Meet Darryll C. Scott | Film and TV Producer

I started this company because of the lack of diversity I saw across the table when it comes to film and television. Making sure the culture isn’t lost in film and television is my whole goal, no matter what your background is.

I went to college at an HBCU (historically Black college) in Opa-Locka, Florida Memorial University. There wasn’t a film and television department, so I majored in Communications/PR and Marketing. From there, I worked my way up from being a production assistant. I didn’t know anyone in the industry. I started from the bottom. I knew that you have to know the concerns of every department in order to be the best producer. There hasn’t been a position that I have not at least tried once. From G&E, to camera, wardrobe, and art, I took every opportunity. I worked at the most menial and degrading jobs and built myself up so I could learn and now own this company. The myth is that everyone is just born with this ability to do everything, which is just not true. In order for Jordan to hit the game winning shot, he had to shoot it a million and one times.

This year we just finished production on the first feature under our brand, BOSCO, a story about a young man breaking out of maximum security in order to see his first born being born. Quawntay Adams had a sentence of 15 years when we started the process. Since the movie started, the judge dropped his charges from 15 years to 0. He was able to be be on set with his lovely daughter. This movie has a special place in my heart.

We also recently sold David Ayer’s groundbreaking film END OF WATCH to Fox as a TV series, which I am executive producing. This project is very important to me. Yes, you need a show that is entertaining, but one that also explores the real issues going on in our communities when it comes to policing and how it effects people of color specifically. It’s about giving the sugar with the medicine.

Over these last couple years I have learned to prioritize my time. I still struggle with it, but my wife and family have helped me set hours when to work and when to turn my brain off and be present.

I also strive on mining for the best product. No matter if it is film or television, I am constantly challenging myself and others for the best option to put forward. There’s something beautiful about a work in progress, finding a perfectly project we can create together to make special and our own.

I have been blessed with a creative side and business side. Creatively, I can give suggestions to artists, but also I can see the angles on how to actually move from the page to the stage. I didn’t understand at first how impactful that perspective could be.

Both David Ayer and Chris Long have been instrumental in my career. I like to call them my business parents. They don’t necessarily give you what you want when you want it, but provide the necessities and opportunities for me to take my career as far as I want to take it.

David Ayer never tells you what to do. He gives advice based on the options that present themselves. I respect that so much. It’s been the blueprint of my career. Chew up the meat and spit out the bones. Take the advice that works for you and leave the rest.

The biggest hurdle in this industry is trusting yourself, because in order to make real change in any industry -specifically film and television- you have to see things differently and trust your gut. When things start to fall down the path of “It’s always been like that”, I always ask, “Why? Why has it been like that? Because the person before you said the way it is is good enough?” When I first came to LA, I’d spend my time between PA jobs at the public library learning everything I could about making film and television. If I didn’t have a job that day, I would dedicate my 12 hours with a half hour lunch break studying distribution so I could later work backwards, from where the film lands to why I chose to work on a project. If I can find the distribution arm, then I can find a way to make it happen.

I want the world to know that EVP’s branding is about diversity. That doesn’t mean I don’t or won’t work with non-diverse people. The industry has changed over the last couple of years. There really is room for everyone. When it comes to the process of casting I don’t limit myself. I am constantly looking for opportunities for other people of color to play those roles, or get the opportunity to direct, or re-write the script.