“Our job is to make you look good.” Call it what you want; ACME’s tagline, mantra, way of life. Since ACME’s birth 25 years ago, Mark Miskimen, company founder, has always allowed his customers to be the driving force behind the business, and ACME has grown and evolved over the years according to customer needs.

In the early 1980’s, Mark, a Marquette University grad, began his career at the American Player’s Theatre in Spring Green.  Before long, he took a new position at Stewart Johnson Design Studio, where he designed and built sets for TV spots, corporate videos, and meetings.  During this time, Mark served clients including Sargento Cheese, McDonalds, Motorola, and GE.  Later, Mark worked at Milwaukee’s Riverside Theatre. 

While at the Riverside, he received many calls from previous clients requesting his help to create sets and staging.  Based on that demand, ACME Props and Sets was born, specializing in scenery and props for photo shoots and commercials.

Milwaukee storefronts and warehouse spaces were rented initially for larger projects, but over time, as ACME began to grow, the business evolved.  Several years later, in 1988, ACME Props and Sets became ACME Production Services, with expanded offerings and a new location at the West Allis Industrial Park.  A year later, ACME had already outgrown that location, and relocated to National Avenue.

In the early 1990’s, ACME applied its staging and lighting background to the design and fabrication of exhibits such as the Milwaukee County Zoo’s Aviary, and an elaborate deep tunnel exhibit for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District, called “Journey into the Center of the Earth,” built in conjunction with an exhibit designer from Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.  After receiving many customer requests, ACME began offering lighting in addition to scenery.  Within just a few years, sales and staff increased to the point where the company needed an even larger space to better serve customer needs. 

In 1998, ACME relocated, expanding to its current location, the historic former TV-6 Television Studio building.

Today, ACME offers a wide variety of products and services for corporate meetings, special events and other types of productions.  As a production resource, ACME offers lighting, staging, special effects capabilities, and more. 

Shedding a Light on ACME’s Capabilities

Although ACME Production Resources is most often recognized as a lighting provider, we offer many additional types of equipment and services.  We provide lighting, effects and staging for a wide range of events including corporate meetings, company parties, fashion shows, theatrical productions, and weddings.  Whether your need is a large, elaborate set or something more simple, we can help you bring that vision to life.  We have many tools and resources to make an event happen, and our approach is a team effort; we will work with you and everyone else involved in the project, in order to pull off a successful event.