We recently connected with Zackrey Ceasar and have shared our conversation below.
Zackrey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have any key partners or vendors – if so, how’d you find them and start working with them?
I learned very fast that no business can operate by a single owner. A well oiled machine consist of several experienced minds. Many businesses fail because the founder/the entrepreneur tries to operate on all levels which causes burn out according to the book “The E Myth”. Not to mention, you may have the vision but not necessarily the experience to operate a business in that particular industry. This is where strategic partnerships come into play. Entrepreneurs do not necessarily need experience but vision with the right partners around them to help carry out the vision.The 3 levels are the founder, the management, and the technician. The founder is the idea and vision behind the business. The management oversee the vision and facilitate the vision to the technicians who work on the vision day to day. Finding the “right’ partners can turn a start up company into a fortune 500 company if constructed properly and has the right plan of action.
The key to building success at R.E.G is finding partners whom share the same passion for the same industry and has MORE experience than me in the entertainment industry that can help carry out R.E.G’s agenda while also being of value to the perspective partner. For example, one of R.E.G’s divisions is R.E.G Records which is a independent record label. The goal is to partner with individuals and companies such as marketing firms, PR firms, distribution companies and/or other major labels. This will allow R.E.G Records to have everything in place to run a successful record label at the independent level.
Other key partnerships include accountants, lawyers, A&R’s and other key roles that can help a record label run smoothly. I found my partners by attending networking events and simply reaching out to companies or individuals I thought would be a perfect fit for a potential partnership. The other key factor is to build a relationship with these companies or individuals. I understand the saying business is never personal. Except it actually is. Most people start businesses for personal reasons. I don’t think I would even go into business with someone I don’t personally like. And last but not least always have a clear vision with a clear plan and what you are bringing to the table in order for the individual or company to become potential partner.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am 36 yrs old originally from Monroe, Louisiana and moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2010. In 2012 me and my wife Angel Ceasar started Revolutionary Entertainment Group, LLC which is a multi-divisional entertainment company with a focus on music, media, film, and TV production as well as real estate development. I come from a entertainment backgrounds with education in theater as well as playing in TV shows, films, modeling, directing, producing and more. I have always had a love for the arts and entertainment industry. I then had to learn how to utilize my talent as a creator and transfer it into the board room as an executive.
The state of Georgia has become one of the nations top entertainment destinations and the goal is to help Georgia continue to grow at a rapid rate! This lead me to jump into real estate development. Do to the constant growth of film productions and film studio developments due to Georgia’s very lucrative tax incentives me and my partners have been looking into developing one of Georgia’s largest and most innovative mixed-use development with the anchor being a major film and TV Studio compound! This development will consist of a major esports facility, multiple school/incubator programs, a town center, lifestyle/affordable housing, green space, and so much more! This development will sit on hundreds of acres of land and will hopefully push Georgia into the number 1 spot for the entertainment industry in the world! Please stay tune for more information on this very ambitious project in the coming future!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In order to be successful AT ANYTHING but especially as a entrepreneur you must develop the habit of becoming extremely resilient because of the amount of failure and resistance that you will face when chasing your dreams. Through my journey I have faced MANY extreme amounts of life failures and blows that could have easily forced me to quit but the fact of the matter is I have too many reasons to keep going and my will to win as well as help others win is bigger than my urge to quit when I face adversity. You have to find reasons to keep going even when you do not see or know what the next steps are to take.
For example, when I was 19 years old in 2006 my life changed forever. My mom approached me while playing basketball and notified me that my father Darnell Wyatt was brutally murdered in his own home. At that moment (even in the midst of extreme emotional pain) I had a choice to make. Keep going or fall into the mental setback that a lot of us fall into when we face adversity. I chose to keep going and fight through the emotional and spiritual pain that I was feeling. I continued to go to college. I continued to chase my dreams as an actor/entrepreneur. I continued to make my father proud of me. Why? Because my father would want me to for one. Two so many people needed me and I could not loose sight of my goals despite the emotional suffering for my family sake. And last but not least there is someone that will experience this same type of pain and trauma. I want to show people who come after me that they too can go through pain and still fight through their adversity and succeed. Fast forward to 2015 my mother Joan Ceasar had several major strokes almost loosing her life and may be confined to a bed for the rest of her life.
My mom was by far my biggest supporter for my careers and now I have another choice to make. I can let my dreams die or I can make my mother proud by continuing the legacy we both started together! I chose to make her proud and push to work towards my dreams in order to not only make the rest of her life the best of her life as a bed ridden stroke patient but to break the chains of poverty for generations of my family to come. In pursuing a higher level of your life you will face MANY set backs. People will doubt you (do not be surprised if they are the ones closes to you). You will take losses (through death and finances), friends will walk out on you, you will feel lonely at times and many other things that will make you want to give up on your dreams. But remember why you started. Remember that your goals and dreams are bigger than you. Its for your family. Its for your culture. Its for freedom. Be just as resilient as your struggles and never stop until the work is done! Be resilient!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Absolutely! My goal is to show society that we all are much bigger than just mind and body but we are more of universal beings. Through creativity you can tend to gain the attention of society and teach others as well as inform others. We often gravitate towards the more negative forms of media such as mainstream media platform like CNN, FOX and others where we consume a massive amounts of negative information on a daily basis which negatively impact the way we feel and think. We also tend to gravitate towards TV shows like drama filled reality shows. What if our art, our TV shows, our films, and other media platforms that we created not only was informative but gave us other ways to look at life through a more positive, educational, and recreational way.
What if we can connect the bad story line into good outcomes and circumstance. What if creativity can show people how to become the 1 percent in a more “hands on” type of way. After all, some people need more help than others. What if we shared more inspirational films about heroic historical figures we may have never heard of. What if our reality TV shows were young men and women in inner cities showing how they went from the hood to Hollywood or going from state penitentiary to real estate. What if we can show the people way through visual art? All of this is a mission of mine and the goal is to recreate the American experience. Reprogram the “culture”. And rewrite what our future as society can be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.revolutionaryentertainmentgroup.com
- Instagram: @REGLLC and @Zackrey_Ceasar
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/REGLLC
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zackrey-ceasar-33327636/?original_referer=
- Twitter: @zackrey3 and @regllc
Image Credits
Greg Flemming