“This is a new kind of big, Tinygiant BIG.” Tinygiant is a WBENC-certified woman owned company. The boutique production company with big aspirations has a substantial list of directors and is an incubator for emerging talent. It lives in New York City and produces commercials as well as feature and short films.
PR and festival strategist, Niccolo Montanari, editor-in-chief at Curation Hour and founding member of Berlin Fashion Film Festival and Conero Film + Adv, interviewed Tinygiant founder and executive producer, Veronica Diaferia, about its expansion into films, the success of Good One,and maintaining the same high standards across its vast range of content and project sizes, for commercials as well as films.
As one of the industry’s few woman-owned and led production companies, what motivated you to set up Tinygiant in 2015?
Veronica Diaferia: With Tinygiant my goal wasn’t to fill a void in the industry. I had had my first child and I was worried that I wouldn’t be there to see him grow up, so I looked for a production company that would encourage a young mother to be a great producer AND be present in her son’s life. I couldn’t find any that fit the profile so in 2015 I decided to set one up.
What I did with Tinygiant is simply create the kind of company that a working mother like myself would want to work for, one that didn’t regard the pursuit of creative excellence and working motherhood as fundamentally incompatible.
What challenges and opportunities did you encounter, especially as female leaders in a predominantly male industry?
Veronica Diaferia: While historically women have been greatly represented among the producers’ ranks, production as an industry has never been accommodating to women. Traditionally, expectations have been rigid, making it difficult for women—especially mothers—to balance a career with life outside of work. In turn, women have had to work even harder to step into leadership roles. The only solution I saw was to start my own business. If I was going to have to justify how I would be productive outside of traditional hours or while breastfeeding, having male partners or bosses wasn’t really an option.
When Sara Eolin joined as a partner, she was drawn to the culture I built and the connection we share being women and leaders within an industry still very much dominated by men. Men who inevitably still feel the need to explain to us, both in our forties, how things work and what we should say and do. Sara calls it ‘death by a thousand papercuts’. I couldn’t agree more.
Tinygiant has delivered award-winning work in both commercials and features. How do you maintain the same high standards across different types of content and project sizes?
Veronica Diaferia: It all comes down to the team. We hire the best people for the job and while our backgrounds and stories may differ, we share a similar sense of style and standards, creating a foundation of built-in trust. When Neil Champagne, our Head of Development, and Sara bring me something, I already know that it will be worth my time and energy. There’s no second-guessing or doubting their motives. Delegating, maintaining open communication, and continually ensuring everyone understands the expectations and standards we hold ourselves to are essential for building a consistent company culture and clarifying the brand’s core values. This will automatically always attract the right people, whether you’re looking for a freelancer or a long term employee.
Could you share with us your top three favourite ads that Tinygiant has produced, and explain why they stand out to you? What key lessons did you take away from these projects?
Veronica Diaferia: Children’s Aid – Children of New York City. We wrote this spot for a wonderful client who gave us pure creative freedom. Even years later, I am so proud of this spot and how we achieved something so great on a tight budget – exactly the premise on which I founded Tinygiant. When you have great taste, a small budget is a challenge but it should never be an excuse for making subpar work; the best creatives are great precisely because they can work under constraints, find solutions or bend the rules when required.
Timberland, Your calling is calling – a simple yet impactful campaign that calls for a change in how we view success and taking risks. It features real people who changed careers and looked for second chances in the trades. As the mother of a kid with ADHD who learns by doing and enjoys working with his hands, I’ve always felt strongly that society needs to work harder at getting rid of the stigma surrounding trade jobs. You can be smart without having a degree and be successful with grease on your hands or a hard hat on your head. I love this campaign and all the stories it highlights because of that.
Coordown – Ridiculous Excuses Not To Be Inclusive Another impactful campaign that I’m super proud of. This is the kind of campaign that helps change the culture around inclusivity and differently-abled folks. It shifts the conversation and forces the viewer to think differently. Truly amazing talent came together to bring it to life. For many logistical reasons, and because it was quite ambitious (big cast and multiple locations on a small budget is a tough combo), it was quite challenging to produce in New York, but we had a lot of fun doing it. It also won a ton of awards last year. It was truly amazing to see all our hard work being recognized by the whole ad community.
What inspired the decision to expand into feature films and create a dedicated features division?
Veronica Diaferia: The will to develop the giant part of Tinygiant. The will to challenge ourselves and diversify our offering. We felt confident in our commercial production and our network of connections—from clients to crews—so we wanted to venture out again, learn something new, embrace the discomfort of unfamiliar environments, and meet people with different skill sets. Commercials and Features are also director-driven mediums, so it was a natural progression to expand into a format that would naturally bolster one another. Ultimately at bottom, we love moving images and the artists that bring them to light, so I figured why not pave a way to expand what we are putting out into the world.
Good One, directed by India Donaldson and executive produced by Tinygiant, is the only film to be shown at both Cannes and Sundance this year. What do you think contributed to this film’s unique success?
Veronica Diaferia: Before directing a wonderful film, India WROTE a wonderful film [the coming-of-age story about the ramifications of a father-daughter camping trip: ed]. Half of the success comes from having such a strong script. The other half is in an incredible cast, led by Lilly Collias, and has earned her a spot on all the standout performance shortlists this year.
Lilly carries the weight of the movie on her shoulders and the movie lives on her face and in her silent strength. Her quiet energy slowly pulls you in – it’s impossible to resist. I think it’s one of those films that reminds the viewer about the power of storytelling. It’s an indie film, stripped of all the layers that can add to the movie yet distract from the story—or worse, make it beautiful but soulless. This movie has so much soul and the audience responded to it. The reception in the theatres has been incredible. This is what happens when a voice is given to a smart, thoughtful, and inspiring female POV, something Tinygiant feels very strongly about.
What are Tinygiant’s aspirations for the future? Are there any upcoming projects or new directions that you’re particularly excited about?
Veronica Diaferia: We aspire to give a voice to diverse and interesting points of view, whether through narrative or commercial work. Tinygiant is known for impeccable taste and outstanding storytelling. We want to keep building our reputation for being a launchpad for diverse talent and a reliable, trusted production partner for clients and collaborators.
Nothing brings me more pleasure than hearing folks we have yet to work with say “I’ve heard amazing things about Tinygiant”. We want to keep that up and continue to strengthen our foundation while staying curious and fearless. We just wrapped a Canadian co-production for another indie drama we really believe in, and we have a brilliant comedy that is going to camera in Los Angeles in March of 2025. We also want to add a few more amazing directors to our roster in 2025.
The work is far from done and that’s truly exciting. As a proud women-owned and led company, the hope is always to inspire the next generation of executive producers and filmmakers so we can stop being a wonderful exception and become the norm.
