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 founded Osmosis Films in 2010, and has produced numerous projects for a variety of platforms, including documentary films, narrative features, theater, and television. He produced the documentary films “The Lottery,” about charter schools and the public school system, and ESPN’s 30-for-30 “Fernando Nation.” James graduated from Harvard College.
Zach Russo
Head of Production

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. He’s a graduate of Vassar College where he studied film and creative writing.
Sarah Cortese
Creative Director

Sarah is a director, designer and animator. She has over a dozen years of experience in the industry spanning commercial, television and mobile formats. Her work has included projects for Jaguar, NHL, Showtime, Macy's, and United Airlines. In 2014, Sarah received a North American BDA Gold Award in On-Air Typography for her work with Showtime. She graduated with a BA in Film and Television from Northwestern University.
Andrew Hart
Director of Operations

Andrew started his career as a producer and editor in broadcast television working on projects for Fuse, VH1, Science Channel, A&E, NBC and CBS Sports. He spent the last decade scaling post-production facilities and teams as well as supervising campaigns for clients including Apple, Puma, Microsoft, Budweiser, J&J, Diageo, GE, Mondelez, Mattel and GSK. Andrew is a graduate of Bowling Green State University.
Deana Croog
Supervising Producer

Deana oversees a variety of production-related duties at Osmosis. She brings a diverse skill-set to Osmosis, drawing from experiences in non-profits, film festivals, and law. She completed her MA in International Film Business at the London Film School.
Nancy Yan
Producer

Nancy is a visual storyteller with a background in writing and producing short-form digital media content. Previously, she has developed and produced projects for IDEO, Seeker Media, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and Animalist. Nancy graduated with a BA in Media Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and spends her free time exploring restaurants around NYC.
Leah Sherman
Associate Producer

Leah comes to Osmosis with a background in sales, marketing, and public relations. She was previously a Sales Planner at WGN America where she wrote and produced customized content for their hosted movie series "Movies for America". Leah graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Psychology and Economics.
Axel Baumann
Cinematographer

Axel Baumann received his first Emmy nomination in 2005 for Liberia: An Uncivil War, directed by Jonathan Stack and broadcasted on Discovery/Times. In 2008, Axel was awarded an Emmy for Carrier, a 10-part series for PBS. Recently Axel completed cinematography on Herb and Dorothy, an audience award winner at Silverdocs, as well as a biography on Thomas Jefferson for the History Channel.
Nick Porterfield
Motion Designer

Nick is a designer/animator with a background in long-form animated content. He prides himself on his technical abilities and eye for design that he has cultivated over the years. While animation is his main pursuit, he loves to concept and storyboard whenever he can. Nick graduated from Champlain College with a degree in Graphic Design and Digital Media.
Alison Reader
New Projects

Alison joins Osmosis with a background in sales, marketing, and client relations. She brings with her a variety of startup experiences from SaaS platforms to subscription marketplaces. Alison graduated from Colby College and holds an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School.