O’Connor wouldn’t disclose Tilt’s or RainMaker’s annual revenue.
Tilt has upward of 50 employees and recently completed a renovation of its headquarters at 23 S. 13th St., where it’s looking for a tenant to fill a 7,000-square-foot second-floor space previously occupied by animation studio Hue & Cry, which moved a few blocks away last year.
While that space would appear prime for RainMaker to relocate from its current 5,000-square-foot studio it leases in the multitenant Superior Building, Kristin O’Connor said making the move is not so easy.
“It’s a highly valuable buildout,” she said of RainMaker’s space. “I’d venture to say it’s one of the top studio build-outs on the East Coast. When it comes to sound, the environment is all-important. You can’t do quality sound anywhere.”
RainMaker’s Shockoe Bottom studio. (Photo courtesy Rainmaker)
As for the renovation of Tilt’s HQ, a 150-year-old complex it bought in 2020, Carey said the new digs have had the effect he wanted for the company and its staff.
“The building has been exactly what I hoped it would be, in the sense of creating a space where you can collaborate,” Carey said. “It just feels easy to grab a few colleagues, hop into a room, get things up on the wall and talk about it together. I think we’ve experienced the efficiency in being able to do that.”
Tilt worked with local design firms BOB Architecture and Campfire & Co. on the renovation, which was completed by general contractor Team Henry Enterprises.
Alease Washington and Colby Kay with Icon Commercial are handling leasing for the available second-floor space.
Tilt’s deal with RainMaker adds to other media company acquisitions that have closed in recent months. Earlier this year, PR firm Golden Word was acquired by Toronto-based 5th Business.
RainMaker’s Kristin O’Connor and Tilt CEO Ron Carey outside of Tilt’s Shockoe Slip HQ. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
Six years after forming from the merger of two video companies, Tilt Creative + Production has taken on a longtime Richmond sound studio that’s set to serve as its in-house audio arm.
Tilt acquired RainMaker Studios, a 27-year-old studio led by siblings Kristin and Michael O’Connor.
The deal closed a couple months ago and had been in the works for about a year, Tilt CEO Ron Carey said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Kristin O’Connor said she’d been looking to align with a larger company in light of changes in the industry and the economy in recent years. She said Tilt’s formation in 2018, through the merger of video production studio Park Group and Carey’s digital content firm Studio Squared, put it squarely at the forefront of addressing those changes.
“I love that it was born right about the time that all these variables started taking place in the industry. I see that it’s responsive to that,” O’Connor said.
“I have admired Ron and been hearing wonderful things about him for years, so I endeavored to get to know him better,” she said. “The more I talked to my team about it, we felt like there’s so much chemistry and possibility there, because Tilt could use the expansion into audio, and my team is very versatile.”
RainMaker has been based in Shockoe Bottom’s Superior Building since 2000.
Carey said RainMaker will help Tilt provide its clients with more audio-visual services under one roof, at least figuratively. RainMaker will continue as a standalone studio in its current facility in Shockoe Bottom’s Superior Building, while also serving as a satellite sound shop for Tilt, which is headquartered in Shockoe Slip and has a production studio on Arthur Ashe Boulevard.
“We’ve always enjoyed their work and done a few things together,” Carey said of RainMaker. “It has always been a part of our mantra to have all services under one roof for our clients, so when you look at the talent that Kristin had on the team and the caliber of work they were doing, it was just a no-brainer.”
The move gives Kristin O’Connor a more front-end role as a senior business development consultant at Tilt. Carey described the role as wearing one hat versus the many hats she has worn with RainMaker, where she was an executive producer and also led business development.
Also making the move to Tilt is studio producer Clinton Spell, who rounds out RainMaker’s full-time team along with Kristin and Michael O’Connor, its senior sound designer and session musician.
Tilt’s audio work had previously been led by Eric Heiberg, a sound designer and composer who Carey said will continue with the company and who vouched for bringing RainMaker into the fold.
“I think what we were most excited about is the fact that there’s not a whole lot there that we have to change,” Carey said. “It’s an opportunity for RainMaker to be a part of a larger company … but RainMaker gets to do all the amazing work that it’s always done.”
Tilt’s Shockoe Slip headquarters building, which it recently rehabbed.
Started in a Fan apartment, RainMaker moved in 2000 to its Shockoe Bottom space, which was designed by Roger D’Arcy of former London-based firm Recording Architecture. The studio focuses on sound design, mixing and recording for clients such as Harris Teeter, UScellular, Virginia Lottery and Google.
Tilt’s client base includes Audi, HP, Wounded Warrior Project, Capital One and Walmart. Carey and Kristin O’Connor wouldn’t disclose Tilt’s or RainMaker’s annual revenue.
Tilt has upward of 50 employees and recently completed a renovation of its headquarters at 23 S. 13th St., where it’s looking for a tenant to fill a 7,000-square-foot second-floor space previously occupied by animation studio Hue & Cry, which moved a few blocks away last year.
While that space would appear prime for RainMaker to relocate from its current 5,000-square-foot studio it leases in the multitenant Superior Building, Kristin O’Connor said making the move is not so easy.
“It’s a highly valuable buildout,” she said of RainMaker’s space. “I’d venture to say it’s one of the top studio build-outs on the East Coast. When it comes to sound, the environment is all-important. You can’t do quality sound anywhere.”
RainMaker’s Shockoe Bottom studio. (Photo courtesy Rainmaker)
As for the renovation of Tilt’s HQ, a 150-year-old complex it bought in 2020, Carey said the new digs have had the effect he wanted for the company and its staff.
“The building has been exactly what I hoped it would be, in the sense of creating a space where you can collaborate,” Carey said. “It just feels easy to grab a few colleagues, hop into a room, get things up on the wall and talk about it together. I think we’ve experienced the efficiency in being able to do that.”
Tilt worked with local design firms BOB Architecture and Campfire & Co. on the renovation, which was completed by general contractor Team Henry Enterprises.
Alease Washington and Colby Kay with Icon Commercial are handling leasing for the available second-floor space.
Tilt’s deal with RainMaker adds to other media company acquisitions that have closed in recent months. Earlier this year, PR firm Golden Word was acquired by Toronto-based 5th Business.
I’ve kept a close eye on Ron Cary’s career for three decades, knowing great things were coming for this man. I’m proud that he’s a wahoo and a Richmonder.