Film · Television · Audio · Print

Stories with
consequence.

Light Assembly is an independent entertainment studio pairing cinematic ambition with social relevance.

Explore the work ↘

LA / NY
EST. 2025

FILMTELEVISIONDOCUMENTARYPUBLISHINGSTORIES BUILT TO TRAVEL

Students walking through the mountains in Yasmeen’s Element

A Light Assembly production

Featured / Motion Picture

Yasmeen’s
Element

Written & directed by Amman Abbasi
Co-written & produced by Jeffrey E. Stern

A determined schoolgirl crosses Pakistan’s mountainous Hunza Valley in search of a missing homework assignment—while the adult world closes in around her village.

SXSW 2024 IndieWire Best of the Fest

The Warhead by Jeffrey E. Stern presented as a hardcover book

Dutton · 2026

Featured / Publishing

The
Warhead

Written by Jeffrey E. Stern
Published by Dutton

An affecting human history of the first self-steering bomb—tracing the people who built it, the lives altered by it, and the moral consequences of the pursuit of a “perfect” weapon.

Apple Best Book of the Month Kirkus Starred Review

The Slate / Now

Made to move
through the world.

Upcoming Feature

Vegas:
A Love Story

A romantic thriller from director Ramin Bahrani, with Maika Monroe, Brandon Sklenar, Paul Dano, Michael Shannon, and Judy Greer.

Light Assembly · Narrative

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Film · 2024

Yasmeen’s
Element

A lyrical feature about education, courage, and a young girl’s journey through the Hunza Valley.

SXSW World Premiere

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Book · 2026

The
Warhead

Jeffrey E. Stern’s human history of the first self-steering bomb—and the moral consequences that followed.

Dutton · Available now

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The Studio

Fresh voices.
New forms.
Real stakes.

We assemble stories across film, television, audio, and print—work that meets audiences with beauty, urgency, and a point of view.

Founded by filmmaker and composer Amman Abbasi and journalist and author Jeffrey E. Stern, Light Assembly brings cinematic craft and deeply reported human experience under one roof.

Publishing

Assembly
Works

Longform journalism, newsletters, books, and essays—reported deeply and made to endure.

Book · 2026

The Warhead

A human history of the first self-steering bomb—and the moral consequences that followed.

Longform Journalism

Selected Articles

Reporting and essays from The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, and beyond.

Books · Adaptations

Jeffrey E. Stern

Five books spanning conflict, technology, survival, and the people inside history.

Light Assembly / Leadership

The Founders

Founder · Filmmaker · Composer

Amman Abbasi

Abbasi’s debut feature Dayveon premiered at Sundance and screened at Berlinale before earning two Film Independent Spirit Award nominations. His follow-up, Yasmeen’s Element, premiered at SXSW and was named among IndieWire’s best of the festival.

Most recently, he co-produced the 2026 Academy Award-nominated documentary short Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud , an intimate tribute to a conflict journalist and the essential, perilous work of bearing witness.

His practice spans directing, editing, documentary, and music—including the score for The Exorcist: Believer and Peabody- and Emmy-recognized documentary work.

Founder · Journalist · Author

Jeffrey E. Stern

Stern is the author of five books. His newest, The Warhead , was published by Dutton in 2026, named an Apple Best Book of the Month, and received a starred review from Kirkus.

His reporting has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic. His honors include awards from the Overseas Press Club, Amnesty International, and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization.

Independent Work / Shared Foundation

2026

Stories with
consequence.

Yasmeen’s
Element

The
Warhead