Tripepi Smith Expands Video Production Capacity Through Empire Media Productions Acquisition
Tripepi Smith has acquired Empire Media Productions (EMP) as it expands its services in the video production space. EMP has been a key partner with Tripepi Smith in delivering council chamber video production services for cities. As part of the acquisition, EMP staff and equipment will transfer to Tripepi Smith. The acquisition increases Tripepi Smith Video Productions’ capacity to six videographers/editors on the team who are ready to deliver for clients.
The pandemic has placed increased pressure on public agencies to innovate how they broadcast and record their meetings. The shift to virtual meetings required speedy and innovative production engineering, and Tripepi Smith, with the help of EMP, was able to help its clients navigate that process successfully. Additionally, video PSA’s, mayor messages and other video communications have become more important to connect with communities as in-person events have been suspended. With the acquisition of EMP, Tripepi Smith now has a full-scale Video Production department in-house with strong experience and expertise to offer clients.
“Video and council chamber production is a dynamic space that leverages state of the art equipment and techniques – a perfect match for our ‘Always Be Learning’ attitude at Tripepi Smith. EMP has historically been a strong partner, and as we looked at the market and the needs of public agencies, we determined it would be smart to bring their video talent and production assets under a single roof,” said Tripepi Smith President Ryder Todd Smith. “Tripepi Smith clients who currently rely on us for video production and council chamber AV support will see no impact on services, and we will continue building our redundancy and expertise on the team to ensure wide availability to respond to client needs.”
EMP was founded over a decade ago and has been run by Eric Lowy since 2017, when he took over the firm and continued to grow the organization. As part of the acquisition, Eric will remain available to consult on engagements and provide technical support to assist clients.
“EMP and Tripepi Smith have a solid history of collaboration. This acquisition was the next logical step and it will benefit both our clients and members of the EMP team. Tripepi Smith is a high-performance organization, and I have assured all my EMP clients that they will be in good hands with Tripepi Smith,” said Eric.
Tripepi Smith Video Productions services for council chamber productions are led by Senior Business Analyst Melanie James.
“Tripepi Smith is excited to welcome EMP team members to the Tripepi Smith family of talent. There is a lot of need in local government to communicate with video and to provide transparency to the public through excellent public meeting production,” noted Melanie. “Tripepi Smith will continue expanding our services in this area and looks forward to more public agencies engaging with us. Our team is ready.”
The Tripepi Smith current roster of council chamber video production clients include: City of Huntington Beach, City of Fullerton, City of Bellflower and City of Villa Park. The firm is adding the City of Paramount and City of La Cañada Flintridge to this list. Tripepi Smith also provides or has provided general video production work and event live streaming services for a number of public agencies, including City of La Mesa, City of Manteca, City of Tracy, City of Claremont, City of Indian Wells, City of Lancaster, City of Culver City, City of Lomita, City of Murrieta, City of Vallejo and City of Lake Forest.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a California-based marketing, technology and public affairs firm that serves for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provides a competitive advantage to agencies seeking to leverage the internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm provides full content creation services, including: ghost writing, collateral development, photography, video production, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith clients include: City of American Canyon, City of Culver City, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of Duarte, City of Grover Beach, City of Santa Paula, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lake Forest, City of Livermore, City of Napa, City of Paramount, City of Martinez, City of Tracy, City of Vallejo, CalChoice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Rowland Water District, California Contract Cities Association, California City Management Foundation, Renne Public Law Group, Bob Hall & Associates and Climatec.