Carolyn in Caen, 1993

Our first office was Carolyn’s parents’ kitchen table (definitely one of our best lunch options!). This was after we both learned our trade at Western Captioning. Carolyn started at Western Captioning in 1990 and Kelly started there in 1991. When the owner wanted to sell us his company, after exploring all options, we ended up business owners—much to our surprise!

Since 1995, Line 21’s office has been in Yaletown. We were first in the Empress building, had a brief sojourn to Kits from 1997-1998, and we’ve been in our current space in Yaletown (behind the Boulangerie la Parisienne, kitty-corner to the Yaletown Brewing Co), since 1998.

To celebrate our birthday, here are some fun facts about Line 21.

5 Facts About Line 21

1. We’re a small(ish) company. There are approximately 11 people working for Line 21 on any given day, plus some freelance transcribers. There’s a lot of labour that goes into what we do. Kelly and Carolyn both still work in production, hands-on.

2. We are fans of the shows we work on… especially the dramatic series. And we are huge fans of Vancouver actors, directors, editors, writers, and post people.

3. We’re really proud to have long-term staff. The majority of our staff have been working for us for about 10 years. Leslie and Dawn joined us in 1998, Steffani in 1999, Patricia and Siri in 2002, Will in 2005, and Yasumi joined us in 2006.

4. We work to live. Most of us work flexible hours to support children, education, and/or artistic endeavors.

5. Line 21 has closed captioned approximately 20,000 titles and transcribed about 9,000 scripts. All archived in perpetuity. And all done by real people (sometimes people think we’re all machines).

Find out more about Line 21.

March Recipe: Jack’s Best Birthday Cake

This recipe comes from Twist It Up by Jack Witherspoon. We made it to celebrate Line 21’s birthday and it was wicked!

Ingredients

1 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup strong coffee at room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until smooth.

In another bowl, combine milk, coffee, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a 3rd bowl, combine flour and cocoa.

Alternate  adding the milk and flour mixes into the creamed sugar mixture. Blend. Add in the boiling water and blend. Add in the vanilla and blend.

Pour the batter into 8 inch round cake pans, or equivalent. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. (Bake for more or less time if you choose a different size pan).

Cool, and ice with icing made of:

3 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup melted butter
4 tbsp milk at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla

Blend all together until smooth. Add more milk to thin if needed.

Next:  Our client highlights over the last 18 years.