Founder Ira Schickman, is a Grammy award-winning producer, songwriter, musician, and a recording artist who has collaborated with some of the most iconic names in the music industry. Ira makes music that crosses musical boundaries and genres, working with the top Rock, Funk, R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop, Soul, Gospel and Blues artists in the business from Ace Frehley (of KISS), Blues Ledgend Eric Gales, Chaka Khan, N’Sync and Kylie Minogue.

Ira played a principal role in building Calliope Studios and was instrumental in placing it at the center of the hip-hop movement. the studio helped ignite the careers of artists like De La Soul, Queen Latifah and A Tribe Called Quest.

In 1994, building on his success at Calliope, Ira founded Funktional Productions where he focused on writing and producing R&B and Soul, working with singers such as Marc Dorsey, Calvin Richardson and Rahsaan Patterson.