Media Process Group was originally formed by Bob Hercules and David
Beaton in 1985...
after Hercules’ former employer shut down his company and
moved to Los Angeles. Hercules, now jobless, figured “I can do that”
and approached Beaton about this idea. With no money, no investors and no
equipment to speak of, Hercules and Beaton boldly began what has become a 28-year adventure. Within 3 months of forming the ‘company’ Hercules’ old
college friend, Bruce Lixey, joined the enterprise. The first
MPG ‘office’ was located in a loft space on Damen Avenue in Wicker Park
(well before that neighborhood’s current trendiness.)
The original vision of MPG was to have a profit-making production company
support their desire to produce independent documentaries. The goal was to
take projects from script to screen, entirely in-house, if possible
(something about ‘controlling the means of production’—according to Beaton).
MPG’s first major paying gig was a compelling video about an automobile
paint process for Durr Industries, which they shot in Oklahoma City. This
project allowed the boys to buy their first camera and remain penniless.
MPG’s first big break was shooting and editing (on site) the Miller Lite
Collegiate Ski Tournament in Killington, Vermont in 1987. Also that year
MPG moved into swanky new offices in the fashionable River North district,
bought their first edit system and hired Keith Walker (who was to eventually
become one of the owners of the company).
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In 1988 MPG embarked on their first feature length documentary—a film about
America’s oldest baseball parks entitled “Baseball’s Heirlooms.” Actor Jeff
Daniels agreed to host the program and the project was completed late in
1989. It ran on the Discovery Channel for three years, on over 120 PBS
stations and has recently been re-leased as a 20th anniversary DVD from Questar Video.
In 1990 the company moved to a new location in the River West area of
Chicago. That year saw the completion of a one-hour documentary by Bruce
Lixey called “Ghost Towns of the West.” Also in 1990 original owner David
Beaton (by now weary of Chicago’s relentless winters) left the company to
move to sunny Florida and pursue his independent filmmaking.
Bob Hercules (and crew members Rich Pooler and Frank Dina) ventured down to
Nicaragua in February of 1990 to direct a documentary analyzing U.S. media
coverage of Nicaragua’s National Election. The film, “Did They Buy It?,”
was completed a year later and won a Gold Plaque at the 1992 Chicago
International Film Festival.
A chance encounter in 1991 led to MPG’s long relationship with CBS’ “60
Minutes” program. Both MPG D.P.’s Hercules and Walker started shooting
location segments for the program that year and Walker (along with current
D.P. Michael Swanson) continues shooting for the show to this day. Also in
1991 Walker and Hercules started shooting a series of two-camera interviews
for Black Entertainment Television’s “Conversations With Ed Gordon” program.
Over the years Walker and Hercules filmed people like Nelson Mandela,
Aretha Franklin, President Bill Clinton, Sidney Poitier, Tupac Shakur,
Whitney Houston and Eddie Murphy, among others.
In 1992 Bruce Lixey began work on a major documentary about Times Beach,
Missouri (a town which suffered from severe toxic contamination and was
eventually evacuated). Lixey completed the film in 1993 to widespread
acclaim, winning awards in the Chicago, San Francisco and Brooklyn film
festivals. The mid-90’s saw a business boom as the company was
now shooting regularly for “60 Minutes”, NBC’s “Dateline” and for countless
corporate producers and documentary filmmakers. MPG also
completed two documentaries on Native American history for Questar
Video—“Great Indian Nations” and ”Great Indian Leaders.”
In 1995 the company purchased its first Avid editing system and became more
of a full service facility to support its growing base of corporate and
independent producers. Also that year Keith Walker became an owner of the
company.
In the summer of 1996, tragically, Bruce Lixey discovered he had contracted
colon cancer. Lixey battled the cancer for over a year and a half before
succumbing in May 1998. He was 39 years old. He left a legacy of great
programs and is still sorely missed.
1999 saw the completion of a film Bob Hercules and Bruce Orenstein had been
working on for over six years, “The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky & His
Legacy” (narrated by Alec Baldwin). The one-hour film examines the radical
community organizer and his modern-day legacy. It went on to win Best
Documentary at the 1999 Philadelphia International Film Festival and ran on
PBS in 2000.
In 2001 MPG jumped into the world of High Definition production with the
completion of a short narrative film, “The Last Frontier” (written and
directed by Bob Hercules). The film ran on the Independent Film Channel in
2002. Also in 2002 the company invested in the new Avid DS/HD
High Definition edit system (one of the first in Chicago) and our commitment
to HD continues to this day.
Also in 2001 MPG teamed up with producer Cheri Pugh to begin work on a
feature documentary entitled “Forgiving Dr. Mengele” about Auschwitz
survivor and former ‘Mengele twin’ Eva Kor. The film was completed in 2006
and won the Special Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival.
In 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, MPG’s Keith Walker flew down
to New Orleans with Oprah Winfrey and shot a series of moving and emotional
stories of survivors for the Oprah show. Earlier that summer Keith also
shot the interviews with Oprah that appear in her 20th anniversary DVD
series.
One of the highlights of 2006 was a trip that Keith Walker and Bob Hercules
took to Africa with Senator Barack Obama (for a documentary about the
journey). There they filmed Obama’s momentous ‘homecoming’ in Kenya and his
diplomatic stops in South Africa, Ethiopia and Chad. The resulting
documentary, “Senator Obama Goes to Africa” is now out on DVD from First Run
Features.
In 2007 both Hercules and Walker returned to Africa. Bob went to South
Africa and Rwanda shooting stories for the micro-lending organization
Opportunity International while Keith filmed segments for Oprah Winfrey’s
Leadership Academy in South Africa for an ABC special.
During the Presidential race of 2008, Keith Walker shot numerous commercials
for the Obama campaign and was one of the cameramen shooting the Democratic
National Convention in Denver that year. Keith and Bob were also front and
center filming Obama’s momentous victory speech on election night in
Chicago.
In 2009 MPG teamed up with the Chicago Urban League to produce a 13-week
series, NexTV, which aired on the Chicago Fox station. The program focused
on black empowerment and entrepreneurship and went on to win two Midwest
Emmy Awards.
In 2011 we finished “A Good Man” (a profile of choreographer Bill T. Jones
co-produced with Kartemquin Films). The film aired on PBS’ American Masters
that year and in 2012 we scored another American Masters broadcast with “Joffrey:
Mavericks of American Dance” (narrated by Mandy Patinkin).
We are now in our 28th year—an unimaginable event to the boys back in 1985. As
Hercules predicted, this ‘computer thing’ really did actually catch on and,
luckily people still need to tell great stories. The staff has grown and now
includes Production Manager Lisa Pooler, Graphics Artist Paul Garcia, Director
of Photography Mike Swanson and Office Manager Alex Ensign.