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In 2019, $9.5 Billion in economic impact was generated in the state of Georgia by the film and television industry.  And, that created Billions more downstream in positive cash-flow for the state economy overall.

So, why can’t Ohio can build its own film industry and turn Columbus into the Hollywood of the Midwest? Building Ohio’s creative infrastructure could yield strong growth of a new multi-billion dollar industry.

In this TIGER Talk, presenters Derek Talib and Jose Byers, co-founders of i71 Movies, will lay out how we can build and grow this high potential industry — right here!

Derek “DC” Talib is a screenwriter, novelist, director and actor. He wrote a web series entitled “A Child Called Myracle”. A true story about an abused African American girl who overcomes being raped and neglected surviving the Cleveland projects. He also directed that project and will be turning it into a feature film in the future. He is in the process of writing two television series: St.Gabriel (A supernatural crime drama) and Federal Court (“Desperate Housewives” meets “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”). He is also working on a faith-based film and holiday feature.

DC studied acting while at Ohio University, but was a fine arts major working on studio art. His focus was in comic book illustration. His love of art and writing came together with how he directs. DC sees things in a storyboard through his mind’s eye. His love of Baroque art and film noir style of film-making come together like a well blended wine. As an African American, DC wanted to do films featuring diversity, with big emphasis on having strong roles for women and minorities. And – not just films grounded in black life, but rich in various story lines. DC has a acumen for finding undiscovered talent and artists that love to work on their craft. He believes in indie films and understanding the business of making a picture and generating a strong ROI for Executive Producers and the team working on the project.

DC’s first feature film DARK IRIS was written as a short and won awards then was later crafted into a feature film. With his company i71Movies he was able to complete the project with only 12 days of shooting on a microbudget. The film was written, shot, and distributed in one year. It is currently in 13 countries and on Amazon Prime, Vudu and available on DVD. Imagine what i71 Movies can pull off with greater funding and support. i71 Movies is looking for people with vision and artists that believe and want to expand the film industry.

Jose Byers began his career in show business in his early teens. He found his love for performing through telling jokes because he discovered that everyone loved to hear his easy comedic banter. This led him to join a performing arts group called ‘The Grape Nut Players’ where he honed his acting skills for over 6 years.

In 2008, Jose signed with Columbus’s top agency and was hired to be in over 20 commercials and 4 military and law print ads. In 2014 he made his big screen acting debut in Captain America The Winter Soldier. He has since been in 6 other feature films including John Travolta’s I Am Wrath.

In addition to acting, Jose has produced, cast, and directed several indie short films. He continues to work hard by networking and building up i71 Movies in order to expand the filmmaking industry in the Ohio and the Midwest.

DC and Jose are committed to growing the film industry n Ohio, just the way Georgia grew theirs. Please visit the company website at www.i71movies.com and check out our latest project A WICKED BREED https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/a-wicked-breed

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