By Tony Jones
MEMPHIS, TN — In an exclusive advance interview with the Tennessee Tribune, Money Motion Entertainment, LLC spokesperson Lonnie “OG Big L” Love confirms that the company has finalized a $150 million distribution deal with the China Film Group Corporation (CFGC).
MME will be directing the fund’s focus to co-fund minority sourced and based Entertainment projects, and will retain distribution rights for North America and select international rights for artists and producers creating socially conscious content for music, film and television platforms. CFGC will retain all rights for China and select markets.
Based in Atlanta, MME is comprised of a group of select African American entrepreneurs incorporating entertainment, private and Wall Street level investment, commercial real estate and corporate business expertise into their game plan. Now platforming operations for launch and intake, group spokesperson Love gives a brief glimpse into what they hope to accomplish and why they chose to allow the Tribune to be among the first to officially report the game-changing announcement.
“Of course we’re about to hit the mainstream and internet platforms, but we welcome the opportunity to put the black media into the first batch. Our mission statement emphasizes “socially conscious” for a reason. We’re dedicated to ethical profit making within the commercial marketplace, but just for us to begin on this level makes a statement. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) conversation is all the rage in investment circles, but CFGC stepped forth to do more than just talk. Black entertainment is beloved worldwide and they see the potential commercial impact, but they also understand that discrimination is a detriment to the bottom line and they are not afraid to actually fund sound business plans headed by black professionals and that says a lot.”
In other words, CFGC sees the potential to profit from making the green but they are not afraid to have black decision makers in place. Love said it’s the same with MME.
“For us, it’s a civil rights opportunity, especially with world beat inching to the forefront. The nation of China is making headlines by expanding business opportunities in the homeland and this is truly an honor because we don’t have to go to the front office when we want to do something to make an impact, we’re the front office without impunity. The really gratifying part of being able to now go public is that our team earned the support with hard work and true expertise. At the end of the day the numbers made sense, and all of us coming from boot strap success means we know how to play hard and close deals properly.”
MME has a strong mid-south tie through one of its principal partners, Kahari Nash. He was also familiar in the public eye for several months during 2020 through 2021 after creating a national class action lawsuit against the McDonald’s corporation on behalf of black franchisees, and then creating a unifying protest called Don’t Be McFooled” that led to out of court settlements totaling millions for some of the franchisees. A native of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Nash has recently completed a documentary about the historic town, known as the oldest black founded town in America and respected by informed blacks everywhere due to its history of independence. A screening date may be announced soon.
But as Love notes, “It still must pass muster for MME to back it. Everything we touch must meet a certain propriety standard. No shortcuts. We want every artist and project to make money while making a true difference.”
