Visionkit Announces New Owners!

Some exciting news on our side of the creative world… we’ve got new owners! Since 2020, Matt + Aaron have been a dream team of co-founders, building Visionkit to what it is today like the creative visionaries they are. Now, Ryan + Steph join them as co-owners to keep Visionkit in its thriving state. Here’s a few words from our new leadership:

Matthew Wordell

CO-FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE PRODUCER

For those of you who have been following along on my journey this last decade+ you've seen me do all kinds of random stuff - from Treefort, to shooting volcanoes, working commercial productions, the list goes on. Over the last five years, Visionkit has been my main focus and passion.

What began as an upstart photography studio attempting to bring a new style and visual language to the valley quickly evolved into a company with values, purpose, and an entire team. In my early days of creative work I lived in Los Angeles while attempting to edge my way into any film production I could. I worked on sets for Sci-Fi channel building shoddy space ships and subbing in for extras who didn't show up. I spent time PA'ing on all sorts of random no-budg shorts and features. I even worked on the Bachelor.

So while working as a photographer has always been a passion of mine, you can imagine how excited I was when Ryan and Steph approached us to join Visionkit and launch a video production side of the business. I love set design. I love good cinematography. I love music. And I love when commercials can bring it all together. So, three cheers for Ryan and Steph! I'm thrilled to have them as partners in this crazy adventure. I can't wait to see what we create together in the coming years. And as always, thank you to our clients for sticking with us along the way.

Aaron Rodriguez

CO-FOUNDER, CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT, PHOTOGRAPHY

As many of you know, we started Visionkit about five years ago in kind of an inevitable response to our desire to elevate photography for businesses, push creative boundaries, create opportunities, and explore what’s possible in Boise’s photography scene. From the very beginning, we’ve always had this kind of high energy and excitement to shape the creative landscape here.

My journey in photography began in the darkroom at Boise State University. I was an undergrad with no direction and a lot of enthusiasm for learning. I fell in love with the photographic process. I did a lot of photo work over the years in a multitude of capacities, never quite knowing where I really fit in. I was doing weddings, art, explorations, music journalism, and concert photography. Then I got a job as a commercial product and lifestyle photographer creating stills for global marketing campaigns. This is where I realized my love for studio work, and where I learned so much of what I needed to know to find the passion to begin our journey at Visionkit.

From the beginning, we’ve always known photography was just a small part in the grand scheme of what we wanted to do. When Ryan and Steph approached us with a shared desire to shape the creative landscape with artful, dynamic, and innovative video production and join in on running a values-based studio, we couldn’t have asked for a dreamier opportunity. This was literally the partnership of our dreams! I believe that Ryan and Steph were the essential piece of the creative puzzle that was missing. I’ve always taken great pride in our photo work, but nothing has brought me more pride or joy than bringing Ryan and Stephani onto the team as partners and owners of Visionkit Studio. It’s been incredible to see how their talents expand what Visionkit can offer, and I couldn’t be prouder to call them partners and owners! I am just giddy imagining what incredible work is in store for us!

Stephani Norell

CO-OWNER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

When I first walked through the doors of North by Northwest as a receptionist in 2006, I was an aspiring music journalist who found this industry by chance. What began as a job recommendation from a friend transformed into an unexpected passion that would shape my career.

I'm deeply grateful to the NXNW team who first showed me the ropes, investing their time and expertise to help me grow in this field. That foundation led me to DC/Studio, where I found my stride working with a team that clicked so naturally we could anticipate each other's creative decisions with just a glance.

Meeting Aaron and Matt marked another turning point. Their vision for Visionkit immediately resonated with me, and joining forces felt like a natural evolution. Since then, we've expanded our creative circle, bringing together talented individuals who share our commitment to excellence.

As I step into this new role as owner, I'm excited to contribute to Visionkit's continued growth and success. Our studio has always been about more than just creating visuals – it's about fostering collaboration, pushing creative boundaries, and building lasting relationships with our clients and team members.

Here's to the next chapter of our journey together. Cheers!

Ryan Cork

CO-OWNER, DIRECTOR

The last year and a half at Visionkit has been an incredible experience in continuing to grow in my life and career. It's been so fun to get the opportunity to engage with our amazing creative community here in the valley in a different and meaningful way. After spending my college years interning at agencies over my summer breaks, I took a job in the Kansas City ad industry supporting productions in the commercial space. What started as a casual interest became an obsession and I've never slowed down since. I dipped my toes in nearly every facet of production, from audio engineering to visual effects, to DVD authoring (back before streaming even existed). A large portion of my time in Kansas City was spent producing albums for tons of local and regional artists and bands, which is still one of my favorite hobbies and passions.

After starting a family we decided to return to the valley where I started my own small production company called Scout Visual, helping non-profits and agencies bring their creative visions to life through video. When an opportunity came up to help build a production team at one of Boise's largest ad agencies, I jumped at the chance. While there I gained invaluable experience not only in production but even more in strategy and media placement and how those can influence and inform the commercials and videos we produce! I had the opportunity to meet Stephani through that experience and we formed a wonderful symbiotic working relationship and created some work that we're both extremely proud of.

Matt & Aaron have worked to create such a wonderful environment of collaboration, creativity, and support at Visionkit and I'm humbled that we've been allowed to become partners in this endeavor. I look forward to helping foster the dream and supporting the team to bring world-class creative in the Treasure valley and beyond!