NorthCoast Media Group, Image Studios complete merger

Chris Rugowski

Contributor

March 24, 2025

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Two Wisconsin-based, woman-owned creative production studios – Green Bay’s NorthCoast Media Group (including its live event production arm, Made Ya Look) and Image Studios – recently merged uniting talents, expertise and a passion for storytelling.

Michelle Tyo-Johnson, president and owner of NorthCoast Media Group, said this strategic partnership marks the formation of one of the Midwest’s largest video production agencies – including full-service creative marketing, live event production and professional audio.

“I’m excited to bring the studios together,” she said. “Bringing our teams together allows us to amplify our reach, empower more creatives and deliver an even stronger portfolio of media services.”

Years in the making

Image Studios’ Donna Gehl said the idea of a merger started when she and business partner Scott Ehlers started exploring ways to ensure the continued growth and success of their business while taking on new roles.

Tyo-Johnson said the merger was a great fit for how she wanted to expand NorthCoast, and for how Gehl and Ehlers were looking to transition into new capacities.

“They get to leave their legacy to thrive in the right hands, and that trust is so important,” she said.

Gehl said more than anything, she was looking for strong leadership to drive the company forward.

With both businesses recognizing their respective strengths over the years, Tyo-Johnson, Gehl and Ehlers said they realized together, they could build something even greater – positioning the merged company for exponential growth.

Both Tyo-Johnson and Gehl said they know that having both companies under one umbrella helps to expand services, grow their talent pool and increase resources available.

The plan, Gehl said, is for her to stay on staff as vice president of strategic partnerships and will continue to work with clients.

“The opportunity to grow NorthCoast Media Group and to work with and learn from Donna, who has always been a leader in our industry for years, is an opportunity I am grateful for,” Tyo-Johnson said.

Strong foundations

Gehl and Tyo-Johnson said looking forward, there is a legacy that neither of them can deny.

Between NorthCoast Media Group (originally Pulse Communications), Made Ya Look and now Image Studios, Tyo-Johnson the companies have a combined 140 years of experience and proven longevity in the industry that is ever-changing, now under one roof.

“This industry can be really challenging at times,” Gehl said. “There were challenges going from analog to digital. Currently, we’re experiencing another change with AI.”

Tyo-Johnson said she knows there are many schools of thought when it comes to AI in the workplace, especially in the creative fields.

“As AI technology advances, the demand for genuine, human-centered content grows, making video, photography and live events irreplaceable tools,” she said. “We don’t fear AI. As AI changes workflows and how we do things, we believe that it is an opportunity for growth and to do more.”

Just weeks into the merger, Tyo-Johnson said she has already noticed how well the companies’ teams are clicking, further proving the merger as a “no-brainer.”

She said she sees two phenomenal creative teams who both have their own creative and unique vision, style and viewpoint, coming together and making collaboration look fun and exciting, all while being progressive.

“To be able to have that collaboration with teams learning and bouncing ideas off of each other is setting us up for more success and growth,” she said. “But it’s also really beneficial to all our clients who will have access to different perspectives, too.”

Merged companies, still different focuses

The combined company’s new structure, Tyo-Johnson said, is going to be slightly different from an outside perspective.

NorthCoast Media Group is the parent company and everything else, she said, will be underneath that umbrella.
“There’s so much brand recognition, loyalty, goodwill and involvement in the community from each of the companies that make up NorthCoast Media Group,” she said. “Image Studios has been around for the last 60 years and everything video, photography, animations and graphics that we do will now be done under the Image brand.”

Tyo-Johnson said the two other brands that make up NorthCoast Media Group – Made Ya Look, and the newly created NorthCoast Creative – will specialize in live audio and event production, and helping clients with their marketing needs, respectively.

“We were self-taught when it came to video production,” Gehl said. “For many years, we were 50/50 photo and video, but we were never (in) live production. We also have never done marketing, and we have always wanted to do it. That’s where we can learn from Michelle’s team and expand our services as a group as well.”

Tyo-Johnson said the addition of commercial photography from Image Studios really made the fit even better.

Moreover, she said she sees the full possibility of services with everything feeding into each facet of business – such as being able to expand and offer a videography customer photography services, and vice versa.

Or, Tyo-Johnson said, being able to offer live production services to a company who has traditionally only used photo and video in the past.

“It’s a win-win, it really is,” Gehl said. “We can be more flexible, and offer so much more than before. Michelle’s got really talented people, and I think they’ll make us better, and we’ll make them better. When I announced it to our team, I said there was almost no overlap with the services we offered and the services offered by NorthCoast and Made Ya Look. We needed more editing help, they have editors. She needed photographers, we have photographers.”

Powered by women, an empowering future

On their own, Tyo-Johnson said both NorthCoast and Image Studios were two of the largest production houses in the Midwest, and similarly, both owned by women.

“That’s pretty remarkable in this industry when you consider that in the multimedia industry less than 25% of the workforce is women and less than 5% are women-owned production companies,” she said. “So, to have two women-owned production companies in Northeast Wisconsin was phenomenal already.”

With the merger, Tyo-Johnson said NorthCoast Media Group will be one of the largest video and creative production companies in the Midwest.

She said the combined team is currently made up of about 40 employees.

As growth occurs, Tyo-Johnson said they will add roles, likely sooner rather than later.

Compare this number to the average production company, which Gehl said varies from eight and 12 employees, and NorthCoast Media Group has a pretty good leg up.

Though 40 employees might not seem like a lot, Gehl said, the staff is one aspect of both companies – even before the merger – that gave both studios an advantage.

Both are equipped with producers, directors, graphics and videographers already, which she said allows them to quote confidently from the get-go.

This, Gehl said, has allowed the teams to get to know their clients and really understand them – which in turn leads to trust and continued work.

“We’ve seen some overlap with our client list,” she said. “You can’t help it here in Northeast Wisconsin. At the same time, we both travel the country, doing work regionally and nationally, and the overlap in clients is there, too. Above all else, it’s important to know that our values and culture are similar.”

Gehl said for her and partner Ehlers, similar values matter, because they wanted to make sure the future was in good hands and that whoever they merged with was going to adopt and adapt to change in ways that will be beneficial to everyone.

In the end, Gehl said she and Ehlers wanted this to be a great thing to grow into, and to be excited for.

“While the initial announcement was a bit of a surprise, it didn’t take long for everyone – from staff to customers and connections in the industry – to get excited,” she said. “We just had the annual ADDYs (American Advertising Awards), so friends of both studios were saying, ‘We get it, we can see it now,’ and showing support. That meant a lot.”

Tyo-Johnson said she feels blessed by this opportunity, and recalls watching how all the employees celebrated together at the ADDYs and how joyful it was.

“Culture is everything,” she said. “Seeing the teams come together as one team this quickly is amazing. They’re already working together extremely well, and having fun. There’s new people, some people who have known each other for decades and others in between. I’ve been involved with a variety of mergers over my career, and I never had a merger go so smoothly.”

When asked what this merger will bring overall, Tyo-Johnson said “the world’s the limit.”

Continuing in a support role

Gehl said she is excited about the change the merger brings for her.

“I’ve worked here for 36 years, more than half my life,” she said. “This is my family – I mean that. We’ve had people here for 20-30 years, and I need to be here for that, to see them through this. Moreover, I am still passionate about this business and seeing this whole merger through and focusing on the success of the future.”

As she takes on her new role, Gehl said she is looking forward to focusing more on sales – the role she had before she became president in 2007.

She said her focus was always new business and, with a renewed sense, she’ll be able to put a lot of that energy into supporting the new leadership.

Gehl said she feels very strongly that it’s important to see Image Studios remains successful and becomes even more successful – after all that, according to her, it was one of the core reasons why they merged in the first place.

Meanwhile, Tyo-Johnson said she knows that Gehl’s relationship with her, the clients, the community and team is “unparalleled.”

“I wouldn’t have felt comfortable taking this on without Donna staying on board,” she said. “I am so grateful she is here to help. I have so much to learn from her.”

Speaking highly of her team, Gehl said they’re very good with change, after all, “that’s why they’re still here.”

She said she knew the company was ready for something new and many of the employees had been asking her for quite some time where the company will be in five years.

And though at the time she couldn’t answer as she wasn’t quite sure, Gehl said today the merger with NorthCoast paints a successful picture for the future.

“Everyone here is energized by the change,” she said. “It’s almost as if everyone has got a new skip in their step.”
Continuing her leadership role, now of the combined team, Tyo-Johnson said she looks at the culture of the companies, before, now and into the future and sees where the talent and creative powerhouse can go.

“I was thinking about the legacy of 140 years of combined experience and how big of a legacy that is to continue,” she said. “I am excited for it. I am looking forward to working with the incredible people and taking us to the next level.”

Unintentional perfect timing

Though the timing of the merger was not intentionally planned to be complete a few days before Women’s History month, Tyo-Johnson and Gehl said it certainly provides them with a moment to step back and reflect upon the industry, where they’ve been and how they’ve gotten to where they are.

The pair said they’re setting a new standard for those who want to get in the industry and for those who’ve been around for years.

“Because there’s so few women in this industry it’s something that makes me very proud of both of our accomplishments over the years,” Tyo-Johnson said. “People need to see people that are like them – representation matters. We both, individually, broke glass ceilings with the things we’ve done, time and time again. I think it’s special for both of us that we can be examples for other women.”