Terrence Howard Launches App-Based Hollywood Talent Discovery Platform (Exclusive)
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Aiming to change or at least compliment how artists get their foot in the door, Terrence Howard and Mira Howard are launching a talent discovery platform known as Holly.
The Academy Award-nominated actor alongside his ex-wife and current business partner are hoping to even the playing field for those lacking industry connections who still wish to pursue professional arts. The platform aims to be an inclusive and all-encompassing place for artists to share their reels, auditions and related work product for those doing the hiring, while also presenting opportunities for intermingling among folks within different parts of the overall creative community.
“Hollywood is in serious need of a shakeup, and Holly is the answer to a more collaborative environment where we partner with agencies, studios and other industry players to provide more access for talent and more diverse content for viewers,” Terrence Howard said.
Billed as a “LinkedIn meets Instagram for talent,” Holly aims to democratize the talent pool amid a business that has become increasingly nepotistic and connections-driven. The Howards will begin an equity-based crowdfunding round Friday.
The service will be completely free for talent, at least for now. Those on the other side of the proverbial wall, like studio executives, talent agencies or production companies, will have to pay a subscription fee for access to the talent pool. While revenue will theoretically be earned via subscriptions, one hope is that the service will eventually generate in-platform artistic collaborations which would themselves generate revenue.
The company is working on several tentative features, including potential equity crowdfunding capabilities that will enable talent, fans and folks from the industry to invest directly into television and film projects and a marketplace designed to help talent find legal services, talent management, rights and identity management and more.
“Today’s audiences are looking for stories and voices they can relate to,” Howard said, “but traditional Hollywood systems typically overlook the talent that can bring those projects to life. Holly is the platform that can facilitate this change across the industry.”
TheWrap’s Scott Mendelson sat down with the Howards for a launch-day conversation. Some key excerpts of that conversation are offered below.
It’s a platform that you’re hoping to become so much used by the industry that becomes the sort of universal all-in platform that everyone goes to specifically for the entertainment industry. However, to be a one-stop-shopping platform, those in and outside the industry must make the conscious choice to prioritize that platform.
Terrence Howard: This is literally for those artists that are looking for real jobs that are out there. If an actor has a wonderful audition but they didn’t get the job, they’re still able to post their audition. It’s not wasted.
Mira Howard: It’s like your portfolio. It’s your reel, it’s, it’s everything that you’ve done. It’s a constructive way to start instead of requiring representation.
The notion of artists from different skill sets coming together and intermingling, while offering feedback or guidance reminds me of Wattpad and other such opt-in artistic platforms.
Terrence Howard: It’s a 365-day, 24-hour-a-day festival. It’s a continuous festival. This is Woodstock, happening directly in the center of Hollywood itself. Every electronic pass is a protection for your work. You will know whose work came up first and who watched somebody else’s work as they grew.
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You’re also hoping that there’s going to be in-universe work created through this platform? If that happens, who owns the work?
Mira Howard: We are working on a marketplace that would let industry executives and other specific services like legal counsel and talent management. We want to get there.
Will there ever be a situation where if talent, who can join for free, pays extra, they can get a better version of the platform?
Mira Howard: There will be different tiers, to be determined, which may offer legal advice or help to negotiate a contract or help with your rights of publicity. We have not really set those terms yet, as we’re now just in the tech stage and the driving stage.
Terrence Howard: All those things may become necessities. We hope we can be lucky enough to have high-class problems, where we are hoping to be able to grab people already within the community to fill those positions. We’ll be that lucky to where that high-class problem becomes, you know, and we should be able to be to grab and fill those positions from people within the community.
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In terms of the auditions or the art on the site, will there be guardrails in terms of age-appropriateness? I assume the entire site won’t be just PG-rated auditions and screenplays, so how will you prevent members from seeing content that they perhaps don’t want to see?
Terrence Howard: There will be an age-appropriateness space for auditions that they can watch, as well as an option to resolve conflicts on a private channel. A key goal was to create a creative space that your child can go to without fear that they’re going to end up on somebody’s [casting] couch.
Tech has disrupted other legacy industries. But the business side of entertainment has remained mostly untouched. Actors and artists must go to and through third parties, especially talent agencies, for any shot at the opportunity to be a part of this industry. But a tech solution can change that. Holly is the tech solution that we’ve been waiting for two decades in this industry.
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