Rising Stars: Meet Marquette Williams

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marquette Williams.

Hi Marquette, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Marquette Williams Producer/Director. Founder of Williams & Company and The Williams Method, Marquette Williams, is a highly sought-after writer, director, and producer. He is known for his visual skills that leap from the screen with every cut and translate to deep, emotional cinematic experiences which bring ideas to life from thought to screen. Having done over 50 commercials, several feature films, TV pilots, and music videos, his work is well-documented and respected.

Williams has produced and directed such award-winning films as Bella Rose, Buckle Brothers, Unspeakable, Malachi IX, Fatherhood 101, The Cleveland Chronicles, and The Making of Black Rose. For over six years, the former head of Greenhouse Studios managed a 20,000-square-foot production and postproduction studio in Burbank, CA, cutting his teeth as studio executive and development leader. As a result, he was allowed to work with such clients as Universal Pictures, Anchor Bay, Red Bull TV, Jamie Fox, and HBO before moving on to a career in development.

After departing from Greenhouse, Williams accepted an offer to run one of his celebrity client’s companies. For over 5 years, Mr. Williams headed up Tyrese Gibson’s production company, Voltron Entertainment, overseeing the multifaceted star’s production company, creative ventures, and development relationships with BET, Starz, Universal Pictures, Viacom, Fox, BCII, Sony Pictures, and many other major films and TV networks. While manning the helm of Voltron, Mr. Williams created a cinema education program based on hands-on kinetic learning called the “Williams Method”.

Mr. Williams designed a series of cinema education curriculums for teaching disadvantaged youth. For the past three years, the Williams Method has been implemented at a high school in south central LA, connecting high school students to the vast opportunities offered by educational pathways. It is during this time that the Cinema City project was born combining educational pathways, on-the-job training, workforce development, 360 services, and job placement in the film and TV industry.

Currently, Williams is doing a feature documentary on the Mayor of Cleveland, Frank Jackson. Having just completed a horror film for Shreek Theater, Williams & Company has a slate of content they are developing for production in Cleveland, Ohio. Located by Lake Erie, Williams & Company’s 13,000-square-foot production facility has been open since 2019. It’s a complete production space with a staging area, post-production department, set construction department, a music studio, G&E rentals, and a staff of ten employees.

To support the community, Williams & Company has also created iFilm 216, a workforce development program that offers OJT training for its students allowing Williams & Company clients an additional 10% savings on production services as they support social equity in the film and TV industry. For more information on iFilm 216, go to http://williamsnco.com/ifilm.

In 2018, Williams and Company launched a land development arm of the corporation to create the Cinema City project (https://cinemacity216.com). Cinema City is a mixed-use development anchored by a production soundstage. Cinema City Studio is a mixed-use-development anchored by a 200,000-square-foot film and TV production studio in Cleveland Ohio in the summer of 2024.

To support independent film production, Williams & Company is opening a 50,000-square-foot Innovation Center in the spring of 2023. REEL: https://vimeo.com/marquettewilliams.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not. Being a person of color it is often difficult to get equal pay or to find the right supporters. That being said I have been lucky to be able to find people that believed in me as an artist and even when I have failed they have been there to keep me moving in the right direction. The growth of an artist comes when they fail just as much as when they succeed. That is the process of polishing one’s craft.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think my ambition is what sets me apart plus I am always trying to help other artists and be supportive of our community. I do a lot of mentoring and teaching younger artists. That along with my films are dope. Each film I make is more direct than the last one. Each piece of content I create is different than the one before.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
That I am not a people person and I spend my quality time with myself or my family. I don’t go out much and I don’t like crowds. I tend to want to make art in some way, either writing, painting, or filming. Plus I talk a lot when I am nervous.

Pricing:

• Studio rental $3000 a day
• Production services $5000-10,000 a day
• Post Production services $300 an hour
• Audio services $300 an hour
• Consulting services $200 an hour

Contact Info:

• Website: http://williamsnco.com
• Instagram: @WilliamsnCompany216
• Other: https://vimeo.com/marquettewilliams/companyreel

Image Credits
Nnova Visionn