We recently connected with Marquette Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Marquette, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

As a content creator I realized there was very few workforce development programs for our industry targeting minorities.

When people would ask for job I began to realize how little experience they had. In the beginning I would just try to find a spot for them and at times our business would take a hit for those choices.

Over time they became costly so we began to look closer at workforce development thus the creation of iFilm 216 and Studio Zero.

These initiatives by Williams & Company are to create a workforce that answer the demand for DEI in our industry. Focusing on minorities, and women. Preparing the future labor force for content creation.

Marquette, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Marquette Williams Producer/Director

Founder of Williams & Company and The Williams Method, Marquette Williams, is a highly sought after writer, director and producer. He is known for his visual skills that leap from the screen with every cut and translate to deep, emotional cinematic experiences which bring ideas to life from thought to screen. Having done over 50 commercials, several feature films, TV pilots and music videos, his work is well documented and respected.

THE PAST

Williams has produced and directed such award-winning films as Bella Rose, Buckle Brothers, Unspeakable, Malachi IX, Fatherhood 101, The Cleveland Chronicles and The Making of Black Rose. For over six years, the former head of Greenhouse Studios managed a 20,000 square foot production and postproduction studio in Burbank, CA, cutting his teeth as studio executive and development leader. As a result, he was afforded the opportunity to work with such clients as Universal Pictures, Anchor Bay, Red Bull TV, Jamie Fox, and HBO before moving on to a career in development.

After departing from Greenhouse, Williams accepted an offer to run one of his celebrity client’s company. For over 5 years, Mr. Williams headed up Tyrese Gibson’s production company, Voltron Entertainment, overseeing the multifaceted star’s production company, creative ventures and development relationships with BET, Starz, Universal Pictures, Viacom, Fox, BCII, Sony Pictures and many other major film and TV networks.

While manning the helm of Voltron, Mr. Williams created a cinema education program based in hands-on kinetic learning called the “Williams Method”. Mr. Williams designed a series of cinema education curriculums for teaching disadvantage youth.

For the past three years, the Williams Method has been implemented at a high school in south central LA, connecting high school students to the vast opportunities offered by educational pathways. It is during this time that the Cinema City project was born combining educational pathways, on the job training, workforce development, 360 services, and job placement in the film and TV industry.

THE PRESENT

Currently, Williams is doing a feature documentary on the Mayor of Cleveland, Frank Jackson. Having just completed a horror film for Shreek Theater, Williams & Company has a slate of content they are developing for production in Cleveland, Ohio.

Located by Lake Erie, Williams & Company’s Studio Zero is a 13,000 square foot production facility has been open since 2019. It’s a complete production space with a staging area, post-production department, set construction department, a music studio, G&E rentals and a staff of ten employees.

To support the community, Williams & Company has also created a non profit iFilm 216, a workforce development program that offers OJT training for its students.

For more information on iFilm 216, go to http://williamsnco.com/ifilm/

THE FUTURE

In 2019, Williams and Company launched a land development arm of the corporation to create the Cinema City project (https://cinemacity216.com). Cinema City is a mixed-use development anchored by a production soundstage. Cinema City Studio is a mixed-use-development anchored by a 200,000 square foot film and TV production studio in Cleveland Ohio in the summer of 2024.

To support independent film production, Williams & Company is opening a 50,000 square foot Innovation Center in the spring of 2024.

REEL: https://vimeo.com/marquettewilliams

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As an artist you are constantly failing, learning, adapting and growing. I dream big so I fall big as well but I learn from each attempt.

So I keep making things, trying to empower those around me and hope that we will find the right project and the right producer, the right studio backer the usual needs that directors have for their film projects.

I learn that the time between those projects, those dreams is the time to share, to teach and to guide the next generation of artists.

To give them a chance I did not have, to show them the world that someone showed me. To allow them that moment to let their are speak for itself in hopes that it reaches one person and changes their life.

the greatest pivot was to learn that the gifts of creating things to share how you created them with others.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

The hardest part of this content creation machine is it always runs out of money, investors pull out, acquisition climates change, I have lost more companies than I care to count.

But each time you have to look at what you did good and truly examine what you did poorly and focus on changing that.

50% is always going to be you in any situation and you must try to work on that 50% as that is what you control. Not the money, not the market, not the industry, just you.

The hardest part is to remember you are the art not the money. The art is what you have and what you always wanted. The money just makes making the art easier.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.williamsnco.com
• Instagram: MarquetteJW
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marquette-williams-a78b3911
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@studiozero216
• Other: https://vimeo.com/marquettewilliams/companyreel

Image Credits
Cinema City