Dean Winkler, chief technology officer at Crossroads Films has opened creative design and execution company SAFE, located in New York's SoHo district within 89 Greene Editorial.

In addition to Winkler, SAFE will consist of the talents of creative director Earl Bateman and design director Lee Dyer. The team, working with 89 Greene's exec producer Bob Cagliero, will provide agencies, broadcasters and corporations with design and execution visual effects, compositing, type design and graphics for broadcast, Internet and printed materials.

"One of my missions coming here [to Crossroads] was to figure out how to tie together different creative forces and companies, using technology to help make that happen," says Winkler, who decided to shape SAFE after his analysis revealed his first and most obvious need was for a design company that embraced new technology.

The state of today's technology has finally evolved to the point where economic constraints that once separated design and execution have finally faded away. Winkler has thus embraced a new creative outlet at SAFE.

"We can really allow talented people the freedom to work creatively now that technology has moved the artist away from a million dollar box," explains Winkler, who had headed New York's Post Perfect before moving to Crossroads.

"It's a whole different mindset now. Everything is much faster and it allows us to get away from the horrible hourly mentality that so limits creativity. SAFE takes a whole different approach because every job is done on a project basis. The ability to both design and execute simultaneously is a fantastic difference -- before it used to be pencil sketches, play around, get storyboards and come back, but now we can just do it all at once."

SAFE's goal will also be to leverage all the creativity in different parts of Crossroads, 89 Greene and SAFE to make it available to both SAFE's clients and to all creatives within the group as a whole.