‘Empire’ Star Terrence Howard and Mira Howard Talk with SCREEN, Launch Disruptor Platform Holly

Terrence Howard is best known among Chicago TV fans for his tenure as “Lucius Lyon” in the popular Fox series Empire, which filmed primarily in the Windy City. Born in Chicago, raised in Ohio, Howard catapulted to stardom when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Hustle & Flow, which eventually led him to Empire. Howard and his wife, Mira Howard, stopped by SCREEN to talk about their love for Chicago, as well as celebrate the launch of their Entertainment talent discovery platform Holly™.

Holly’s mission is to redistribute the power in Hollywood and unlock opportunities for actors, filmmakers and other creatives. Terrence and Mira co-founded Holly to lead the charge to challenge decades-old Hollywood systems that favor industry insiders and those with deep connections. 

Enjoy Terrence and Mira’s entertaining chat with SCREEN’s Genna Mark right here…

The Howards and Holly

“Hollywood is in serious need of a shakeup, and Holly is the answer to a more collaborative environment where we partner with agencies, studios and other industry players to provide more access for talent and more diverse content for viewers,” said Co-Founder Terrence Howard. “Today’s audiences are looking for stories and voices they can relate to, but traditional Hollywood systems typically overlook the talent that can bring those projects to life. Holly is the platform that can facilitate this change across the industry. Holly is LinkedIn meets Instagram for talent, empowering a vibrant community to discover and elevate the best artists regardless of geography, background or socio-economic status.”

Technology has disrupted legacy industries from retail to banking. The business side of entertainment, however, has remained largely untouched and is ripe for change. Today, actors and other artists in entertainment are beholden to third parties in the industry – especially talent agencies – for access to auditions, roles and creative jobs. Holly changes that by introducing a solution that democratizes the entertainment industry.

Prior to its launch, Holly was bootstrapped by the Howards. The company is pursuing an equity-based crowdfunding round, which aligns with its democratization ethos to provide equal opportunities for Hollywood talent. This financing will enable everyone across the industry ecosystem to invest directly in the company and share in the potential upside and success of the platform.

Click here to learn more about Holly.