Terrence Howard Launches ‘Holly’ App to Help Discover Emerging Talent in Hollywood

Academy Award-nominated actor Terrence Howard and his business partner Mira Howard have joined together to develop "Holly," an app designed to help discover emerging Hollywood talent.

The idea of the platform is to be an inclusive and all-encompassing place for artists to share their reels, auditions and related work product for those doing the hiring. The app also presents opportunities for emerging talent to intermingle among individuals within different parts of the overall creative community.

In speaking about the app, Terrence stated, “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.”

“This is literally for those artists that are looking for real jobs that are out there. If an actor has a wonderful audition but they didn’t get the job, they’re still able to post their audition. It’s not wasted,” Terrence added.

Howard’s acting career has spanned over three decades having starred in a variety of films including Hustle & Flow, Get Rich or Die Tryin, Crash, The Butler and The Best Man and The Best Man Holiday as well as the television series Empire and The Best Man: The Final Chapters. His Academy Award nomination was for his role in Hustle and Flow.

As the platform is developing, the Howards have planned to launch an equity-based crowdfunding round. The platform itself will be free of charge for talent to use. However, studio executives, talent agencies or production companies, will have to pay a subscription fee for access to the talent pool.

The creators of the app hope that the service will eventually generate in-platform artistic collaborations, which would generate revenue aside from the subscription fee charged to talent agencies, studio executives and production companies. Furthermore, the developers plan to include features within the platform such as potential equity crowdfunding capabilities that will enable talent, fans and executives from the industry to invest directly into television and film projects as well as provide a marketplace designed to help talent find legal services, talent management, rights and identity management and more.

According to Terrence, the platform will have age appropriateness and space to resolve conflicts via a private channel. “A key goal was to create a creative space that your child can go to without fear that they’re going to end up on somebody’s [casting] couch,” Howard said.

“Today’s audiences are looking for stories and voices they can relate to,” Howard said, “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,” he added.

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