We recently connected with Jean-Que Dar and have shared our conversation below.
Jean-Que, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The entertainment industry is rampant with equality legal issues which are protected by the First Amendment Freedom of Speech clauses. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of speech. Freedom of speech may be exercised in a direct (word) or a symbolic (actions) way. Producers can hire, fire, or reject people based on race, sexual orientation, disability, and so much more, so long as it pertains to the entertainment project and does not involve employment.
tap. remedies archaic age-old challenges such as unequal pay, gender/sex discrimination and provides direct access to niche-specific professionals, especially females, LGBTQIA, and persons of color. The future of work for the global entertainment industry starts with tap., an independent central marketplace network.
The arts should be recognized as a legitimate, balanced, and fair profession, no matter who you know or who knows you. Unfortunately, today it’s all about who you know, and this has created a myriad of cascading issues. Customarily, art programs are considered a hobby or elective due to industry nomenclatures, making it difficult to scale as a professional without proper connections. tap. will be a household name with partnerships and scholarships made available to the global workforce. From infants and senior citizens to pets and wildlife, we align our mission to support all within the entertainment workforce.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
tap. is a LinkedIn-style B2B marketplace that enables entertainment professionals to network, connect, and collaborate, offering robust features that make virtual networking in entertainment seamless, efficient, and enjoyable. The entertainment industry is home to the world’s largest contractor workforce, with over 107 million entertainment professionals generating a demanding annual revenue of $2.1 trillion. tap. connects everyone in entertainment, utilizing AI blockchain technology to vet people and projects and match them to networks, productions, and deals.
It includes community engagement features, like the media 360 profile/network feed/chat. Powered by IMDb + Amazon, tap. has over ten million productions and over eleven million user records. tap. is hyper-focused on its patented enterprise-grade machine learning algorithm, matching users to targeted networks and production deals worldwide with precision. Traditionally, entertainment professionals use six to eight platforms to connect with others in the industry. tap. enables people to save time and money by over 421%. tap. is the perfect product that empowers the entertainment ecosystem to be more creative, work smarter, and achieve greater results in the B2B market for their B2C content.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My legal background and education were not enough for the hard times I faced. However, I was thoroughly prepared for the uphill battle. At the seed stage, institutional investors care about one thing, the team. A brilliant idea backed by a good team is not enough. The team must be stellar with the credentials for the venture to return 10x. Building our team was incredibly difficult. Knowing the industry had a racial and sexist issue, I assembled a team of seven professionally diverse people from the entertainment industry, a mixture of black, white, Hispanic, and Asian men and women. At first, the team was ecstatic and off to a great start. Within a year, the team crumbled. As I tried to rebuild a new team, entertainment veterans would say tap. is a brilliant idea, but it will never work because “Hollywood” is a closed selective community of elites and wannabes. People will not join an app to network because people want to keep their networks small and private, of which I would reply, are you on LinkedIn? They all would answer, “Yes, but…”. I stopped listening after ‘but’ because they wanted to network online.
I was depressed for a while. That is when I noticed I had two problems: 1) Messaging and delivery were not clear because tap. is not just for Hollywood, its everyone in entertainment–film, tv, radio, internet, advertising and gaming. Furthermore, tap. is LinkedIn for the entertainment industry, but people would not join tap., but would join LinkedIn to be found by others in entertainment? 2) I had to build a new team of professionals in entertainment with a startup tech background because my past team was composed only of creatives. I educated myself more about the industry to address my two primary problems. Then the #OscarSoWhite and #mettoo movements happened. Producers were blamed for not hiring people of color or women. The recurring theme of the Producers response would be that it’s hard to find them. Then I learned of Lucky Chap, Margot Robbie’s female-focused film and television production company, primarily made up of women. I had to meet Margot. Made a few calls, connected with a friend of a friend, met her at a movie premier, and we immediately bonded on the concept–a place to find and connect with everyone in entertainment. The rest is history.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
After law school, my work hours demanded an aggressive 12+ hour work day. At the time, a close colleague referred me to a Patent Attorney who propositioned me to leave my current firm in Miami to join her BioTech and BioPharma Patent practice group at Davis Wright Tremaine in Los Angeles. Her practice required a seasoned Patent Prosecution Specialist to steer the heavy workload, which included managing a complex robust active patent docket in thirty-three countries. I flew to Los Angeles and interviewed with the group, which required a start date in six days. The firm presented an irresistible package which included a relocation offer – it was the most money I have ever seen on paper. I said yes, made the move, steered her practice, and she became a Partner in two years. I then noticed my expertise in a niche-specific Intellectual Property legal subject matter. After becoming a Partner myself, a few attorneys and I started IP Precise in Marina Del Rey, a boutique intellectual property firm that manages the overflow of Patent and Trademark prosecution files for major law firms. The firm grew within two years, and we evolved into prosecuting Intellectual Property applications for general consumers. The practice was incredibly successful as we catered the practice towards a niche crowd of Fortune 100 executives that wanted to create or join a start-up while maintaining their current positions. Once opened to the public, one of our entertainment-based clients referred us to a few Hollywood elites, which in turn also made referrals that landed 67 clients in a three-week period. We relocated offices to the Water Garden in Santa Monica and started servicing the IP needs of people and technical founders that worked at Def Jam, Miramax, Lionsgate, Hulu, HBO, Viacom, and Universal. These six companies were within walking distance of our office, and we were the only firm in town offering this unique service. Our success took off, and we opened another office in Brentwood. As a Founding Senior Partner of the firm, I noticed the bulk of hours spent tracking people and entertainment production companies. Some people had aliases. Production companies would set up shop, shoot a film (or attempt to make one), dissolve the company, and disappear with unpaid bills while not paying cast, crew, staff, and landlords. The business operations of the entertainment industry are like working in the Wild Wild West. I’ve never seen anything like this. However, it was an extremely profitable legal practice. That is when I discovered the need for tap., a marketplace for the entertainment industry that vets people, experience, and productions while tracking the lifecycle of their intellectual property. After representing Fortune 100 companies and Founders for 14 years, I sit on the opposite side of the table to advance the most influential industry in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tap.ec
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tap.ec/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tapecapp
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tap-ec/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tap_ec