Creative Economy | March 8, 2023

Charles King’s Macro raises $90 million to amplify diverse voices in Hollywood

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, Mar. 8 – Hollywood super agent turned entrepreneur and investor Charles King created Macro in 2015 to put voices and perspectives of persons of color in front of mass audiences (see, “Agent of Impact: Charles King). The film and production company has largely delivered, with a slate of critical and financial successes that includes Blue Bayou, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mudbound, Just Mercy and Fences.

BlackRock’s Impact Opportunities Fund has led a $90 million funding round in the firm. The round also included funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Harbourview Equity Partners, as well as returning investors Emerson Collective and Essence Ventures.

Content focused on people of color, “has historically been in short supply but high in demand,” said BlackRock’s Pam Chan. Macro is gearing up to launch its biggest production to date, They Cloned Tyrone, a summer sci-fi movie starring Jamie Foxx and John Boyega.

Vertical integration

Macro will use the investment to bolster the company’s other verticals, including talent management, a creative agency and digital content studio, and an early-stage venture fund. “Our mission goes beyond building a multibillion-dollar media company,” King told Fast Company. “We also have a mission to be part of shaping culture and economically empowering communities of color.”

MaC Venture Capital, the firm’s early-stage venture fund, has backed companies including Brooklyn-based BlocPower and Oakland-based fintech venture LendStreet. Mac Venture Capital raised $203 million last year for its second fund.

Cultural capital

Closing the representation gap for people of color in the TV and film industry could unlock more than $10 billion in annual revenues, according to McKinsey & Co. In 2017, Macro raised $150 million in slate funding from a cohort of impact investors, including Emerson Collective and the Ford, Kellogg and Libra foundations.

“Macro’s portfolio of work is correcting false narratives in Hollywood and beyond,” Kellogg’s Cynthia Muller told ImpactAlpha. “We are glad to see that Macro is continuing to raise substantial capital from mission-aligned investors looking to tap into a rapidly diversifying consumer market.”