Color Lab Collective comes from a story of community. We were established in CHICAGO circa 2014, by Ryan Shuck and Chesney Gregorie. At first, we were working out of a small standalone garage. Our goal was to offer a creative and affordable space for artists of all kinds! So we banded together and rented a larger commercial garage (with no heat) , with a larger group of like minded artists. We ranged from musicians, sign painters, visual artists, film and television crew members with shop hobbies, theater stage designers, woodworkers, fabricators, motorcycle enthusiasts and even puppet makers! The 1st shop was in the heart of Logan Square from 2015 - 2017. It was home to a local recording studio, as well as a paradise for art department folks of all levels in the film industry. In 2017 the collective grew double in size, and moved to a 3200 sq ft commercial building which housed over 20 artists during its stay there. It housed a metals and woodworking shop space, multiple medium bays as well as a post production suite for countless indie films and commercials. It was a mecca for creation, and many careers along multiple industries began in that very shop. THEN Covid happened, and the 2 years that followed only led to the commercial real estate market becoming too expensive for a group of artists to afford the same things we could before 2020. The Color Lab Collective shop stayed open through the end of 2023 and inevitably disbanded in early 2024. During the last year of the Color Lab Collective shop, the writers strike began. Months of idle time led to hours of work on projects that busy schedules just never allowed. The side gig, became the main gig. During that time we refined a first version of “The Iris Antenna” we fabricated metals and tested countless configurations of the build. We consulted experts, and spent days on end learning. The idea of the unit had been tested on set for a few seasons (by Ryan, who works at a DIT) but its design was clunky and required a lot of random components to work. Eventually, we landed on a V1 of “The Iris Antenna” and got a ton of those units out to working DITs in the field. We gained invaluable feedback and knowledge, from so many highly skilled people. It was incredible! and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive! From there we refined the build, contacted people about legalities, tested.. and tested again… and again. Finally, we landed on the current build of “The Iris Antenna” // The Aperture unit.

The story of Color Lab Collective is the story of innovation and dedication to craft. Its stepping stones have led us here, to you!

Thank you for taking interest in our origin story, and to everyone who has lent a helping hand in the process.

-CLC