Creative directors Haley Geffen and Sam Stephens have become partners in Co_ed Studios, a new boutique production company opening in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Geffen, most recently ECD and roster director at Bodega Studios, will join forces with Stephens, co-founder and ECD at the late NYC-based studio Humble, as partners and directors of the new operation, which has already completed work for companies including Ted, NBCUniversal, PVH, and Discovery Communications.
The company will offer end-to-end live-action, animation, VFX and design services from creative through production, post and finishing, including color and sound mixing.
Stephens said the name of the company is meant to be in part a nod to the idea of inclusivity, especially where gender is concerned. “We wanted to get across the idea of inclusion, of multiple, diverse viewpoints having equal weight,” he said in a prepared statement. “This was our chance to create a new culture that was founded on gender equality.”
Clockwise from top left: EP Alexis Kaplan, MD Damijan Saccio, Partner and Director Haley Geffen and Partner and Director Sam Stephens
Geffen and Stephens will be joined by MD and Partner Damijan Saccio, who was founder and EP at New York’s UVPhactory before working with Stephens at Humble division Postal, alongside EO Alexis Kaplan, whose resume includes work at A Whitelabel Product, Supply&Demand, and Imaginary Forces. Bodega alumna Nikki Horowitz is joining the company as a producer.
“I’ve had over 15 years’ experience owning and running a design/production company, as well as further time being an EP on staff,” said Saccio in a prepared statement. “I felt it was critical for us to build a culture that would fulfill our mutual goal of working in a friendly, collaborative environment of owner/creatives capable of producing challenging, eye-opening and effective visual stories.”
