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Photo courtesy of MediaMerge.
MediaMerge designed this room in the ICR Discovery Center for Science & Earth History in Dallas.
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Photo courtesy of MediaMerge.
MediaMerge assisted Green Valley Baptist Church in Hoover with its technology setup.
Located off Old Highway 280, MediaMerge has been in business in Chelsea since 2000. The company helps organizations transform communications and engage audiences through the strategic use of audio, video and lighting systems.
“We primarily help churches, museums and large corporations,” MediaMerge President Ken McKibben said. “We have done projects in 20 states and four countries, and [we’re] just having a good time with it.”
Years ago, McKibben, along with business partner and MediaMerge co-owner Tim Ogletree, met while working in Birmingham at a subsidiary of IMAX. That experience exposed them into the museum world because that is where most of those film protections systems were located.
“At one point, we were the world’s largest third-party service for IMAX theaters,” McKibben said. “Now that digital has taken over, the maintenance of digital does not require the effort that IMAX did.”
Museums began to approach MediaMerge for help with exhibits. They would present an idea, and it was up to MediaMerge to tell the story. Clients include the Chicago Museum of Science Industry, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and, locally, the McWane Science Center.
The company also partnered on a project with ICR Discovery Center for Science & Earth History in Dallas that was completed just over a year ago. The center wanted its guests to experience being in the universe along with science and astrophysics and things surrounding the origins of the universe, so MediaMerge created a 250-degree projection screen that goes all the way around the room with a sphere in the center.
Another project MediaMerge did for ICR is Ice Age, a history and geology of an ice age themed environment. The room is set at 58 degrees, and guests come in and watch a video while having an immersive experience.
“We can create emotionally engaging experiences that make things memorable,” McKibben said. “People may leave museums feeling like they can’t remember all the specifics scientifically, but we want them to remember the emotional impression in hopes to grow their knowledge after they leave the facility.”
The bulk of MediaMerge’s clients are churches, which are who the business originally served. It works with many throughout Alabama and the Southeast to create sound, video and lighting to incorporate into their worship services. Like with the museum side, MediaMerge takes concepts to communicate to leave lasting impressions on people.
“We started out doing museum technology, and it wasn’t long before people began asking us to help with content,” he said.
Other MediaMerge projects are at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, one of the highest paid attractions in Boston. That project led to a relationship with the Boston Symphony. When it hired a new conductor, the symphony wanted MediaMerge to do something cutting-edge to introduce him, which was a hologram project.
MediaMerge has also done work for several of the Ripley's Believe It or Not attractions along with the Prohibition Museum in Savannah, Georgia.
Outside of the country, it has done work for Warner Brothers Movie World DC comics attraction in Australia, along with a project for the government of Peru tourism.
Locally, MediaMerge is working with American Village in Montevallo to create a major 12-minute feature film. It involves many extras, people in costume and explosions. Some of it is being shot in Richmond and some at American Village.
Most business comes by way of referrals from previous clients. McKibben said the company is focused on customer services and committed to clients having a great experience during the process and enjoying the final product.
Business did slow down during COVID-19 shutdowns, but MediaMerge worked with its client bases, as museums and churches began to implement advanced conference technologies. It has been getting more requests for broadcast or video streaming.
“That paradigm has changed, and it’s been wonderful for us on the sales end,” McKibben said. “Everyone accepted this screen-share meeting, and this new normal has been a good thing for us. It allows us to do a lot more and spend less time traveling.”
Another recent project that MediaMerge did was work with the new entertainment district in Trussville. It features an outdoor concert venue, a 27-foot-wide LED screen backdrop and a pavilion area.
“We always strive to take a holistic approach beyond just technical solutions,” Ogletree said. “Ultimately, the success of a project is not judged by equipment or technology but by how well it serves the needs and the exciting experience it creates.”
