Hootenanny, a Chicago-based post house founded in 2008, has moved into new office space at 230 East Ohio Street. The new 7500 sq ft loft allows much-needed space for the growing boutique, which will continue to share space with mr. moqo, a motion graphic design firm, and fxphd, an online training website for visual effects artists. “The collection of artists in our space has allowed us to easily collaborate, using each companies’ strengths to produce some lovely work,” states Liz Tate, partner and editor at Hootenanny.  Current work for hootenanny includes a campaign for Bally Total Fitness, an AARP package through A. Eicoff, and a Leo Burnett Nintendo DS package. 
In addition to adding creative rooms, the buildout includes a 600 sq ft stage for fxphd, enhancing their ability to produce larger shoots in-house. “We’ve been lucky during this economic downturn to be one of the few businesses to actually expand in the market”, says smoke artist and partner Jim Annerino. “The additional space allows us to staff as needed to accommodate larger design and compositing projects.” The staff of 9 now includes editors Tate , Graham Metzger, Jerem Sloan and Dean Gonzalez, smoke artist Annerino, producer Don Avila, assistants Sean Halvorsen and Annelise Smith, and clients services director Hannah Whelchel. The move does not come without a little sadness, however. Tate says,“We will miss the loft space we started in on Grand Avenue. It felt like our first home. And who would have thought that moving a block away would mandate a phone number change!”