Stacy Spikes

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 held senior executive roles at Motown Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Miramax Films, and October Films.[1]

Stacy Spikes
Born
Houston, TX
Occupation(s)CEO and Co-Founder, MoviePass
OrganizationMoviePass

Life and career

Spikes is from Houston, Texas.[2] His father was a school principal and his mother hosted a public-access TV show.[3]

After high school, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he lived with an uncle and worked a blue-collar job before entering the entertainment industry at Motown Records,[3] where he was the product manager for Boyz II Men, Stevie Wonder, Spike Lee, Queen Latifah, and Eddie Murphy. In 1990, Spikes joined Sony Music Entertainment and worked on feature film soundtracks for movies including Jungle Fever, Bad Boys, House Party, House Party 2, Prêt-à-Porter, and Darnell Martin's I Like It Like That.

By 1995, Spikes had worked his way up to vice president of marketing at Miramax Films.[3] At Miramax, Spikes led marketing campaigns for films including Trainspotting, The Crow: City of Angels, Don’t Be a Menace, Emma and Scream. From 1996–97, Spikes was senior vice president of marketing at October Films.[4]

Urbanworld Film Festival

Spikes founded Urbanworld Film Festival in 1997.[5] The festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021.[6] and is held annually in New York City.[7]

Collateral, Precious, Dear White People, Fruitvale Station, are notable films to premiere at 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 that used proprietary location-based payment technology.[8] Robert De Niro was an early supporter for MoviePass.[9] After it was acquired by Helios and Matheson Analytics, he was fired from the company in January 2018.[10] MoviePass filed for bankruptcy in 2020.[11]

MoviePass, Relaunch

In 2021, Spikes bought the company out of bankruptcy and relaunched it in Fall 2022. Approximately 30,000 people registered on the pre-launch waitlist within five minutes of the announcement, causing the MoviePass website to crash. [12] The new iteration of MoviePass has three subscriber tiers: basic, standard or premium.[13] The Financial Times commented that "In the roll call of terrible business ideas, MoviePass ranks alongside the Sinclair C5, Juicero and The Soup Tube."[14]

Book

Stacy Spikes memoir Black Founder, The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider was published in February 2023, and chronicles Spikes' career.[15]

Filmography

Spikes was the executive producer for Punks,[16] The Visit, King of the Jungle,[17] Higher Ed (2001), For da Love of Money (2002), and the TV movie Urbanworld Film Festival Special (2004).[18]

Awards & Honors

He received a “Made in NY Award” from Mayor Bloomberg in 2011 for his work with the Urbanworld Film Festival.[19]

References
  1. "Stacy Spikes Urbanworld Film Festival, Founder" Archived 2013-04-22 at the Wayback Machine. The Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference
  2. The definitive story of how a controversial Florida businessman blew up MoviePass and burned hundreds of millions. Business Insider. 6 August 2019.
  3. Kolhatkar, Sheelah (2023-02-27). "MoviePass, Take Two!". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  4. "Stacy Spikes Urbanworld Film Festival, Founder" Archived 2013-04-22 at the Wayback Machine. The Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference
  5. Talbert, Marcia Wade (20 September 2010). "WATCH: Urbanworld Film Festival Draws Top Black Talent". Black Enterprise. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  6. Jackson, Angelique (2021-09-21). "Urbanworld Film Festival Announces 25th Anniversary Slate (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  7. "Urbanworld About Us" Archived 2013-06-30 at the Wayback Machine. Urbanworld
  8. Tuttle, Brad (2 October 2012). "MoviePass Goes National: Unlimited Trips to the Movies from $25 Per Month". TIME. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  9. Spikes, Stacy. "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". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  10. 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.
  11. Randles, Jonathan (November 11, 2021). "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". New York: Wall Street Journal. ProQuest 2596125021. Retrieved 1 October 2023. 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.
  12. "Everything You Need to Know About the MoviePass Relaunch". Time. 2022-08-31. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  13. America, Good Morning. "MoviePass relaunches with new tiered subscriptions ahead of blockbuster summer". Good Morning America. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  14. Elder, Bryce (January 13, 2023). "MoviePass is back and this time it's crypto, because of course it is". London: The Financial Times Limited. ProQuest 2775358103. Retrieved 1 October 2023. In the roll call of terrible business ideas, MoviePass ranks alongside the Sinclair C5, Juicero and The Soup Tube.
  15. Spikes, Stacy (2023). The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider. New York, NY: Kensington Books. ISBN 9781496739582.
  16. Thomas, Kevin (2001-11-16). "Witty 'Punks' Takes Romantic Comedy Into New Territory". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  17. Shirkani, K. D. (2001-05-30). "Urbanworld into Rosenfeld's 'Jungle'". Variety. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  18. "Stacy Spikes Filmography". The New York Times
  19. "Mayor Bloomberg And Media & Entertainment Commissioner Oliver Present 6th Annual "Made In NY" Awards". The Official Website of the City of New York NYC. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
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