Member Spotlight
Mike MacNaughton
Owner, Twisted Pair Productions Ltd.
- Hometown: Regina
- Education: Campion High School, University of Regina Engineering and Data Processing
- SMPIA Member since its founding
- Owner of Twisted Pair Productions since 2001
- Inspired by: the unique mix of creativity and high technology that comes together in this business
From radio engineering to commercial production and virtual reality
Mike MacNaughton entered university to study engineering, but it was his after-hours work in radio that has shaped his career.
“I got hooked working in campus radio,” he remembers. “By the mid-1980s, I was working in radio, doing sound engineering and producing commercials for CJME and Z99.”
Mike set up his own business in the 1990s, with a focus on serving the advertising sector with sound services.
Twisted Pair was launched in 2001, with partner Pat Butler and offices in Calgary and Regina. The company unified their technical capabilities to provide sound design, recording, and audio-mixing for clients, in addition to extensive commercial work for corporate clients. In 2017, the two partners decided in a positive way to split the companies, and Mike is now running Twisted Pair in Saskatchewan.
A highlight of those years for Mike took place at the Grey Cup in 2007. “We wrote and produced the theme song for this event,” he remembers. “It was a really proud moment for me and the company.”
Mike is deeply committed to the sector, having served as the Board Chair of Creative Saskatchewan when it was founded, and, over the years, on SMPIA’s Board. “SMPIA plays an essential advocacy role,” he says. “It allows us to come together and speak with one voice on policies and issues that are important to the sector.”
Diversification is also a key to Twisted Pair’s success. Recently, the firm has undertaken a Virtual Reality project for a client. “We have to stay current for our clients, many of whom have national competitors. We need to make sure they’re getting a service that matches anything they could get in Vancouver.”
Building on all he has learned, Mike is expanding into original documentary productions, and he is now working on a documentary for City TV with 291 Film Company (Victoria, B.C.), under the working title, Searching for Caribou which is expected to be broadcast later in 2018.”
“I am a firm believer that you’re either growing or you’re dying,” he says. “For us, creating our own original productions is a way of doing that.”
To find out more about Mike visit the Twisted Pair Website