Stacy Spikes
{{short description|American film producer}}
{{COI|date=September 2023}}
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| name = Stacy Spikes
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| birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.
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| occupation = CEO and Co-Founder, MoviePass
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| organization = MoviePass
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Stacy Spikes is an American entrepreneur and inventor. He holds several business and technical patents. He is the co-founder of the subscription service MoviePass and founder of Urbanworld, an international festival dedicated to nurturing women and BIPOC storytellers and creators. A former film marketing executive and producer, Spikes has had senior executive roles at Motown Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Miramax Films, and October Films.[http://2008.wmyconference.com/spikes.php/ "Stacy Spikes Urbanworld Film Festival, Founder"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422013753/http://2008.wmyconference.com/spikes.php |date=2013-04-22 }}. The Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference
Life and career
Spikes is from Houston.[https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-story-moviepass-rise-fall-2019-8 The definitive story of how a controversial Florida businessman blew up MoviePass and burned hundreds of millions]. Business Insider. 6 August 2019. His father was a school principal, and his mother hosted a public-access TV show.{{Cite magazine |last=Kolhatkar |first=Sheelah |date=2023-02-27 |title=MoviePass, Take Two! |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/06/moviepass-take-two |access-date=2023-10-01 |issn=0028-792X}}
After high school, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he lived with an uncle and worked in a blue-collar job before getting his first job in the entertainment industry at Motown Records. By 1995, Spikes was working at Miramax Films and had been promoted a number of times, becoming the vice president of marketing. By 1996–97, Spikes was senior vice president of marketing at October Films.[http://2008.wmyconference.com/spikes.php/ "Stacy Spikes Urbanworld Film Festival, Founder"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422013753/http://2008.wmyconference.com/spikes.php|date=2013-04-22}}. The Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference
= Urbanworld Film Festival =
Spikes founded Urbanworld Film Festival in 1997.{{cite news|last1=Talbert|first1=Marcia Wade|title=WATCH: Urbanworld Film Festival Draws Top Black Talent|url=http://www.blackenterprise.com/lifestyle/watch-urbanworld-film-festival-draws-top-black-talent/|accessdate=29 June 2016|work=Black Enterprise|date=20 September 2010}} The festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021;{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Angelique |date=2021-09-21 |title=Urbanworld Film Festival Announces 25th Anniversary Slate (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/urbanworld-film-festival-25th-anniversary-slate-1235069754/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} it is held annually in New York City.[http://urbanworld.org/about/about-us// "Urbanworld About Us"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630191638/http://urbanworld.org/about/about-us/ |date=2013-06-30 }}. Urbanworld
= MoviePass, Co-Founder =
In February 2011 Spikes launched MoviePass along with co-founder Hamet Watt. In October 2012, the company introduced a new business model which used proprietary location-based payment technology.{{cite magazine|last1=Tuttle|first1=Brad|title=MoviePass Goes National: Unlimited Trips to the Movies from $25 Per Month|url=https://business.time.com/2012/10/02/moviepass-goes-national-unlimited-trips-to-the-movies-from-25-per-month/|access-date=29 June 2016|magazine=TIME|date=2 October 2012}} Robert De Niro was an early supporter of MoviePass.{{Cite web |last=Spikes |first=Stacy |title=MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes praises Robert De Niro for reminding him the 'importance of perseverance' while trying to get the start-up off the ground |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/stacy-spikes-robert-de-niro-moviepass-black-founder-book-2023-1 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}} After it was acquired by Helios and Matheson Analytics, Spikes was fired from the company in January 2018.[https://www.businessinsider.com/moviepass-cofounder-on-what-led-to-firing-2019-4 The cofounder of MoviePass recounts what led to his firing from the company he'd built from the ground up]. Business Insider. 13 April 2019. MoviePass filed for bankruptcy in 2020.{{cite news |last1=Randles |first1=Jonathan |title=Ex-MoviePass CEO to Test a Second Act for the Failed Subscription Service; Stacy Spikes, former chief of MoviePass, said he intends to test a revised business model between the Thanksgiving and New Year holidays, according to court documents |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2596125021 |access-date=1 October 2023 |publisher=Wall Street Journal |date=November 11, 2021 |location=New York |id={{ProQuest|2596125021}} |quote=Stacy Spikes, now helming a company called PreTechnology Inc., intends to test a revised business strategy during the busy holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day in hopes of relaunching MoviePass by the third or fourth fiscal quarters of 2022, court records show.}}
= MoviePass, Relaunch =
In 2021, Spikes bought the company out of bankruptcy and relaunched it in the fall of 2022. Approximately 30,000 people registered on the pre-launch waitlist within five minutes of the announcement, causing the MoviePass website to crash.{{Cite magazine |date=2022-08-31 |title=Everything You Need to Know About the MoviePass Relaunch |url=https://time.com/6209276/moviepass-relaunch-2022/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |magazine=Time |language=en}} The new iteration of MoviePass has three subscriber tiers: basic, standard, or premium.{{Cite web |last=America |first=Good Morning |title=MoviePass relaunches with new tiered subscriptions ahead of blockbuster summer |url=https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/moviepass-relaunches-new-tiered-subscriptions-ahead-blockbuster-summer-99594460 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Good Morning America |language=en}} The Financial Times commented:
"In the roll call of terrible business ideas, MoviePass ranks alongside the Sinclair C5, Juicero, and The Soup Tube."{{cite news |last1=Elder |first1=Bryce |title=MoviePass is back and this time it's crypto, because of course it is |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2775358103 |access-date=1 October 2023 |publisher=The Financial Times Limited |date=January 13, 2023 |location=London |id={{ProQuest|2775358103}} |language=English |quote=In the roll call of terrible business ideas, MoviePass ranks alongside the Sinclair C5, Juicero and The Soup Tube.}}
= Book =
Stacy Spikes's memoir Black Founder, The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider was published in February 2023; it chronicles his career.{{cite web |last1=Schlichenmeyer |first1=Terri |title=REVIEW: "Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider" by Stacy Spikes |url=https://indianapolisrecorder.com/black-founder-the-hidden-power-of-being-an-outsider-book-review/ |publisher=Indianapolis Recorder |access-date=29 October 2023}}{{Cite book |last=Spikes |first=Stacy |title=The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider |publisher=Kensington Books |year=2023 |isbn=9781496739582 |edition= |location=New York, NY}}
= Filmography =
Spikes was the executive producer for Punks,{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Kevin |date=2001-11-16 |title=Witty 'Punks' Takes Romantic Comedy Into New Territory |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-16-et-punks16-story.html |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} The Visit, King of the Jungle,{{Cite web |last=Shirkani |first=K. D. |date=2001-05-30 |title=Urbanworld into Rosenfeld's 'Jungle' |url=https://variety.com/2001/film/news/urbanworld-into-rosenfeld-s-jungle-1117800168/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Higher Ed (2001), For da Love of Money (2002), and the TV movie Urbanworld Film Festival Special (2004).[https://movies.nytimes.com/person/534562/Stacy-Spikes/filmography/ "Stacy Spikes Filmography"]{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. The New York Times
= Awards & Honors =
He received a “Made in NY Award” from Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, in 2011 for his work with the Urbanworld Film Festival.{{cite web|title=Mayor Bloomberg And Media & Entertainment Commissioner Oliver Present 6th Annual "Made In NY" Awards|url=http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/192-11/mayor-bloomberg-media-entertainment-commissioner-oliver-present-6th-annual-made-ny-awards|website=The Official Website of the City of New York NYC|accessdate=29 June 2016|date=6 June 2011|archive-date=15 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815151352/http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/192-11/mayor-bloomberg-media-entertainment-commissioner-oliver-present-6th-annual-made-ny-awards|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0818729}}
- [https://x.com/stacyspikes Stacy Spikes on X]
- [https://www.instagram.com/stacyspikes/ Stacy Spikes] on Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spikes, Stacy}}
Category:African-American business executives
Category:American business executives
Category:African-American film producers
Category:African-American company founders
Category:American company founders
Category:Film producers from Texas
Category:21st-century African-American people