Create Launches 'Creators' Program for Diverse Filmmakers

In entertainment marketing, as in any society, there are the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

Established filmmakers have the backing of distributor budgets to access creative agency services. Emerging filmmakers, on the other hand, have not. Filmmakers supported by creative agencies have the creative support to produce powerful trailers that help them stand out amid fierce competition. Independent filmmakers juggling every aspect of bringing their film to market have not. The creativity and production value of a trailer plays a key role in whether or not the prominent filmmaker’s film finds its audience on opening weekend. The independent filmmaker is lucky if their film finds an audience at all.

Bridging that gap in the level of support and resources available to emerging filmmakers lies at the heart of Create’s new Creators initiative, an equal opportunity marketing movement dedicated to making room for a more diverse array of storytellers to break through. To level the playing field, Create donates our professionals and our services to independent storytellers whose unique voices, cultures, experiences and ideas too often go unshared or undersold. Through Creators, we stand behind emerging filmmakers with studio-quality marketing campaigns that fully embrace the diversity of talent and stories otherwise unsupported throughout our industry. The initiative will launch a series of six campaign contests throughout the year that coincide with cultural heritage celebrations.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Creators is currently celebrating the diverse array of Latinx filmmakers with the chance to win a best-in-class trailer produced pro bono by the award-winning creative team of producers and editors at Create. The contest runs through Oct. 15. Additional details and information on how to submit a project are detailed in the contest rules available here. Following Hispanic Heritage Month, Creators will hold similar contests to celebrate Native American Heritage Month (November 2022), Black History Month (February 2023), Women’s History Month (March 2023), Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May 2023) and LGBTQ Pride (June 2023).

Creators was developed by Create’s in-house cultural council, Create Better, a division of the company that commits the talents and resources of the agency to producing creative with a conscience and to being a creative community where all voices, experiences, stories and perspectives are supported and safe to be shared freely. By holding the agency to a standard that fully embraces the kaleidoscope of creativity and stories reflective of the real world, Create Better strives to support the telling of the best stories, not just the stories with the best budgets.