Why we work with Ombrys.
Ombrys is a documentary collective that publishes rigorous civic case files — cited sources, cryptographic signatures, collective deliberation before publication. FoxStudio supplies the technical infrastructure. This page explains what we share, and what we do not.
Ombrys formed around a simple observation: certain public-interest case files are neither closed nor reopened by any institution. Not by malice — by inertia. The collective documents these files using a public procedure: encrypted intake, source verification, two-person investigation, deliberation by two independent reviewers, signed publication.
The method and the charter are versioned on GitHub (StudioCavalli/OmbrysWeb). Any change goes through PR and collective deliberation.
Sources before convictions, traceability via cryptographic signature, refusal of doxxing, strict distinction between public role and private individual. We hold these principles too — and you can see them in how the code ships: signed commits, reproducible builds, audited dependencies, public CI.
It boils down to this: a claim without a cited source isn't publishable, and a change without process isn't legitimate. True for their articles, true for our code.
The public site (Next.js + Payload, Ed25519-signed on publish), the encrypted intake channels, the storage pipeline with metadata minimisation, dependency auditing, and the build chain. The technical plumbing that scales their method without giving up rigour.
Our involvement stops at infrastructure. We don't take part in writing, deliberation, or case selection — those are their prerogative and their responsibility.
FoxStudio is not an activist organisation and does not substitute for the press, the courts, or public institutions. We are an R&D studio, based in Cannes, building the tools partners like Ombrys need to do their work properly.
Working with them is a methodological commitment — not signing a manifesto. The distinction matters.