About Citadel CreativeStudio

A co-op built on the right people for the right job

We're not a fixed team with fixed overhead. We're both a production company and creative co-op, which means every project gets exactly the people it needs, pulled from a wide circle of expert collaborators with decades of experience across every discipline.

Years collective experience

50+

Roof for studio and space

1

Near infinite pool of talent

∞

“Citadel captured our vision and then some. True filmmakers with that special sauce you need to take your project to the next level. Hire them now!”

Denis Villeneuve

Foyer of Citadel CreativeStudio's heritage building in Crows Nest, with people working in the lounge

Origins

How we got here

In 2016, Anton Heckendorf and Rowena Clarke side-stepped out of mainstream advertising and photography. After decades of making work for agencies and clients big and small, from family-owned boutiques to international automotive giants, they wanted something that worked as both a production company and a creative co-op.

The answer was a 1900s Salvation Army hall in Crows Nest. Empty, heritage-listed, full of potential. Anton and Rowena opened the doors and invited people in to collaborate, create, and celebrate.

Modern kitchen with exposed brick wall, white cabinets, marble backsplash, and a kitchen island with black bar stools. Rustic wooden beams are on the ceiling.

House & Garden ⫽ The Local Project ⫽ Channel 9

The space

The building does double duty

Heritage-listed. Renovated to a standard that won awards. Seven purpose-built spaces: a sound-treated studio with a corner cyclorama and professional lighting grid, a podcast and edit suite, and event and lifestyle spaces across the rest of the building.

Address

Everything under one roof at 14 Hayberry St, Crows Nest.

spaces

Seven hireable purpose-built rooms.

The Studio

Corner cyclorama + lighting grid, podcast suite, the works.

Building

Heritage-listed, award-winning, 1900s Salvation Army Citadel.

Hire the spaces
A modern interior space with dark hardwood floors, wood steps, black track lighting, a rustic wooden column, glass partitions, a dining table with black chairs, a flat-screen TV, and potted plants.
Interior of a room with a round black table, two wooden chairs with woven seats, a wooden panel on one wall, a pink speckled wall, and a black ceiling. A small glass of water and a black device are on the table.
Interior view of an office space with a glass wall, a black pendant light, a wooden table, and chairs. A large abstract painting is on the back wall.
Living room with exposed brick wall, a mounted deer head, a flat-screen TV, and modern furniture including a green sofa and a black leather chair, with a large window and decorative plants.
Modern office meeting room with five people around a table inside a glass enclosure, and one person walking outside the enclosure.
A hallway with two red velvet armchairs and small side tables with flowers, framed by black arched structures, leading to a wall with a pink and purple circular artwork.
A modern office or studio workspace with a wooden desk, multiple monitors, a white iMac, a black speaker, a pair of headphones, a chair with a tan cushion, and framed pictures on the wall.

The philosophy

Make it loud. Make it lovely. Make it connect.

That's been the philosophy since 1995. It still is.

The Citadel encourages the different, the scary, and the exciting. It exists to challenge the creative status quo and give even bigger voices to clients and collaborators.

You're only as good as the people you surround yourself with. Old notion, but it's true. It shows in every image, every cut, every frame of the final product.

01

Get the best people for the right job

Every project gets assembled from scratch. The right DOP, the right editor, the right producer.

02

Cooperate, create, craft

The co-op exists because creative work is better when the people doing it have a stake in the outcome.

03

Live the process

The work has to be worth making. That means starting with genuine thinking, being honest about what a budget can do, and wrapping each job properly.

04

Challenge the status quo

The Citadel pushes clients and collaborators toward the different, the brave, and the work they'll still be proud of in five years.

In Residence

Citadel CreativeStudio is built around a circle of people we've worked with for years and trust on the day: photographers, DOPs, editors, sound designers, animators, designers and producers. We draw on whoever a project needs. Anton and Rowena start the roster, and it grows from there.

Jennifer Lekuch, our head of production, sorts who's on which job and keeps the whole thing running from kickoff to delivery.

Meet the crew

Start a project

The best way to understand the Citadel is to walk through it.

Get in touch