FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Women-Led Onni Creative Signs First-Look Deal with APL Film, Expanding Pipeline of Female-Driven Content
Los Angeles-based creative agency turned production house will develop and produce features and series under a new multi-year agreement with boutique distributor APL Film.
Los Angeles, November 19, 2025
Onni Creative, the women-led production and strategic marketing company founded by CEO Geonni Sigl, has entered into a multi-year first-look deal with APL Film, the boutique distributor that recently handled worldwide sales for the award-winning documentary Sierra 914. The agreement, announced Tuesday, tasks Onni with originating feature films and episodic projects that APL will shepherd through financing, sales and distribution across theatrical, streaming and ancillary markets.
The pact arrives as female producers steadily secure more first-look pacts across Hollywood. In the past twelve months alone, Universal Television signed mini first-look arrangements with show-runner LaToya Morgan’s TinkerToy Productions , while Amazon Studios extended a first-look film and television deal to JuVee Productions, the company led by Viola Davis and Julius Tennon . Analysts at Variety estimate that women now account for 34% of all first-look producing deals struck in 2025, up from 22% five years ago.
“We are past the moment of asking for a seat at the table—we’re building our own,” Sigl said. “APL’s transparent, filmmaker-first model aligns perfectly with Onni’s mission to champion stories that have been historically overlooked. This deal gives us the runway to take creative risks while ensuring our talent and investors are protected.”
Under the agreement, Onni Creative will deliver a minimum of three completed projects per year. APL Film will serve as the exclusive worldwide sales representative on each title, leveraging its relationships with streamers, regional exhibitors and FAST platforms to maximize revenue. The partners will share backend participation after APL recoups marketing and distribution costs, a structure entertainment attorney Elsa Ramo recently cited as critical to sustaining emerging distributors in today’s volatile marketplace.
“Onni’s development slate is culturally resonant and commercially viable—exactly what buyers are demanding right now,” said APL Film president Jason Hellerstein. “Our recent success with Sierra 914 proves audiences will show up for premium nonfiction; Geonni’s team brings that same authenticity to both scripted and unscripted programming.”
Market data supports the alliance. The 2025 Variety Women’s Impact Report notes that audiences for female-helmed content have grown 28% year-over-year on ad-supported platforms, driven by multicultural demographics that now comprise 42% of total streaming viewership in North America . Meanwhile, a September study by Media Play News found that distributors with focused slates—ten or fewer titles annually—outperform diversified studios on a cost-to-revenue basis by nearly 3-to-1, validating APL’s boutique approach .
Onni Creative is already developing two narrative features and an unscripted docuseries under the new deal. The first project scheduled to shoot is Borderless, a female-frontier thriller set along the U.S.–Mexico divide, with principal photography slated for spring 2026 in New Mexico. The company will continue to provide award-winning marketing services to independent cinemas and distributors, a capability Sigl believes differentiates Onni from traditional production banners.
About Onni Creative
Onni Creative is a Los Angeles-based, women-led production agency specializing in strategic marketing, audience development and content production for film, television and streaming platforms. Founded in 2019 by Geonni Sigl, Onni has created campaigns for more than 120 independent titles and recently expanded into development, focusing on stories from under-represented voices. The company is an active member of Women In Exhibition and the Producers Guild of America.
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