Building Bridges for the Entertainment Industry at Pitch for Good: Music & Entertainment Edition
September 24, 2021 / Share:
“This month, we’re celebrating a huge industry in Nashville’s history, that has a $5.5 billion local impact per year alone – and that’s, of course, the music and entertainment industry,” said Jane Allen, CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, at today’s Pitch for Good: Music & Entertainment Edition.
Started in 2020, Pitch for Good celebrates businesses that are making a difference in their communities and industries, providing financial grants for founders to continue to grow their impact and do even more good.
Five entrepreneurs across the entertainment industry pitched to a panel of three expert judges for the chance to receive up to $3,000 in financial grants. The Judges’ Choice winner, The Bridge Agency founder Brianna Harris, walked away $3,000 to grow her business, while Crowd Favorite and LabelRadar founder Ed Brew went home with $1,000.
Among those pitching were a slew of passionate entrepreneurs, including:
- Ed Brew, founder of LabelRadar – CROWD FAVORITE
- Chris Cummings, founder of Pass It Down/Iconic Moments
- Gordon Droitcour, founder of Syne Research, LLC
- Brianna Harris, founder of The Bridge Agency, Inc. – JUDGE WINNER
- Ajay Bam, founder of Vyrill Inc.
The Bridge Agency aims to improve the music industry by creating equity within the hiring process by partnering with large entertainment organizations and connecting them with traditionally overlooked individuals for mentorship, internships and other career opportunities.
“Investing in The Bridge Agency is investing in the future of the music industry,” Harris said.
Meanwhile, LabelRadar democratizes access to key industry players, and streamlines the process of moving a song through the demo process and into production by providing specific, curated data to decision-makers.
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. It’s a phrase that’s prevalent across all industries, but especially the music industry,” Brew said.
Each of these five founders were selected from a pool of applicants by an independent panel of judge, and rated throughout their pitches by an expert entertainment judging panel:
- Brent Lawrence, Chief Operating Officer of GPSOURCES
- Derek Crownover, Partner at Loeb & Loeb, LLP
- Marcus Cobb, Founder and CEO of Jammber
Crownover capped off the event with praise for the presenting entrepreneurs and their passion for bettering the entertainment industry: “There was not one pitch today that I thought wasn’t going to work. You all have a chance to do anything,” he said.
Thank you to our judges, our dedicated group of volunteers who narrowed the field through our selection committee, and to our sponsors for their ongoing support of our entrepreneurial community: Dell Technologies, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, GPSOURCES and Launch Tennessee.
Weren’t able to join the event? See the complete video recap here.