FRAME BY FRAME | IP DEVELOPMENT & STUDIO SALE

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Client: Self-Initiated → Acquired by SpringHill Entertainment LLC
Role: Creator, Executive Producer & Brand Strategist
Timeline: 2020–2024
Project Type: Entertainment IP Development, Show Format Creation, Commercial Model Design, Studio Sale

An idea has very little leverage. A finished property does.

I didn’t want to walk into a studio with a concept and hope they could see the potential.

I wanted to build everything they would need to see it as a business.

With photographer Mel D. Cole and the network he had built over 22 years, I created Frame by Frame, a premium cultural documentary series built around extraordinary photographers and the worlds they have access to. The shorthand was Anthony Bourdain meets Gordon Parks.

Then I built the infrastructure around the idea: a six-act episode format, a season of cultural moments ready to shoot, brand integration designed into the show from the beginning, a production model, commercial strategy and more than 30 talent relationships ready to activate.

The real advantage wasn’t the deck.

It was the access.

A 22-year network of artists, athletes, musicians and cultural figures isn’t something another production company can recreate with a larger budget.

BUILD UNTIL THE CONVERSATION CHANGES

SpringHill Entertainment acquired the property in April 2024 and entered a 12-month agreement to take it to major networks and streamers.

I retained 33.3% ownership in perpetuity, along with an equal voice in creative and business decisions.

That distinction matters.

I wasn’t paid to develop somebody else’s show.

I built an asset, sold part of it, and stayed an owner.

Build the business before you ask someone to believe in it.

A pitch asks someone else to imagine the opportunity.

A finished property changes the negotiation.

The more of the thinking, structure and economics you solve before entering the room, the less you’re asking for permission and the more you’re negotiating from ownership.