The Funnel Creative, a full-service media-content production company is now represented by Sonia Blum of Sonia Reps in the Midwest.
Comprised of a diverse team of creatives, The Funnel Creative was founded last year to empower and uplift Black directors, creatives and content creators. Collectively, the three co-founders and executive producers, Adiclere Evans, Cisco Newman and John Lathan have more than 70 years of production experience, working with numerous Fortune 500 companies.
“Sonia’s ability to cultivate meaningful partnerships and develop innovative strategies for our production company has proven to be invaluable,” says Evans. “She has continuously participated in our company’s goal of promoting multicultural awareness and inclusivity in our industry.”
“There is a huge need to help get Black professionals (women and men) into the advertising industry,” Evans continues. “To become the change we want to see, we utilize our roster of Black creatives on our projects – from top to bottom.”
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A report from McKinsey and BlackLight Collective echoes what Evans and her partners believe. “Analysis shows that inequity persists and is deeply entrenched across the film and TV ecosystem…By addressing the persistent racial inequities, the industry could reap an additional $10 billion in annual revenues—about 7 percent more than the assessed baseline of $148 billion.”
Findings from the McKinsey report state that fewer than 6% of writers, directors, and producers in the U.S. are Black. That fact, in conjunction with AdAge’s recent finding that only 5 of the 56 directors of advertisements for the Super Bowl were Black, demonstrates the challenges for Black filmmakers.
As part of its commitment to encouraging and mentoring young creatives of color, The Funnel Creative set up a nonprofit 501(c)(3) called The Funnel Program which offers production assistant (PA) training and postproduction training, and then helps place trainees in jobs. The intention of The Funnel Program is “to produce great content and create jobs and hire Black film crews,” Evans says. “Our goal—and it’s right there on our website—is that by 2030, The Funnel will produce $100 million of television and film content utilizing Black creative talent behind the scenes.”
Celebrating its first anniversary, The Funnel Creative is located in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York City. To see recent work, visit thefunnelcreative.com .
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