Tinygiant, a Brooklyn-based boutique production company headed by partners Veronica Diaferia and Sara Eolin, has formalized its penchant for nurturing up-and-coming talent with the launch of a talent incubator for emerging directors. The first filmmaker to be part of the initiative now that it’s official is Jade Sacker who’s signed with Tinygiant for commercial representation. This marks her first U.S. signing for spots and branded content.
Founder Diaferia elaborated on what the incubator means for Tinygiant. “Someone said the other day that talent is universal, but opportunities are not. So for us, it’s really about giving people the opportunity to start their commercial career. It’s nearly impossible to build a commercial reel on your own if you don’t have someone take a chance on you, take you under their wing, and push you forward. Sara and I are experienced enough to know when someone has that spark and demeanor to thrive in the commercial world. Agencies and clients will be able to say they knew them when.”
A journalist and photographer, Sacker has come to filmmaking in a unique way. She started her career as an NGO photographer in Nepal and Kenya. Her first long-term project was in Northern Syria where at 20 years old, she volunteered for and was embedded in the Kurdish military. Upon returning to the States, she studied Documentary Practice at the International Center of Photography via the United Nations headquarters in New York City. With a creative path marked with integrity and purpose, Sacker views filmmaking as an intimate documentation involving long-term collaborative storytelling, an archive of testimony and evidence that can be used as a medium to foster accountability and positive change.
Sacker’s latest work, the documentary A House Divided, executive produced by John Legend, explores the effects of hyper-partisanship within the strained relationship between two Black brothers adopted by a white Mormon family in the wake of the polarizing Trump era of politics. As a photojournalist, Sacker has worked with NBC, NPR, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed News, Radio France, UnHeard, and Foreign Policy.
Sacker said of joining the ranks of Tinygiant, “Veronica and Sara’s belief in the work I can do in the ad space is galvanizing, and I’m excited to get to work. I think my work as a documentarian will translate well into commercial filmmaking, and I’m thankful that Tinygiant decided to take this leap with me.”
