Award-winning unscripted producers and longtime friends and colleagues Jennifer O’Connell and Rebecca Quinn founded Velvet Hammer Media (VHM) in 2023, leveraging their collective industry expertise working across nearly every aspect of the non-fiction television business. 

Focusing on both premium and global formats, VHM’s series include The Big Bakeover for The CW, Empty Nest Refresh for Roku, Best Bite Wins for Roku, and the upcoming dating series Age of Attraction for Netflix. In addition, they have numerous development deals set at a range of streamers and networks, including Netflix, Hulu, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, and Amazon.

Co-CEOs O’Connell and Quinn serve as executive producers on all projects, and VHM provides production services on all commissions. With access and inclusivity as core tenets of the company, VHM’s “Inside Access Program” ensures a line item in every production budget to hire exceptional BIPOC talent behind the camera and help them grow; the program is at the heart of the company’s culture and applies to 100% of its productions. 

For their professional and philanthropic leadership, O’Connell and Quinn were honored in August 2023 at the 6th annual “Let’s Get Real,” an event created and supported by the unscripted television industry to raise funds for the Los Angeles Saban Community Clinic’s healthcare services.