“Put me anywhere on god’s green earth, i triple my worth.”
jay-z
J
ay Allen’s travels from Charlotte to New York to Atlanta to LA and back to Atlanta is one for the ages. The once aspiring comedian has followed a path that could only be set for him to the top of network television.
As an executive producer and co-head of Unscripted Development at Swirl Films in Atlanta, Jay leads an all-star team in charge of producing—amongst several other projects—“Uncensored”, one of the top shows on the TV One Network. The program features incredible back stories and anecdotes directly from some of the fondest of celebrities. From Faith Evans to Jaleel White, many of your favorite musicians and notable figures have sat down with Jay and his team to deliver vivid, oral histories that are sure to live on for decades.
Being from Charlotte, it was only natural for a native to relate to another native. The prevailing notion? Success in entertainment, on any level and in any medium, is hard to come by in The Four. We all know it. The best of us deal with this question on a day to day basis:
Do I stay and put on for the city or leave and get what I’m worth?
“Band a make [them] dance.”
juicy-j
Recently, on a balmy Wednesday morning, Jay was in Charlotte for production work and sat down with THE BLOCK to discuss his journey through the world of entertainment. Still amped up from the whirlwind of activity, it was a rare occasion getting the jet-setting visionary to hit the pause button.
“Oh come on man, it’s nothing! This Southside all day!” Jay exclaimed.
Graduating from UNC-Wilmington and currently living in Atlanta, he originally linked with Swirl Films while in school in Wilmington, back when North Carolina was the “Hollywood of the East Coast.” With shows like “Dawson’s Creek,” “One Tree Hill” and countless movies being filmed in the state, plenty of opportunities presented themselves for Jay to take advantage of.
“A lot of shows and independent films were being shot out there, so I linked up with the CEO of Swirl Films, Eric Tomosunas, and I would help out with a few projects here and there, but I was still studying film in school. Plus, I was a comedian at the time, so I was performing comedy and poetry,” Jay reminisced.
“something like a phenomenon.”
ll cool j
After a few years passed, the perfect storm formed when Allen moved to Atlanta to learn that Eric had also moved Swirl Films there as well. That bridge led to an opportunity of a lifetime but not without the hustle first.
“It was a transition for sure [laughs],” Jay said. “In between … I was working in corporate America. Ended up retiring from corporate America in 2014 to really concentrate on TV and film.
“I moved to New York and worked on several shows at Viacom,” he continued. “I was writing on shows like “Wild’n Out” and a lot of their shows that were in development. Those opportunities led to me eventually getting the spot I was destined to have with Swirl.”
This current role with Swirl Films has not only placed Jay at the head of a hugely popular program on TV One but also in production roles with BET, Nasir Jones, Lifetime, Hallmark and AMC.
“Our leadership at Swirl is really big on expanding our brand, as well as myself and my counterparts. So we’re constantly pitching to networks, pitching content, pitching ideas. That will allow us to get in the door to creatively help networks push their content forward.”
“But,” Jay pivoted, “We also provide production services which is our bread and butter. So, you can come to us with your idea and your budget, and we can bring it to life. Which is really why these networks tap us. We’re in a place where budgets are tight but you don’t want to sacrifice quality, and we never sacrifice quality.”
“I’m brazy, i’m so brazen, i’m ‘raisin in the sun,’ sir.”
jay electronica
By far, 2020 was the most abnormal year, perhaps, ever in American history right? Between the ever-changing mandates to the shutdowns and re-openings only to be shut down again, it was a minefield that many of us couldn’t successfully moonwalk through. Allen and his Swirl Films team had more life than a little bit though.
“When COVID hit, alot of production companies shut down and stopped. We actually got busier during this time. So, the only thing that changed for us was we became more cautious, more aware of things that we weren’t before, you know?”
The day before the country had the de facto shut down, Jay and his crew were in LA filming an episode of “Uncensored” with Debbie Allen. Graciously, the team was able to navigate so effectively that their efforts didn’t go unnoticed.
“After we began to put the proper precautions into place, our movies and TV show business never slowed down, and as a result, we ended up becoming a lot of the standard that was for production companies to return to filming. I believe we did 12 movies and two TV shows during COVID, so we’re proud to be that blueprint,” Jay said.
“100 Mil’ and i’m still on the grind.”
j. cole
Oftentimes in life, we reach points in time where we’re able to look back and reflect on choices we’ve made that led us to the positions that we’re in. Some people want do overs, others wouldn’t change anything. Some people learn from their past mistakes and evolve, others maintain that same hubris and claim that they’ll never make that same mistake again, while living that same lifestyle. The beauty is we’re all different, yet we all have chances to positively affect a young person coming up behind us.
That’s the power in sharing our stories. The good, the bad and ugly.
“I would say I wish I would’ve trusted my instincts more. I didn’t take the traditional path when it came to school or where I lived and I questioned myself … you know what I mean? I would make those moves more bold than I did,” Jay began after mulling his thoughts for a brief moment.
“When I first decided to go to school in Wilmington, when everybody I knew was going to [North Carolina A&T], Johnson C. Smith or [North Carolina] Central, I questioned it more than I should have instead of just hopping on. When it was time to leave North Carolina and move to Atlanta, I spent two years questioning it and I lost those years because I was like ‘Ehhh, I don’t want to do it. I’m gonna move back to Charlotte and be comfortable,’ you know? But I eventually did it.”
Don’t get it twisted though. Those fears don’t just assuage away all by themselves. According to Jay, he lost close to a half-decade of time while battling himself.
“I would tell people, if you have that fire in you and you believe you want something and you see a path to go get it, you have to take it. Because it’s going to be alright. We’ve all gone through the toughest, hardest days of our lives and we’re still here for now. So, I would say trust your instincts and just go,” Jay said.
“I don’t think i reached my ‘F*ck it’ space until now.”
Jay Allen
As we walk our respective roads, there comes a point along the journey where you will be forced to let go of something that is inevitably going to hold you back. Sometimes it’s a fear, a habit, a mindset, a relationship or maybe even some type of trauma. Fact remains that in order for you level up, you’re going to have to reach a point where you say “F*ck it.”
Jay, like most of us, believes your life will reap directly what you sow into it.
“One thing I’ve learned is that if you want something bad enough, the universe will conspire to make it happen,” Jay said.
“I’m passionate about telling Black stories, so I’m just continuing my path to get to a space where I can make that happen. Personally, I just want to continue growing as a man. I do want to become a father, a husband, those things are important for me as well.”
When asked about the future, Jay took another brief pause and delivered these final bars, “I’ve learned that where I am now, I do want to continue to create, and I believe that I’m in a space where I can do that. But, my new mission is a little different. Outside of telling these Black stories, I want to put my people in positions to win. I believe Jay-Z has a quote where he says, ‘If you’re the only millionaire or billionaire in the room, you are in the wrong room.’ So, I realize that I’ve been blessed to be in a position to win and a lot of people I’m able to bring in now are people that I want to see win as well, because they have been loyal to me over the years for no reason at all … and I’ve just been out here trying to figure it out.”
DON DEMARCO *airhorns*
Nobody ever said the paths we choose to take were going to be crystal, OG Hughes put us on that game almost a century ago. But we are constantly told that in life, we will get out exactly what we put in, and Jay Allen is one of the latest, greatest examples of just that. If we continue learning from and helping each other, putting each other on and reaching back to our youth, it’ll be just like Jadakiss said, “We gonna make it”
To connect with and/or get more information on Jay, follow him on Instagram @watchj . For more information on Swirl Films, visit their website swirlfilms.com
