Charles King's MACRO Raises Additional $150 Million for Film, TV Projects

Charles King’s multi-platform media company, MACRO, has raised an additional $150 million in equity and debt financing to produce and finance four to six film and TV projects annually, MACRO announced Tuesday.

MACRO, founded in 2015 by the former William Morris Endeavor (WME) partner, closed its initial funding that year for an undisclosed eight-figure round.

Equity includes financing from Emerson Collective, Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Libra Foundation. MACRO’s existing investors, apart from Emerson, include Shanghai/Hong Kong based MNM Creative, MediaLink, Raymond J. McGuire of Citigroup, Anre D. Williams of American Express and other investors from Wall Street, Silicon Valley and the corporate world.

Also Read: Charles King's MACRO Secures Eight-Figure First Round Financing

“With MACRO going into its third year, we have seen the initial seeds we planted come to fruition both commercially and critically,” said King. “Our success is proof that our slate is striking a chord with audiences globally. This round of financing provides the capital necessary to build a robust slate of content that authentically represents the multi-faceted spectrum of our communities.”

Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder and president of Emerson Collective, added, “In supporting Charles and his extraordinary vision, I am thrilled to see the success MACRO has generated in such a short period of time, and the rich, diverse, high-quality content MACRO is bringing to our culture. More than ever, it is vitally important that the content we consume reflects the complex diversity of who we are, inspires us to better understand experiences and perspectives different than our own, and brings forth talent, voices and stories that have been silent and unheard for too long.”

The company’s first major studio feature was “Fences,” directed by and starring Denzel Washington, which grossed over $64 million at the box office and received four 2017 Academy Award nominations.

MACRO has two films on its release schedule in November 2017: “Mudbound,” starring Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell and Mary J. Blige. The second is “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” which will star Washington and Colin Farrell.

Also Read: Charles D. King's Macro Hires Kim Roth as President of Production

Other projects under development include collaborations with Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, Rick Famuyiwa, Van Jones, Eva Longoria, Michael B. Jordan and Justin Simien. King, the first African-American partner at WME, exited the agency in January 2015 after 15 years to launch his new venture.

MACRO’s current leadership includes Eric Briggs, Chief Strategy Officer & Chief Financial Officer; Kim Roth, President of Production; Poppy Hanks, Senior Vice President of Development & Production; Michael Palank, Vice President of Business Development & Strategy and Aaliyah Williams, Vice President of Digital Content & Production.

The Evolution of Denzel Washington, From 'Malcolm X' to 'The Equalizer 2' (Photos)

Three Oscars, three Golden Globes, a Tony and a lifetime of memorable performances. Denzel Washington has proven that he is one of the most iconic actors in Hollywood today. With his latest film "The Magnificent Seven" out now and his upcoming film "Fences" expected to factor into the Oscar race, let's look back at his long career.
Here's a picture of him as a kid that was used in a Boys & Girls Club of America ad, just to show you he was born with that steely-eyed gaze.
BGCA
After getting started in Maryland and Off-Broadway theatre, Washington got his first major role on the '80s hit medical TV show "St. Elsewhere" as Dr. Philip Chandler.
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In 1987, Washington earned his first Academy Award nomination playing South African activist Steve Biko in "Cry Freedom."
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Two years later, Washington won Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his work in "Glory." Washington plays Silas Trip, a bitter runaway slave who joins the Union in the Civil War, but who doesn't believe victory will bring him freedom.
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In 1990, Washington worked with Spike Lee to make the film "Mo' Better Blues." Washington plays Bleek Gilliam, a jazz trumpeter whose life spirals out of control as he makes one bad decision after another.
40 Acres and a Mule
Two years later, Washington reunited with Lee to make what is considered one of the defining works of both men's careers: "Malcolm X." Washington got his third Oscar nomination for his legendary performance as the legendary activist.
40 Acres and a Mule
In 1993, Washington starred alongside Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia" as Joe Miller, a personal injury lawyer hired by a gay man with AIDS to represent him in a wrongful termination lawsuit connected to his disease.
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In 1995, Washington began taking more high-octane roles, namely the lead in "Crimson Tide" alongside Gene Hackman. The two men play commanding officers on a submarine who engage in a bitter struggle for power while a rebellion in Russia threatens to re-start the Cold War.
One of Washington's more polarizing films was the 1999 biopic "The Hurricane." He plays Rubin Carter, a boxer who was convicted of triple murder and spent 20 years in prison before he was exonerated. The film earned Washington a Golden Globe, but also received criticism for taking liberties with the facts of the case.
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In 2000, Washington introduced himself to a new generation of moviegoers in the Disney film "Remember The Titans" as the coach of a recently desegregated high school football team.
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The following year, Washington became the first African-American actor since Sidney Poitier to win a Lead Actor Oscar when he played against type as the corrupt cop Alonzo Harris in "Training Day."
2002 saw Washington make his directorial debut with "Antwone Fisher," a story about a Navy sailor with a troubled past that he sorts through with the help of a kindly psychologist.
In the mid 2000s, Washington built on his "Crimson Tide" reputation and starred in a series of successful thrillers. Among these was a remake of the 1962 classic "The Manchurian Candidate."
In 2007, Washington played against type again as infamous Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas in "American Gangster."
In 2012, Washington earned his fourth Best Actor Oscar nomination and sixth nomination overall for his work in "Flight." In the Robert Zemeckis film, he played an airline pilot who saves nearly everyone on board when he makes an emergency crash landing. Still, six people die in the crash, and the pilot's new popularity is short-lived when it is discovered that he was flying while intoxicated.
Paramount
Fresh off receiving the Cecil B. Demille Award at the Golden Globes, Washington reunited with "Training Day" director Antoine Fuqua to star in a new rendition of one of the greatest Westerns of all time, "The Magnificent Seven." Washington played Sam Chisholm, a bounty hunter who rounds up a new Seven to protect a town from a vicious robber baron.
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He earned two more Oscar nominations starring in (and producing) a screen adaptation of August Wilson's play "Fences," a tale of a former Negro League pitcher who struggles to deal with his new life as a garbage man. Washington played the lead role in a Broadway revival in 2010, for which he won a Tony Award.
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To the surprise of many awards prognosticators, Washington earned Oscar nom No. 9 for his performance as a crusading attorney in writer-director Dan Gilroy's 2017 legal drama "Roman J. Israel, Esq."
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In July 2018, Washington returned to his thriller side with "Equalizer 2," the sequel to a brutal action thriller he made in 2014 about a widowed man who embraces his past as a ruthless vigilante to help the helpless. This is Washington's third film with Antoine Fuqua, who directed him in "Training Day."

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Denzel Washington has enjoyed plenty of success in Hollywood

Three Oscars, three Golden Globes, a Tony and a lifetime of memorable performances. Denzel Washington has proven that he is one of the most iconic actors in Hollywood today. With his latest film "The Magnificent Seven" out now and his upcoming film "Fences" expected to factor into the Oscar race, let's look back at his long career.

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