Cortina Productions

Cortina Productions is a creative media design and production studio based in McLean, Virginia, serving museums, cultural institutions and location-based experiences. Founded in 1999 by artist and filmmaker Joseph Cortina, the company brings cinematic storytelling together with interactive digital media. Its work spans history, art, science and children’s museums, presidential libraries, memorial institutions, aquariums, visitor centers and sports heritage attractions.

The studio develops experiences across film, animation, interactive software and immersive installations. Projects range from multiscreen signature theaters and historical dramatizations to multiuser touch tables, gesture-controlled displays and mobile guides. Its production capabilities include high-resolution live-action filming, archival research, visual effects, CGI and 2D and 3D motion graphics. Augmented, virtual and mixed reality extend this work into other forms of visitor interaction.

From narrative to installation

Cortina’s services connect creative development with technical delivery. Early work includes exhibit media strategy, visitor journey mapping, narrative concepts, storyboarding, scriptwriting and interface design. Software development encompasses interactive applications, native mobile apps and custom exhibit systems. The studio also coordinates audiovisual systems and hardware integration, conducts user testing, commissions installations on site and provides post-launch maintenance.

Its museum work includes media for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, personalized interactive experiences at the International Spy Museum, and immersive historical storytelling for The People’s House: A White House Experience. Other projects include the decision-making theater “Be Washington: It’s Your Turn to Lead” at Mount Vernon and interactive media for the Toronto Holocaust Museum.

Access across experiences

Accessibility and universal design inform the studio’s approach to exhibit media. Supported provisions include tactile screen-reader keypads, descriptive audio, open and closed captions, accessible reach ranges and multilingual localization. These capabilities support institutions presenting complex historical, cultural and scientific material through different media formats, with attention to how visitors navigate, understand and interact with the content.