Jaunty Crab Club

The Studio

A small studio,
built around the films
and media projects

we want to make.

Jaunty Crab Club is a boutique video production studio with a parallel Creative Media division for original work. We are intentionally small, deliberate, and prioritize creativity above all else

Established

2023

— A frame from “First Light,” 2023

The STORY

Founded on a hunch that experiences matter.

The studio started in 2023 with a question that's still the question — what does it take to make something an audience actually feels? Not just watches, not just scrolls past, but remembers a week, a month, a year later.

That question doesn’t end at film. It runs through every form a story can take — feature shorts, audio series, YouTube channels, branded apps, narrative games, the strange formats nobody has named yet. We’re medium-agnostic on purpose. The craft is figuring out which shape an idea wants to be in, and then making it the best version of that thing.

What we make are immersive, unforgettable experiences.

Founder

Joel Austin

Founder · Director

I wanted to make
the kind of work
I'd want to watch.

I’ve been making video for over two decades — first as a freelance editor for clients like D.A.R.E. and Mercedes-Benz, later as a business owner and director for hire. Over time, I developed a way of working that delivered a high volume of output at a premium quality. As my team grew, the idea for a boutique studio — run by creatives — began to take shape.

I started JCC when the idea for a new kind of creative ecosystem occurred to me. The studio exists to make high-level creative projects with a firm grounding in filmmaking — and to use those same skills to make work for clients and creators who’d rather have something they’re still proud of in five years than something that performed well for five days.

Alongside the commissioned work, we’re developing feature films, audio dramas, apps, and so much more. We want our audience to love what we make as much as we do — and our dedication to building a thriving ecosystem to sustain the creative work reflects that intent.

Joel 

Joel Austin · Founder & Director, JCC

WHAT WE BELIEVE

Six things
we keep coming back to.

— 01

Craft is the strategy.

If the work is good, it does the marketing on your behalf. Every creative shortcut the studio takes, the audience takes one too — eventually they go somewhere else.

— 02

Few clients, deep relationships.

We cap the studio at three retainers and a handful of project engagements per quarter. We only focus on what we love and the results speak for themselves.

— 03

The story is the brief

We don’t take orders for video. We listen for the actual story, and propose a specific shape for it. Sometimes that means pushing back on the brief. We believe collaboration transforms good ideas into great ones and decent projects into unforgettable experiences.

— 04

Originals matter.

The Creative Media division isn’t a side project. The original work — the film, the audio drama, the strange experiments — is what keeps the studio sharp and on the bleeding edge of the current media landscape.

— 05

Tools serve the work.

We shoot on what’s right for the project — sometimes Alexa, sometimes a Black Magic 6k, sometimes a phone if that’s what the moment needs. Gear is a means. Nothing more.

— 06

Make it for the people you'd want to watch it.

Every film passes a single test in the edit room. If we’d skip it ourselves, we head back to the drawing board. The standard is non-negotiable; the deadline always is.

Two divisions

One studio,
two kinds of work.

The commissioned studio funds the original studio. The original studio teaches the commissioned studio. They share a building, a team, and a set of standards — but they answer to different audiences.

— 01

The Studio
Commissioned work.

"Projects made for clients we believe in."

The commissioned studio funds the original studio. The original studio teaches the commissioned studio. They share a building, a team, and a set of standards — but they answer to different audiences.

2023 — present

Two paths

Millions

— 02

Creative Media.
Original work.

"What we make when no one is asking."

Creative Media is the studio’s original practice — the feature film, the audio drama, the stranger side projects. It’s where we develop work that wouldn’t fit on a client’s brief, and it’s the reason the commissioned work feels the way it does.

In development

Season 3 · 2026

2024 — present

Selected recognition

Where the work has
been seen and said.

2026

Nosferatu Festival

2026

Ice Movie Awards

2025

Red Movie Awards

2025

The Dunwich Horror Fest

2025

IndieX Film Fest

2021

Reale Film Festival

Let's Talk

If this sounds like
your kind of studio.

Tell us about what you’re making and what you’d like it to feel like. The first call is 30 minutes, no pitch deck, no obligation.

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