Snarky ElePHANT PRESS

June 18, 2026 - New York, NY - Snarky Elephant Productions (SEP), the independent production company whose work has centered LGBTQ+ stories and underrepresented artists since its founding in 2018, today announced the appointment of Toby Shorter as Chief Legal Officer, a forthcoming expansion of its board of directors, and the transition of founder Vishaal Reddy from his role as Chief Executive Officer. The company has begun a formal CEO search.

When I first created Insomnia, I wanted to tell a story I was not seeing on screen. The series follows a queer escort navigating fear, family, identity, intimacy, and sex work through a darkly comedic lens. At its core, Insomnia was born from a desire to create a South Asian character who was bold, flawed, assertive, complicated, funny, vulnerable, and unapologetically himself.

Over the last six years, Snarky Elephant Productions has accomplished more than I could have ever imagined. Together, we launched three artist incubator programs, produced numerous live events, developed short films and independent series, and brought a feature film to life. Along the way, we built partnerships, championed emerging artists, and created opportunities for countless creatives to connect, learn, and grow.

Jane Alexander (Kramer vs. Kramer, All the President’s Men, Severance), a four-time Academy Award nominee & two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, is set to star in Lillian, Next Door, which begins production this month in Nova Scotia under direction of SXSW Audience Award-winning director Janice Engel (Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins). Alexander stars opposite Marco Pigossi (You’re Dating a Narcissist, Bone Lake, High Tide) and Kanoa Goo (I Was a Simple Man, The R

Independent filmmaking is basically a masterclass in doing the impossible with half the budget, three favors, and an alarming amount of hope. Section 181 helps shift that dynamic. It gives filmmakers, including the ones right here in our herd, a new way to approach financing.

At Snarky Elephant, we don’t blend in. We make content that sticks, bites, and refuses to apologize. This year was about sharpening our tools - scripts, pitch decks, absurd-but-true ideas- and laying the foundation for stories that actually matter.

What started as a simple conversation quickly revealed a shared belief: that storytelling thrives when honesty isn’t optional, when the truth is allowed to breathe, and when the people behind the stories are supported with radical transparency.

When Craig T. Williams quit his Chase Bank training program after just three months, he had no idea a stray production-assistant gig would launch a two-decade film career. “I lasted the summer in finance, taught tennis for cash, and kind of floated,” he laughs. “Then a friend said, ‘Come be a PA.’ I didn’t even know what a PA was.”

For more than two decades Drew Leung has been the secret weapon behind blockbuster worlds—one of the “top concept artists in the industry,” as he puts it. His paintings shaped franchises like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and last year’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, but something was missing. “I’d spent my whole career illustrating other people’s ideas,” he says. “My ultimate goal is… I want to tell stories, that’s it.”

Mia Renee Henry grew up “all in the family” of entertainment. “My dad was one of the first Black cameramen ABC hired back in ’78,” she recalls proudly, noting that her mother writes screenplays and a cousin directs indie films. That lineage opened doors, but her path has been anything but conventional.

This event was held on 12/3 at a private venue in New York, where we held an exclusive private screening of our awarding-winning film Zari

Our internship program is more than just a resume booster, it’s a proving ground for the next generation of fearless creatives.

At Snarky Elephant Productions, we believe storytelling is a battleground. Storytelling becomes survival.

Snarky Elephant Productions (SEP) continues its mission to champion underrepresented voices in the entertainment industry.

This event was held on 12/3 at a private venue in New York, where we held an exclusive private screening of our awarding-winning film Zari