About Us | Osmosis Films

We distill complex concepts into high-quality, impactful visual storytelling.

We excel at discovering, developing, and communicating your narratives to the audiences you need to reach. We help you establish your brand, grow your business, communicate your values, and share ideas that will change the world.

Build it
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Create it
Build it
Define it
Create it
Build it
Define it
Create it
Build it
Define it
Create it
Build it
Define it
Create it

Distill your ethos
Tell your story
Translate your vision
Distill your ethos
Tell your story
Translate your vision
Distill your ethos
Tell your story
Translate your vision
Distill your ethos
Tell your story
Translate your vision
Distill your ethos
Tell your story
Translate your vision

Working with Osmosis

"It is always a pleasure working with Osmosis. Time and again, we are thoroughly amazed by the team’s fantastic work. Not only are their videos stunningly creative, but they also demonstrate keen insight and understanding into the core ideas we are seeking to communicate with our content and projects." Caroline Netchvolodoff, Vice President, Education, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

“The Osmosis team was a critical partner on a series of videos that brought PayPal’s corporate mission to life. Our assignment was humanize the struggles of consumers and merchants outside of the financial system. It’s a challenge to create storytelling around digital technology, but Osmosis’ creative and hands-on approach resulted in content we continue to leverage to reach multiple audiences.” Amanda Coffee, Lead Manager, Corporate Communications, PAYPAL

“We brought in Osmosis to create videos for us on extremely tight time constraints and with very little prior information. They were incredibly professional and responsive and maintained a positive attitude even when there were hiccups on our end. The final product was even better than we expected and created an amazing and emotional experience for our audience.” Susan Pendergrass, Vice President of Research and Evaluation, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS

“We could not be happier with our experience with the Osmosis team. Professional, courteous and extremely talented, we had an amazing experience and we could not be happier with the final product. I would highly recommend Osmosis for your video needs.” Ben Veghte, Vice President of Communications & Marketing, NATIONAL VENTURE CAPITAL ASSOCIATION

“Osmosis clearly has the technical expertise, but where I find their most critical value is in their creative partnership - they dug into our organization and emerged with fresh concepts and compelling scripts that truly embody our brand and mission.” Kate Zickel, Managing Director, Corporate Communications, SIFMA

“Osmosis was one of the few production companies that quickly and easily understood our business. With minimal effort for our organization they were able to bring our company story, culture, people and vision to life. We could not have been happier with our working relationship and end product.” Philipp Saumweber, Founder & CEO, SUNDROP FARMS

"We have partnered with Osmosis Films on a variety of projects from single events to larger campaigns and they are an outstanding creative partner from video concept development through to seamless production planning, execution and delivery! All members of their team bring a great attention to detail, are easy to work with and do a nice job of putting everyone at ease in front of the camera. The Osmosis projects helped deepen engagement throughout our organization as well as with our dealer partners---we would recommend Osmosis to any company looking to do the same!" Dave Bangert, CEO, CHI OVERHEAD DOORS

"Osmosis has been a great partner. Their team is very talented, versatile, engaged, accommodating and creative. They've been very quick to pick up on both the values of our organization and the technical details of our work, and they have efficiently translated that understanding into high-quality videos and interactive features that help us tell our story." Andy Zieminski, National Communications Manager, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RESEARCH & EDUCATION, USDA

"We found the process how Osmosis develops engaging content for our audience very well structured and highly professional. The six films we created together greatly help to establish the HENSOLDT brand on a global scale and we will rely again on the creative and talented team of Osmosis for upcoming projects." Joachim Schranzhofer, Vice President, Head of Communications, HENSOLDT GROUP

"We have partnered with Osmosis on several large-scale video projects. I have been continually impressed by their ability to tell fantastic stories through video and motion graphics and to help us convey our Cornell Tech mission and vision to the outside world. The Osmosis team consistently delivered videos scaffolded by an editorial vision, a tightly organized crew, and best-in-class technical talent." Michele Hoos, Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy, CORNELL TECH

"Osmosis Films is creative, diligent, and personable in their approach to problem-solving and brand storytelling. Their messaging workshop provided us the opportunity to set clear project goals and develop an effective narrative for our project. Osmosis is easy and accommodating to work with, and we are very happy with the video they created." Valerie Steele, Director, MUSEUM AT THE FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Selected Clients

Our Team

James Lawler
Founder & CEO

James Lawler is the founder and CEO of Osmosis, a full-service creative agency and production company specializing in content communications strategies leveraging video, animation, and other visual storytelling formats for more than 100 clients in a variety of industries. James has over 15 years of experience in documentary films, narrative features, theater, television, and web and mobile design. Specifically, Osmosis was founded with the creation of a documentary film called The Lottery, which was shortlisted for the Academy Award.
Zach Russo
Creative Director

Zach is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker who has produced several documentary features for HBO and A&E, as well as concert films, music videos, and other digital content for Sony Music Entertainment. Zach is responsible for managing Osmosis production from the initial strategy and creative vision through to the final deliverable. Zach oversees each project from start to finish and manages our team of producers, editors, assistant editors, production coordinators, writers, sound designers, composers, and more.
Deana Croog
Director of Content Strategy & Client Services

Deana establishes and fosters Osmosis's partnership with organizations to develop and implement visual communication strategies that drive business outcomes while building empathy and fostering understanding. Deana is also an award-winning producer, having previously driven creative, strategy, and execution on many campaigns for Osmosis. Her work ranges from short documentaries to thought leadership films, product launch animations, interactive experiences, and everything in between. Deana received her MA in International Film Business from the London Film School.
Sarah Cortese
Creative Director

Sarah is a director, designer, and animator with over a dozen years of industry experience in the industry spanning commercial, television, and mobile formats. As the Osmosis Creative Director, Sarah oversees the look and feel for all visual deliverables including video, web design, photo elements. She directs our animators through the creation of graphic elements and animation while maintaining the applications of these elements in support of the creative vision. She is both a Promax and Summit Creative Award winner for her work with Showtime and Council on Foreign Relations.
Mike Furth
Director of Post Production

An award-winning filmmaker with over fifteen years of experience across television, feature-length work, commercials, and digital marketing, Mike focuses on how the editing process can help bring out the humanity of every story that we work on. All while creating strong relationships between our team and yours to ensure that we are creating the highest quality content. Former clients include Fortune 100 companies such as Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Verizon, American Express, Nike, and IBM.
Josh Eriksen
Art Director

Josh is a CLIO and Promax award-winning designer and animator with over ten-years of design, animation, and interactive experience. He loves being a hands-on creative and collaborating with our production and creative teams to realize remarkable visual experiences for our clients and their audiences alike. From lower-thirds to the screens of Times Square, no creative challenge is too small or too large for Josh to bring to life. When not pushing around millions of pixels at Osmosis, he can be found on a mountain, on a beach, or pursuing inspiring endeavors because that’s what it’s all about.
Alison Reader
Director of Client Strategy and Business Development

Alison helps to shepherd new projects through the ideation and brainstorming to kick-off. She works across all our new and existing clients to create a strategy that will support their internal and external communication goals. Once the scope of a project is defined, developed, and ready to go, she connects the client and the production team for the kick-off. Alison received her MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School.
Benjamin Koring
Manager of Content Strategy and Client Services

Benjamin is a Brooklyn-based film buff and content strategist with over 4 years of experience in digital media programming at AMC Networks. With a keen eye for story, he works across all incoming and existing projects to optimize efficiency, scope, and strategy. Benjamin received his BA in Philosophy from McGill University.
Rachel Mills
Senior Creative Producer

Rachel is an Emmy nominated filmmaker with over 15 years of experience in the documentary space. Highlights of her work include Mavis! and A Matter of Taste, both picked up by HBO, and she was co-creator and Executive Producer of A&E’s The Killing Season. Most recently she Co-Produced the feature documentary Born to Be about the Center for Transgender Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital. She is drawn to character-driven documentaries from the most earnest to the most absurd and is fascinated by work that sheds light onto tucked-away stories.
Julia Pontecorvo
Senior Creative Producer

Julia is an NYC-based creative producer enthusiastic about telling humanity’s most idiosyncratic and heartfelt stories. She has produced award-winning films and projects for the world’s leading museums, platforms, and brands, including Vogue, HuffPost, Vice, American Express, PBS, Annenberg Space For Photography, and National Geographic. Her recent projects include the acclaimed Where There's Smoke, Design For All, and In The Making anthology documentary series. Julia is also proud to be a 2020 Impact Partners Producers Fellow.
Joanna Lagstein
Senior Creative Producer

Joanna is a production veteran and a true renaissance woman with over 15 years of experience in the industry. Part Creative Director, part mad scientist, she embraces creativity wholeheartedly and is always looking for ways to work better & smarter, always putting the client’s vision first. Joanna has produced best-in-class content and creative programs for large corporations like NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, Bloomberg & HBO as well as smaller companies like Participant Media, Current TV, and more. Joanna is also a graduate of Columbia University’s Creative Producing M.F.A Program.
Isabella Bartolucci
Senior Creative Producer

Isabella is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and producer based in Nashville, TN. Previously, she was one of the original producers at CNN’s Great Big Story, where she produced over 100 short documentaries and films. She enjoys meeting interesting and inspiring people and helping share their stories. Isabella is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill’s Journalism school.
Leah Sherman
Producer

Leah acts as a liaison between our clients and the Osmosis creative and development teams, holding the creative vision for the project, maintaining the schedule, handling the project budget, and managing the Osmosis staff.
Emily Watson
Writer

Emily is an award-winning Brooklyn-based producer with a background in documentary filmmaking and digital media, where her videos have focused on everything from criminal justice to global economics. She’s received honors from the Society for Professional Journalists, the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, the SABEW Best in Business Awards and the 2020 Webby Awards. She works across the team at Osmosis to create innovative storytelling and compelling narratives that connect with our audience.
Anna La Roche
Editor

Anna works across our live-action projects throughout the post-production process to create everything from an initial rough cut of a film through to the final piece. She develops, maintains, and applies the vision of the project to each edit and works hand-in-hand with the producer to deliver a successful final film.
Matthew Rinehart
Designer

For the past decade Matthew has been setting pixels in motion. From advertising and marketing campaigns to social and interactive design, he keeps a wide variety of Osmosis projects moving forward.
Katharine Spatola
Manager of Post Production

Kate has a diverse professional background in international film, broadcast television, creative production, and media operations. Having worked in creative development through to final delivery, Kate brings an invaluable perspective to managing the post-production process. She has worked for award-winning companies, such as City Screen Picturehouses (UK), Altitude Films (UK), the Discovery Channel & National Geographic. Kate holds an M.A. in Film Production from Royal Holloway, University of London.
Meg Yoshida
Junior Editor

Meg is a multi-lingual video editor who enjoys working with her teammates at Osmosis to create viscerally engaging films. Post-production is one of her biggest passions, and she finds joy in the process of bringing a client’s vision to life. Meg graduated from Mount Holyoke with a degree in Anthropology and Film Studies.
Linnea Goldstein
Junior Producer

Linnea is a Boston-based Junior Producer with experience producing both live events and live-action videos. She is passionate about working with clients in a wide range of industries to tell their unique stories. Linnea graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Political Science.
Melanie Rosete
Assistant Editor

Melanie is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and graduate from the Purchase College Film Conservatory. She works as an assistant-editor for Osmosis and works with the producers and editors to create effective and engaging work. Melanie is a passionate storyteller and has received high recognition for her narrative and documentary short films that center around social and interpersonal issues.
Sam Clough
Executive Trainee

Sam is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and animator with a passion for terrific storytelling. He works as an Executive Trainee at Osmosis Films and enjoys collaborating with artists and producers throughout all phases of production. Sam is a graduate of Bates College, where he studied Rhetoric, Film and Television Studies.