Chicago: Cap Gun

As former comedy school students, Matt Abramson and Alex Fendrich like a laugh as much as the next man. But they’re deeply serious about establishing their one-stop shop Cap Gun as a contender.

While the agency scene appears on the brink of a creative Renaissance in Chicago, and the city’s post facilities rival some of the top names on either coast, the Midwest still lags behind both New York and Los Angeles, in terms of size and scale, when it comes to production.

But fuelled by the industry’s revival, there are a few pioneers carving themselves a name in the Windy City and building the city’s burgeoning production industry – and one of those helping to forge the path is Cap Gun, both a commercials production and original content creation company.

Whitehouse approval

Launched under the wings of Chicago stalwart The Whitehouse but operating as its own entity, Cap Gun is the brainchild of executive producer Matt Abramson (right) and director Alex Fendrich (right). Although both were former students of Chicago’s famed Second City improv comedy school, it wasn’t until the pair found their way into advertising that their paths officially crossed, when Abramson was working as an agency producer and Fendrich had discovered a talent for directing.

“I’d got a spec project when I was working as a producer at Element 79,” remembers Abramson, “and it was an improvised piece so we hired Alex as he was directing but also still at Second City. The project was kind of like branded content ahead of its time – we weren’t geniuses or anything but we were just experimenting, and it didn’t end up getting sold but I don’t think I’d ever had as much fun as when shooting with Alex.”

But it would still be some time before the pair cemented their working relationship. Abramson followed Element 79 with a gig as producer at DDB before jumping to the other side of the fence and helping get the in-house production unit at post house Optimus off the ground. It was afterwards, while contemplating a move back to agency life, that a meeting with The Whitehouse came up and the two discovered that they were on the same page.

“I knew The Whitehouse from being a client and when they decided they might want to start something up, we talked,” says Abramson. “We met with them and they were really cool – they understood we wanted to do original content and we talked a lot about Chicago, and why it is called the Second City. The talent is here, and we all believed we could do it and that was inspiring. Alex, Kaitlyn (Parks, pictured centre; producer and third member of the Cap Gun trifecta) and I already had something that we were building and teaming that with the resources and support of a brand like The Whitehouse was great. When I was in an agency I always thought the fact that they were in Chicago was kind of a cool thing, and we took our time and got to know each other and realised that we wanted the same thing. It felt like the coolest opportunity ever.”

Original ideas

And so, while the young production company already has spots for brands including Norton, Craftsman and Motorola under its belt – as well as an in-book mention from D&AD for Norton – the guys have been creating original content too, with two pilots already to their name. Drawing on their Second City roots, one is a comedy set in a music venue in Ann Arbor that incorporates band performances, while the second goes behind the scenes of Chicago’s formidable culinary reputation and focuses on local restaurateurs and bar designers.

Those two pilots haven’t been the only projects under development either; the company itself has also expanded its commercial reach. Cap Gun recently opened the shutters on a London office, with executive producer Ollie Allgrove taking charge in the UK, while the roster has grown too with photographer-turned-filmmaker Sandro joining the team back in Chicago.

“Sandro is a Chicago-based, high-end photographer,” comments Abramson, “and what he does is totally different from what Alex does, it’s much more stylised and visual. We met him because there was an editor here who loved his stuff and introduced us, so we did a job together to test it out and had a great time. It’s great to have something different from what our core was, and I’m excited for him.”

Growing global attitude

Beefing up the talent on the European side, Cap Gun recently added London-based directing collective Navelgazing to the team and the roster also features fellow Whitehousers Gentleman Scholar, the LA-based live action, design and animation studio. Because, while Chicago might be home for Cap Gun, their attitude definitely isn’t local.

“The resources and community is amazing,” enthuses Abramson, “the crew are awesome and I can’t say enough good things about the actors but we don’t force it to be here – we’d shoot wherever was best for the job.”

But wherever in the world their work might take them, Cap Gun’s Midwestern background is helping put Chicago on the production industry map.