The apostrophe in Ryan O’Hare’s last name has almost derailed a college graduation, broken a banking system and caused more headaches than any single punctuation mark should. So when he named his agency Apostrophe, the irony was intentional — and the meaning was precise.
“We are yours,” O’Hare says. The possessive apostrophe. Plug and play. The agency becomes an extension of the client’s team, bringing an outside perspective without the friction of being an outsider. O’Hare launched Apostrophe just over a year ago from Louisville, Kentucky, with a global team that stretches from Florida to Colombia to Europe — where editors handle overnight turnarounds while the US sleeps.
The client list spans coasts and categories: Peacock, Duolingo, AMC Networks, Betterment, plus Louisville institutions such as the orchestra and the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Design, animation and video production are the core — with enough strategy chops to shape a campaign from scratch.
From Nickelodeon promos to Peacock and the owl
O’Hare’s career started in the promos department at Nickelodeon and TV Land, working inside the in-house agency. Hit shows like Younger were produced almost entirely without outside agency support. That in-house experience — navigating internal politics, getting buy-in from non-creative stakeholders, and learning to work with systems — became Apostrophe’s secret weapon.
From TV Land and Nickelodeon to Paramount to Peacock, O’Hare picked up freelancers and talent along the way — many of whom had been laid off from entertainment companies during successive rounds of cuts. “We know what it’s like to work in-house and what the limitations are,” he says. “That allows us to be a very good plug-and-play team member.”
What Apostrophe is known for: design, animation and overnight edits
O’Hare positions Apostrophe on the line between a boutique studio and a creative agency. The core is visual — design, animation, and video production — but the team can handle strategy, campaign development and everything in between.
Clients include Peacock and Duolingo (“yes, the owl,” O’Hare confirms), alongside Louisville institutions such as the orchestra and Churchill Downs. The entertainment-sports-tech trifecta, with one conspicuous gap: a bourbon brand. In Louisville, that’s practically a civic obligation.
3 things Apostrophe does differently
First — the in-house experience. O’Hare and his team have spent years inside companies like Paramount and Peacock. They understand the politics, the approval processes and the pain points. That translates into smooth onboarding and fast integration.
Second — the global team structure. A project manager in Florida who splits time in Colombia. Editors in Europe for overnight work. West Coast and East Coast coverage. Apostrophe can move around the clock without the overhead of a massive office.
Third — flexibility. “We work hard, but we also play hard,” O’Hare says. The distributed model isn’t just a cost play — it’s a philosophy about work-life balance that extends to every team member.
Why independence means the work stays interesting
The indie pitch here is about cost and access. Working with Apostrophe keeps costs lower while giving clients direct contact with O’Hare on every project. “If you work with Wieden+Kennedy, you’re 50 layers from the people creating the work,” O’Hare says. “With us, you’re working with the core team at all times.”
No layers of approvals. No incredible creative getting killed before the client sees it. O’Hare considers this the universal selling point for indies: less complexity, more creative access and decisions that happen at the speed of conversation.
Why brands should bring their problems (and their weird ones) to Apostrophe
Having worked through multiple rounds of entertainment industry layoffs, O’Hare’s team knows how to be scrappy. Resources were slim. Budgets were short. Responsibilities grew with every round of cuts. That forced a mindset: keep things small, don’t over-complicate and stay nimble.
“It’s very similar to a startup situation,” O’Hare says. “Your responsibilities are continuously growing. But you’re also having to think scrappy.” That translates into an agency that can absorb complexity without breaking.
Building Louisville’s next creative generation (from the classroom)
O’Hare teaches motion design at the University of Louisville — and he’s using the classroom as a talent pipeline. Two former interns now freelance with Apostrophe, and junior talent is paired with senior freelancers to learn in real time.
“I want to build a strong talent base here in Louisville, Kentucky,” O’Hare says. The growth has been tangible. While the agency draws on a deep Rolodex of senior talent, the Louisville connection gives it something larger agencies can’t offer: a direct line from education to industry.
The jock who stayed after school for art class
O’Hare claims all three — weirdo, misfit and underdog — and traces it back to growing up in a small Kentucky town after being born in Pennsylvania. His dad was an English teacher. His friends asked why he talked “so proper.” He was the jock who stayed after school to finish an art project.
“I always had all these different intersectionalities,” O’Hare says. “Which meant I was kind of on the fringes of lots of different groups.” That outsider-everywhere perspective became Apostrophe’s operating principle: we can see things differently than you, who is in the trenches.
Dear Bardstown Bourbon Company: the artisanal craftsmen have our attention
O’Hare’s shoutout goes to the bourbon industry writ large — but Bardstown Bourbon Company in particular. “They do some really creative things,” he says. “That’s the kind of company I want to work with — the artisanal craftsmen who do things a little bit differently.”
The pitch is philosophical: work with brands that care about making a good product, not just the bottom line. In Louisville, with Bardstown just down the road and Whiskey Row in town, the bourbon brief is practically waiting at the door.
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