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Click "Pledge Now" to Indicate Interest and be contacted when the opportunity to fund your Pledge to invest becomes available.
Welcome to the Thrive Creative Community!
I’m the Chief Visionary, LaKesha Womack. I have almost 20 years of experience in business and marketing consulting.
As a lifelong learner and leader, I have had the privilege to share in amazing spaces such as the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women in Business cohort, the Facebook Community Accelerator program, and the Fearless Fund Foundation’s Get Venture Ready program.
These milestones led me to this point - the development of the Thrive Creative Community, two buildings, Studio 2005 and Evolution.
Studio 2005 is a film and production studio, and Evolution will be a creative coworking space.
Our goal is to raise the first $1 million of this project through equity investors like yourself. We want to allow our community to invest in creatives while also getting a return on your investment. If you have questions, feel free to book time on my calendar https://womackcg.as.me/thrive.
I would love to hear your thoughts as we test the waters of this project.
Did you know… Black professionals represent less than 15% of on and off-screen talent in film and television. Who tells our stories matters, but who is investing in the storytelling also matters. Our goal with the Thrive Creative Community is to provide state-of-the-art facilities for storytellers to ideate, write, record, cook (you will hear more about that), and create. We will be a premier location in the Southeast for creatives of color to evolve their visions into reality.
Why am I doing this? It’s not because I am an award-winning filmmaker or have plans to direct blockbuster movies, but because I am invested in the future of media for the Black community. A few years ago, I watched holiday movies at my mom’s house during Christmas. She loves a particular channel with the most touching holiday love stories, but I didn’t see my experience reflected in any of these stories. I flipped to another channel, and all the holiday stories involved drama and chaos. I began to wonder who was producing and providing resources for creating stories that show a different side of my community.
As I continued to think about the issue, I also looked at my network of professionals in the media industry. They don’t always have the space or access to resources to produce high-quality video content unless they purchase the equipment themselves. So my wheels began to turn… what if… what if I leveraged the power of my network to raise capital that would support the development and production of content focused on telling the stories that typical investors may not be willing to greenlight but that we want to see. The idea expanded as I thought about curating a space for individual creators to work together in the creative process. Let’s keep going, and you will learn more about Studio 2005 and Evolution. I think you’re going to be excited to learn more about what we are working on.
There are many film and production studios in the country; however, we are focused on developing two state-of-the-art buildings that can be used by small and large companies and individuals attempting to get started in creative industries. We will provide classes, access to professionals, space, and equipment that can be rented at reasonable rates. We will also allocate a percentage of our revenue to grant programs to support creatives financially. If you look at the slide, you will see that our film studio will be competitive with three studios listed on the Charlotte Flim Commission's website as resources for those seeking to film projects in Charlotte.
Using very conservative projections, we anticipate generating approximately $350,000 per month through rental revenue of the spaces in the two facilities, but we will share more specifics once our Certified Public Accountant (CPA) has reviewed our financials.
Data drives decisions, so we had to research to ensure this idea makes sense, not just today but in the future. If you think about it, media and creative industries have been central to our society throughout economic cycles because they are the mediums through which we recount and archive our stories.
Additionally, direct-to-consumer content will grow, which means more and more creators will seek a space to create content they can share directly with their audience. Reducing the cost for a middleman will provide resources for them to invest in higher-quality production.
We also recognize that the future of media will include augmented and virtual reality. You will see that both buildings will have studio spaces dedicated to the creation of these forms of media. Historically, minority communities have been on the reactive end of emerging technologies because we do not always have access to the production equipment in these environments.
These spaces will open the doors for a new generation of creatives to explore what is possible and be on the cutting edge of media evolution, and your investment will help to make that possible.
Studio 2005
| rate | use/month | ||
| Private Studio (small) - hourly | $500 | 40 | $20,000 |
| Private Studio (large) - hourly | $750 | 40 | $30,000 |
| Public Studio - hourly | $1,000 | 40 | $40,000 |
| Theater - hourly | $1,000 | 40 | $40,000 |
| Public Studio w/ Reception - hourly | $1,500 | 40 | $60,000 |
| Podcast Studio - hourly | $100 | 20 | $2,000 |
| Photography Studio - hourly | $150 | 20 | $3,000 |
| Training Room - hourly | $150 | 20 | $3,000 |
| Virtual Reality Studio - hourly | $100 | 20 | $2,000 |
| $200,000 |
Evolution
| rate | spaces | use/month | ||
| Memberships - monthly | $99 | 1 | 100 | $9,900 |
| Private Offices - hourly | $50 | 10 | 40 | $20,000 |
| Team Offices - hourly | $100 | 3 | 40 | $12,000 |
| Photography - hourly | $100 | 2 | 40 | $8,000 |
| Podcast Studios - hourly | $75 | 4 | 40 | $12,000 |
| Virtual Reality Studio - hourly | $50 | 2 | 40 | $4,000 |
| Art Studio - hourly | $100 | 2 | 40 | $8,000 |
| Hair and Makeup - hourly | $75 | 2 | 20 | $3,000 |
| Art Gallery - per visit | $20 | 1 | 1000 | $20,000 |
| Art Gallery Event - hourly | $1,000 | 1 | 40 | $40,000 |
| Restaurant Bar - per drink | $5 | 1 | 125 | $625 |
| Restaurant Food - per plate | $5 | 1 | 250 | $1,250 |
| Restaurant Private Dining - hourly | $250 | 1 | 20 | $5,000 |
| Rooftop - hourly | $250 | 1 | 10 | $2,500 |
| Art Gallery Membership - monthly | $49 | 1 | 100 | $4,900 |
| $151,175 |
Our Solution
Thinking through the structure of the project, we developed the following entities:
DollBaby Enterprises (my mom’s nickname was Doll Baby when she was little) is the C Corp you will invest in. It will hold the real estate and equipment for the two businesses.
Thrive Creative Co-Working Community (because we want to design an environment for our creatives to thrive) will be the name we commonly refer to the project.
Studio 2005 (my son was born in 2005 and propelled me into full-time entrepreneurship) will be a 35,000-square-foot film and production studio.
Evolution (because we are constantly evolving, and so are the mediums of storytelling) will be a five-story, 35,000-square-foot building that will house an art gallery, co-working studio spaces for rent, creative office spaces for rent, a restaurant featuring a monthly chef in residence, and a rooftop area.
Traction
Phase 1 begins now
- Launch our friends and family equity crowdfunding raise
- Goal: 1,000 people to invest $1,000 = $1,000,000
Phase 2 - we hope to reach our minimum raise of $25,000 within 30 days of launching the campaign in August
- to hire an architect, general contractor, and consultants to work on the design, building out, and equipping of the facilities
- Secure additional debt or equity funding
Phase 3 - beginning in the fall of 2023
- Work with Mecklenburg County (North Carolina) to identify a property
Phase 4 - begins in 2024
- Begin building Studio 2005 and Evolution
- Hire a team of professionals and interns
Anticipated Economic Impact
- 36 jobs
- 14 contracts
- 15 interns
- $120,000 supporting artists
- $120,000 supporting chefs
- $240,000 film grants
- $180,000 art grants
- $100,000 summer program and film festival
We are building our team, and hiring the right professionals to help us move forward will be critical to our success. Currently, Maliaka, Shivawn, and Amina are my sounding boards. They are active, award-winning industry professionals who share my vision and passion for this project.
As we secure additional funding, we will add team members:
- Securities Attorney
- Certified Public Accountant
- Architectural Engineer
- General Contractor
- Commercial Real Estate Broker
We are also developing partnerships with organizations with similar visions and missions to collaborate on using the spaces. We have identified some potential partners in the Charlotte area who have smaller studios and are working with high school students to provide skills-based training. The Charlotte Economic Development Office, Charlotte Business Inclusion, and the Charlotte Regional Film Commission are tremendous resources for us to work strategically with the local government and economic development initiatives.
Funding
In December, this project was the second-place winner in the Fearless Fund Foundation’s Get Venture Ready pitch competition. We used the funds to create the floor plans, conduct market research, begin the entities' branding, and invest in this platform. In the coming months, we will invest in creating our C corp with the North Carolina Secretary of State, a securities attorney to assist with filing the appropriate paperwork for this venture, and our CPA to provide an official review of our financial statements.
Our minimum raise for this campaign is $25,000.00, which will allow us to retain our architectural engineer, develop a 3D rendering for promotional use, complete our market research based on possible development sites, retain our general contractor to begin selecting materials for the building, and hire a small team of consultants to begin developing a list of equipment that will be needed in each space of the building.
Our target for this campaign is $1,000,000 (or 1,000 people investing $1,000) to assist with purchasing up to five acres of land in Charlotte, North Carolina, the development of the property, and other soft costs such as marketing, permits, surveys, and fees.
We will begin making quarterly dividend payouts to our investors once we have retained six months of operating expenses in reserves. As preferred stockholders, you will also be on the priority list to invest in film projects and to take advantage of other opportunities hosted at the facility, such as screenings and film festivals.
As you see, each month, we will allocate 10% of our revenue to a reserve fund, 10% to creator grants for our artists, chefs, and filmmakers, and our internship and summer program. With 70% of the revenue allocated to debt service and operations, we anticipate having approximately 10% for a dividend payout once we have reached our reserve goal.
Again, our projections at this point are conservative - estimating the spaces are only being rented for 25% of the available hours per month. If we reach 100% capacity with a wait list for rentals, we could earn over $1 million monthly. Obviously, that will be the goal or at least 50%
Will you be one of the 1,000 to invest in our creative community?
With your support, we can create a community for creatives to thrive in an ever-evolving media world.
Please pledge your support and share it with ten people in your community.
Together, we can change how stories are told in our community and how creatives are supported.
Disclosure: this page represents Testing The Waters materials.
- No funds or other consideration is being solicited, and if money is sent, it will not be accepted by the company;
- No sales will be performed or commitments to purchase accepted until the offering statement is qualified; and
- A proposed purchaser’s indication of interest is non-binding.