Matt Kagen,

Artistic Director

Matt Kagen is a multi-media poet and producer who co-founded softFocus to create a lean producing model for theater that empowers independent artists and artist groups. In addition to softFocus, Kagen has made work for artists ranging from Young Jean Lee to Thom Yorke. Recent projects in development include original audio fiction with Audible, Topic Studios and Gilded Audio. Previously, he served as associate artistic director of New York Stage and Film. He’s obsessed with dynamics of play, the rhythm of language and the emotional beat.

Fern Diaz,

Executive Producer

Fern Diaz co-founded softFocus based on the lean startup model after a decade of working in startups and media in New York City. When softFocus launched, Diaz was on the business side of one of the world’s leading digital strategy agencies. Today, she is fully independent, consulting directly on marketing and creative strategy with enterprise entrepreneurs, Fortune500 companies, e-book startups, film festival darlings, global tech conferences, Egyptian Twitter activists, independent magazines, The White House, modern mystics, and Yoko Ono. Her strategy work has won the highest awards in advertising and her collaborative creative projects have been awarded by film festivals and design organizations around the world. With softFocus, she’s proudest of proving that independent theater can break through even without any institutional support.