Producer and creative director Daron Hollowell has launched Zenith, a Los Angeles-based talent management and consulting company that is part strategy and part representation. With a focus on creating collaborations between new wave content creators and brands, Zenith is a resource for forward-looking brands and agencies. Hollowell has over a decade of experience in music, advertising, production, and brand creation. He fronted the seminal hardcore band Four Hundred Years, then founded the music collective Black Iris Music in 2004. In 2008 he founded White Iris Records, early home to Los Angeles artists including Best Coast, FIDLAR, and Electric Guest. He went on to found music production house Ring The Alarm in 2014 and its beer brand offshoot, Day Beer in 2018. Zenith is an asset for brands and agencies who see the opportunity in partnering with and fostering diverse and distinctive voices in content creation as a path to take branding and marketing in exciting new directions. Hollowell is replicating his model for Black Iris Music, only this time it is for content creators. Hollowell explained, “Our focus is on diverse creators with strong, fresh, and distinct voices. We are also embracing multi-hyphenate talent who can execute their vision across a variety of media and platforms: photographers who also design, directors who choreograph, editors who make music–this allows for a greater amount of quality content from a unique perspective. That’s what we’re ultimately here to do–make connections for the maximum benefit to both creators and brands.” Zenith’s inaugural roster includes tinygiant, Rocket Film, Lumenati and Bindery NYC….
Thanks To Shows Like “Abbott Elementary” and “Hacks,” LGBTQ+ Representation On Primetime TV Grows
TV shows like "Abbott Elementary," "Hacks," "Heartstopper," "The Last of Us" and "Yellowjackets" helped increase the ranks of LGBTQ+ characters on prime time by 4% over the previous season, according to a new study by the advocacy group GLAAD. This year's "Where We Are on TV" study, released Thursday, counted 489 LGBTQ characters across scripted prime-time broadcast, cable and streaming shows — up 21 additional characters. It marks a boost after two years of decline, but remains far below the 2021-2022 record high of 637 characters. Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the group, warned that those numbers could still decrease soon: More than 200 of the LGBTQ+ characters counted this year — in shows like "Heartstopper," "Harlem" and "Elite" — will not be returning due to a flurry of series cancellations, endings or because they were limited series. "Storytelling brings us together and this current cultural and political climate calls on creatives and executives to double down on fair and accurate stories of LGBTQ people," Ellis writes in the report. GLAAD added that the number of transgender characters on TV has slightly increased from last year to reach 33 — 24 trans women, seven trans men, and two nonbinary characters — but only four trans characters appear on series that have been officially renewed. The report is the 20th edition of the annual tracking by GLAAD and charts a remarkable leap from just 47 LGBTQ+ characters in the first study. It arrives as President Donald Trump has targeted transgender and nonbinary people with a series of executive orders — including one declaring the existence of two unchangeable sexes — stripping government websites of "gender ideology" an reinstituting a ban on transgender service members in the... Read More