Sinners and Saints has a new partner
Partner/EP Yann Henric joins the company, as new Huawei work breaks, alongside an Emmy nom for Superpower and more features in the works.
Bicoastal Sinners and Saints enters Fall 2024 with a new Partner/Executive Producer, Yann Henric; a new production campus in partnership with Lux Angeles Studios; and new work for Huawei shot on location in China.
On the longform front Superpower, directed by Sinners and Saints’ features EP Aaron Kaufman and Sean Penn, was recently nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy as Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. Overseen by Managing Director/EP Heather Heller, Sinners and Saints is a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) and the multidisciplinary studio of choice for brands and agencies like Smirnoff, L'Oréal, FCB, GSD&M, McCann, and a host of others.
The Sinners and Saints roster comprises directors Jessy Terrero, Adrien Galo, Steve Pink, Julien Rocher, Arnaud Deroudilhe, Ivo Wejgaard, Lado Kvataniya, Remy Cayuela, and Jean Claude Thibaut. Heller, who has produced some of the most dazzling and awarded music videos and commercials of the past two decades, said, “Sinners and Saints now provides a synthesis of top-level execution, a killer roster, and a vast network of best-in-class talent working across all genres, from beauty to cars, lifestyle to comedy, digital to broadcast.”
For example, Huawei, directed by Thibault, is a collaboration with Red Horse Film that called upon the director’s breathtaking, classic point of view (“all the elegance of a Monte Carlo roulette table, with none of the risk,” said Heller of the director, who is known for his high-wattage beauty work with countless celebs such as Ana de Armas and Jon Hamm). Meanwhile, Sinners and Saints is now at work on a comedy campaign with freelance director Jonnie Malachi for an undisclosed client, shooting in LA.
Henric’s first project at Sinners and Saints recently wrapped production in Chile; directed by Cayuela, the Robitussin/Theraflu assignment was created by Publicis Cast + Grey NYC + Grey Buenos Aires.
A French executive producer who has worked in Paris, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, Henric brings a keen eye for talent and a magic touch with global brands to the company’s branded content division. In France, Henric began at IRENE 75 and was thrown into the deep end as a line producer, quickly gaining experience on both the production and agency sides, for Fred & Farid and Konbini, among others. In Miami, he serviced productions for French brands like Calvin Klein, Dior, Yves Rocher, Ubisoft, and Peugeot.
“Yann’s proficiency in physical production is exceeded only by his innate ability to relate to talent behind the camera,” said Heller. “We also share a history of working with a lot of French clients, and the international twist is very apt.”
“Heather and I have a synergy and shared vision that is very organic,” said Henric, who has produced several short films, and one independent feature film, in addition to his work in the branded space. “Coming on board at Sinners and Saints, I can bring the full spectrum of my experience to bear. Plus, Heather prefers action to talk, which is something else we share.”
In addition to Heller, Henric, and Kaufman (Robert Rodriguez’s longtime collaborator at Troublemaker Studios), the Sinners and Saints leadership team includes Features Executive Producer Thomas Carroll, who is currently overseeing four films in various stages of development. The updated website now divides talent into rostered directors, and feature filmmakers like Francis Lawrence and Lisa Joy, who are available On Assignment.
“We’ve assembled a team that places us at the intersection of branded content and feature filmmaking,” said Heller, adding that the company has partnered with Lux Angeles Studios and is now situated in the former Netflix building at the corner of Hollywood and N. Las Palmas, with a sprawling 40,000 square-foot space and full capabilities for production through post.
The company is represented by Lisa Gimenez Toliver and Deirdre Rimer on the West Coast and Latin America, Carl Forsberg and Justin Lasoff of Apostle NY on the East Coast, and Helen Gardiner in Europe.