Pilcavage

Pilcavage

WILKES-BARRE — A virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony, complete with a long list of guests, marked the official opening of Studio 16 South on Tuesday night.

Powered by Coal Creative, a Wilkes-Barre-based creative agency, Studio 16 South offers hobbyists and business owners the chance to create and produce digital, video and audio content to promote themselves or their businesses.

“Launching Studio 16 South in Downtown Wilkes-Barre in partnership with The Accelerator is something Coal Creative is incredibly excited about,” said Holly Pilcavage, the CEO of Coal Creative.

“As our region looks to the future and continues to foster entrepreneurialism and innovation, we understand the importance of making this technology and these resources easily accessible to businesses, organizations, and individuals.”

Jones and Pilcavage co-hosted the hour-long ribbon-cutting ceremony, and welcomed five guests into the studio to share their thoughts on Studio 16 South and the entrepenurial spirit of downtown Wilkes-Barre:

• Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown

• Joseph Boylan, the executive director of Wilkes-Barre Connect

• Lindsay Griffin, from the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce

• Tony Brooks, Wilkes-Barre City councilperson and director of the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society

• Larry Newman of Diamond City Partnership.

The studio, located in a five-story building on River Street known as the Accelerator, provides high-quality, industry-specific equipment for podcasting, live streaming and all sorts of digital content.

The studio also employs studio technicians to aid entrepeneurs and business owners looking to create content in service of their business.

The founder of Studio 16 South and of the Accelerator, Kristopher Jones, has had his fair share of success as an entrepeneur, coming up with PepperJam, a digital marketing network that Jones sold to eBay in 2009.

“Studio 16 South is thrilled to join forces with Coal Creative to make podcasting and live video streaming available to businesses and hobbyists in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Jones said. “Our goal is to provide access to an affordable podcasting studio with state of the art equipment and production capabilities, while opening up opportunities for our region to grow, compete, and flourish.”

The studio is opened to both tenants and non-tenants of the Accelerator.

“I’m particularly excited that Studio 16 South calls The Accelerator at Wilkes-Barre home as this is the ultimate environment for NEPA creatives and entrepreneurs to prosper,” Jones said.