Safe Haven Productions is a genre-forward film, television and audio production company founded by Janina Gavankar and Russo Schelling, who work together as j+r. It makes elevated horror and prestige storytelling where taste is the throughline.
Janina Gavankar and Russo Schelling — the writing-directing partnership known as j+r.
j+r is Janina Gavankar and Russo Schelling — the writing-directing partnership behind Safe Haven. They write, direct and produce together.
Released work includes Stucco (the SXSW-winning short film), Truest Blood (a True Blood rewatch podcast for HBO Max), the published short story and audio piece FuGaZi, the short film PaPa, and the video podcast We Wanna Know More. A slate of horror features is in development, including projects with partners such as Miramax.
A slate of horror and genre features is in development, with A-list stars attached to projects that will be announced soon. A selection is previewed on the Work page.
Horror is the heart of it: genre work that has weight, with an emotional spine, where the fear is really about grief, love and the things we can't say out loud. But the slate runs wider than horror: comedy, music videos, podcasts and audio, all backed by a full-service production company that can carry a project from first draft to final cut.
On the Work page, which collects the released films, podcasts and audio, plus the in-development slate.
Inquiries can be directed to j+r's management at Ruth@Thruline.com.