The journey of renaissance man Kelvin Taylor from a former model, comedian, actor and stuntman has been world wind with 14 years in the entertainment business. Having been ushered into the industry by way of his 1st feature film project with The International Emmy Nominated Golden Hour, his expertise has evolved. Having wrapped stunt work on Taika Waititi’s Time Bandits for Apple TV & Paramount, to prepping for his Australian film Debut with Generation Z, he’s taken a distinctive path as an African American. Poised to be the Byron Allen of the Asia-Pacific, he’s working his way from Non-Profit organiser into Media Mogul. Being inspired by the likes of entrepreneurship from acclaimed director Deon Taylor, Hidden Empire Film Group, the road to determining how to guide his charity into a creative platform was not been a easy choice.
While Taylor was operating his Men’s Mental Health Podcast “Dudes Brewing”, it helped had examine ethics and trajectory for what defines a legacy outside himself. Determined to innovate and make change in the Southern Hemisphere, I had the opportunity to speak with him.
PATFC was birthed out of creator Kelvin Taylor feeling it was a necessity to help facilitate representation of Africans in New Zealand in comparison to the inclusion beauty of Australia. In New Zealand, diversity is seeming getting a push from Pan-Asian and Pacific-Island Film collectives which is wonderful. However, for groups who do not have 2nd or 3rd generation relatives in the country, it leaves them often overlooked. Kelvin attended both of Asian and Pacific Island collectives as research but did not feel the messaging was universal for those who trying to find a place on screen on a Island.
There is unconscious tribalism to diversity, where as matters can evolve into an oppression olympic of sorts. This can be highlighted in Hollywood with the likes of Gina Rodriguez or John Leguizamo and their comments about the Latin American community being on screen. The division overall does not serve most of any group which is perceivable being disenfranchised and going to hard for your specific sub-group can cause one to lose it’s humanity.
Despite with African talent being overlooked, Taylor made sure to put onto PATFC’s mission statement and about that our planet is all connected to Africa by Y-Chromosome. It’s easy to exploit our differences or manufacture social unrest which some feel towards the race or gender swapping occurring today with Disney Productions. Abuse of power can happen with any group and brandishing European men as a villain or polarising differences is not kind. America racial history does not permit one or any production company to inverse exploit that. Disney is clearly capable of making an original IP with Moana, so Africans deserve that also and not retelling recycled leftovers that can upset any ethnic group.
Yearly, all corporations now face a corporate social credit score called ESG, economic social governance. Africans taylor has spoken too in New Zealand for local productions often feel used as as metrics without really any conclusion. On a Island, it’s very easy to play favourites and overlook people who immigrated or bring them in for auditions to meet an end of year scorecard but this was the dilemma Taylor sought to resolve.
Now, charity has its pros and cons as allot of the infrastructure is built off nepotism. It’s the downside that was exposed in terms of organisations like Black Lives Matter. As many may know the group’s founder Patrisse Cullors was audited from her Tax filing and funds were fond to be misappropriated. Funds being distributed to real estate, her brothers security firm and alternative lifestyles that had minimal to do with furthering African American lives.
Understanding this, Kelvin had a very difficult decision to make deciding the future of the company. Charities have been exposed in past for helping facilitate money laundering of sorts between charities for the Uber wealth and 5% of the proceeds go back to the community charities tend to take from. Most of the profits go to administrative expenses which can be exploited, as with the case of BLM. Groups in New Zealand & around the world capitalised on the BLM in unethical ways.
After becoming privy to understanding Charities, Taylor has been committed to restructuring The Pacific African Television and Film Collective into media entity. Nonprofits gain profits by guilty shaming the government into funding at times and their own local community who also can not afford the donations. Not being able to generate profit, reach how to generate profit yet take from others is a shameful stain Taylor did not want on his legacy.
As a content creator, Kelvin would much rather generate content and give investors metrics they can gauge in real time, then have to look the local community in the face and take from the less fortunate under the guise their child can be the next star. Creating a business model that is predicated on giving a ROI instead of taking. Creating more than a prescription or subscription but offering a remedy that is tangle and practical to see.
Kelvin Taylor having recently partnered the PATFC with New Zealand’s KAM Talent, the future looks expansive on what bright new ideas are in his peripheral with entertainment work in Australia, New Zealand and the US.
