BORN FROM A CASSETTE TAPE
Back in the early 2000s, David Gerlach was a print journalist, writing for magazines and working at Newsweek. He, like most of his friends in the industry, would record interviews while reporting a story. A few lines from the interview would make it into print and then the tape — or minidisc or digital file — would be stashed and largely forgotten. No one ever got to hear these remarkable conversations. Why?
Fast forward to 2011 and Gerlach launched the Blank on Blank podcast, as a side project while working at ABC News. The idea was simple: uncover lost interviews with iconic figures and remix them as lost audio gems from the archives. The podcast took off and soon, with support from PRX, the series was being heard on public radio stations nationwide.
To help reach audiences beyond the podcast world, Gerlach began creating audio-first videos using motion graphics, whiteboard animation, photography, video, and mixed media. Early videos featuring Bono and surfer Kelly Slater were soon heard and seen by more than 100k people. This work caught the eye of PBS and together we launched the Blank on Blank animated series on YouTube in 2013. Blank on Blank and Quoted Studios took off from there.
WHAT WE DO
We apply our journalistic roots and sensibility to unlocking hidden stories. Whether they are interviews sitting on a journalist’s tapes or in a major archive, recordings buried in a media brand’s archives, untapped podcasts and radio broadcasts, or the yet to be heard stories within an organization or company, we transform raw, intimate storytelling into culturally resonant digital content. We specialize in creating content that resonates and cuts through the clutter, whether it’s a standout podcast, an engaging video installation, or an animated video series.
Our Founder
David Gerlach has worked in New York media circles for over 15 years. Prior to launching Quoted Studios, he was a producer at ABC News covering domestic and international affairs on Good Morning America. He left the network at the end of 2011 to launch the Blank on Blank series and Quoted Studios.
David collaborates with a deep network of talented audio producers, journalists, animators, filmmakers, documentarians, and visual creatives to transform interviews and archives into new content for new audiences.
In 2015, he received the Innovative Use of Archives award by the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York. Blank on Blank was a Webby Honoree in 2015 and 2016.
Collaborators
Patrick Smith, Director
Patrick has written, produced, and directed six award-winning films in the last decade that have been featured on MTV, PBS, FX, Nickelodeon, Rolling Stone, New York Times, and Huffington Post. His creative work has also included iconic television commercials for Zoloft, Visa, and AOL. Smith is a Visiting Lecturer in the Graduate Animation program at New York University and a curator for multiple international film and animation festivals.
Amy Drozdowska, Audio Producer
Amy is an award-winning journalist, audio and multimedia producer with over a decade of experience in public radio journalism – in the US and internationally.
Our Board
Quoted Studios is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) based in Brooklyn.
David Gerlach
Anuj Desai, So. California Edison
Erik Langner, Public Media Company
Matt McDonagh, WatchMoJo
Randy Shapiro, Bloomberg LP
James McIntyre, Neighborly