Cates Collaborative is a branded content and video production company based in Chicago, working out of offices on North Wacker Drive. The agency builds campaigns around humor as a communication tool, scripting scenarios described internally as fun and often funny, and has served as live event and video producer for the B2B arm of The Second City Theater. Clients range in size, and the studio pairs that theatrical comedy background with high-end animation and a fully customizable video platform to deliver company messages through animated characters when live action isn't the right fit.
Work moves through a five-stage process: Discovery, Strategy, Creative Development, Execution, and Success Celebration. Within that framework, services cover creative concepting and production, video scripts and storyboards, brand films, explainer videos, motion graphics, editing and post-production, and live-action shoots. Tone is treated as a variable to be set per project rather than a fixed house style, and the agency draws on what it calls a vast network of favorite creative professionals to staff productions rather than relying solely on in-house talent.
Published case studies point to the range of that output: a branded entertainment project for BassCase, a video and social media advertising campaign for Tomy's The First Years, and a public service announcement produced for Illinois Heart Rescue. Together they show the agency moving between consumer product marketing, PSA work, and entertainment-style branded content, with humor-based storytelling running as a consistent thread across the different formats and applications.