After making big moves in Hollywood over the years, Charles D. King is making history again, this time as the first Black recipient of the prestigious Milestone Award at the Producers Guild of America Awards.
The Macro studio founder behind projects like “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “They Cloned Tyrone” will join the ranks of visionary producers, such as Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, James Cameron and Samuel Goldwyn, whose work changed the film industry. Macro is a multi-platform media company elevating the perspectives of people of color.
TheGrio caught up with the trailblazer ahead of the annual award show to find out how he feels about receiving the guild’s highest honor.
“I’m honored and I don’t take it lightly,” he says.
King is no stranger to being the “first” of anything. This weekend, he’s celebrating the 30th anniversary of his fraternity’s (Kappa Alpha Psi) chapter at Vanderbilt University, where he was part of the first line to cross.
In 2010, he became the first Black partner of a major talent agency when the William Morris Agency, where he worked his way up from the mail room, merged with Endeavor to form WME.
When King launched Macro in 2015, it was another first. Nine years later he’s being added to the list of cinema’s most legendary luminaries.
The magnitude of the honor is not lost on King, who recalls dreaming of a career in cinema during his undergraduate years at Vanderbilt.
“To be honest, I was so surprised and filled with gratitude when it was announced. I look at it like we’re just getting started and this acknowledgement is not just about me. It’s also about Macro, what we represent, what all of my partners and colleagues represent,” he explains.
“Every one of these projects takes a complete village and every film that comes together feels like a minor miracle. The whole mission of our company is to amplify and to make sure that the full spectrum of our stories are being told.”
As a former agent, a founder, and a producer, King has a unique perspective on the impact producers have on a project.
“I’m an entertainment media company CEO and founder that has been blessed to be a producer on quite a few of our projects. The role that a producer plays is essential. A producer is a problem solver, an executor,” he says.
“I have the utmost respect for the craft and the work of the producers in our industry and I believe they’re overlooked far too often. In many circumstances, producers are the unsung heroes.”
Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrio’s newsletter.