LOS ANGELES — Boutique audio post facility Eleven Sound (elevensound.com) has added a new partner to its team. Mixer/sound designer Jordan Meltzer has officially partnered with owner Jeff Payne, signaling a new era for the studio, which left its long-time Santa Monica location for new space in West LA.
The space and partnership mark a fresh direction for company, which was founded in 1999 and takes its name from the Spinal Tap reference. Payne scaled the studio by leveraging decades of experience in sound design and mixing alike, alongside a range of other audio post services. Now with Meltzer serving as co-owner, Eleven Sound hopes for another two-plus decades of success.
As companies settled into hybrid work, the partners envisioned a venue that would challenge all preconceived notions of what a studio should look and feel like. The team worked with architect Sonja Friedrich to manifest their plans from day one, ultimately co-purchasing the building. The 3,700-square-foot workspace includes custom-built Scandinavian, white-oak desks by Adam Christgau; white fabric walls; and skylights and natural lighting. The space is a huge departure from more traditional studios, where windowless, dark interiors were common.
Eleven Sound's (L-R) Jeff Payne and Jordan Meltzer
Eleven Sound’s new space is home to three sound studios, each equipped with an isolated voiceover booth, 7.1 speaker configuration, Avid S3 consoles, Dante audio networking and custom BSS configurations. All three rooms run Avid’s Pro Tools. The technical design and integration of the facility were imagined by Ron Lagerlof and Visioneering Connect, a longtime collaborator of Payne’s and Eleven.
The open design of the venue shares the partners’ directive of being a place where creatives will want to hang out. They chose West LA as their central hub to make travel easier for clients and employees across the increasingly stretching city. The location is purposefully tucked away off the main thoroughfare of Olympic Blvd., sharing a wall with a legacy studio owned by a former member of the Eagles.
“After three years of working from home, I believe our clients are eager for the creative face-to-face interaction, which is much more efficient and satisfying,” states Payne. “By designing a workspace for our clients that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing, we hope to partner with like-minded clients who share the notion that human creativity thrives in a physical environment that is inspiring and comfortable.”
“Building a studio has always been a dream of mine,” adds Meltzer. “I couldn’t be happier to partner with Jeff and breathe life into the blank canvas of a building, pushing the boundaries of studio design aesthetics. I can’t wait to share the final result with everyone.”
The studio recently worked on Uber Eats’ Super Bowl campaign One Hit For Uber One, starring P-Diddy, as well as on Cadillac’s Colors of Emotions campaign.