Barrett Dungy: Pioneering a New Era in Independent Film and Global Storytelling

In the world of independent film, Barrett Dungy stands as a beacon of inspiration and innovation. As the Founder, President, and CEO of Urban Home Entertainment, which he established in 1999, Barrett has dedicated over two decades to creating a nurturing space for independent film producers. This year, 2025, marks a pivotal moment as Urban Home Entertainment transforms into Two distinct entities: One Culture Media Group and Ruckus Comedy. This strategic shift represents Barrett's unwavering commitment to ensuring that content creators not only find their voices but also receive fair compensation for their artistry. Under his leadership, Urban Home Entertainment has become a sanctuary for dreamers and storytellers alike, empowering them to craft impactful narratives that resonate on a global scale.

What sparked your initial interest in your field, and how has your journey evolved into what you’re doing today?

I was initially contacted by Tyler Perry's team about placing their content into big box retail outlets like Walmart & Target. I found that very few companies specialized in distributing African-American filmed content. Even though we had several extremely talented individuals working with us - like Zoe Saldana, Kevin Hart & Tyler Perry - it was still a major struggle getting their content placed as there were very few distributors that were even interested in distributing that type of content. I decided that I could fill that void.

What core values or principles guide your work and decision-making process, and how do they shape the culture of your organization?

After becoming extremely frustrated with the complete lack of interest exhibited by distribution companies for this type of content, I asked God for a favor and a blessing. I said to God - "Please make me a distributor and I promise that I will give it back to you". I then structured my company's core values around always being available to actually engage with the community of content producers who had been ignored for so long, and to boldly represent their content to the buying community at large honestly and with the knowledge that this content was extremely valuable. We purposely curate the titles that we represent, and we are always acutely aware of the fact that we have a responsibility to support and evangelize for titles that we believe are beneficial to the culture that we represent. Internally, I believe that complete transparency in reporting results to our content producers is the key to our long term success.

Can you share a significant challenge you faced in your career and the lessons you learned from overcoming it?

Given the intransigence of the distribution industry in the consistent demonstration of little to no interest in distributing Urban based content, I decided that I would offer minority content producers a home that not only respected their content choices, but that as a company we would work tirelessly to help them secure a path to significant monetization of their produced content. I quickly learned that this was an underserved community that would truly appreciate having their content in the hands of a sales staff of minority sales agents who actually understood, related to and distributed content on a global scale. In addition, they sorely missed being treated with the same levels of professionalism that their content producing counterparts were receiving.

What innovative practices or approaches have you implemented in your business that you believe set you apart from others in your industry?

As opposed to other distribution companies that often take ownership positions in the content producers' intellectual property (IP), we do not do that as a corporate practice. We believe that the content producers should own their Intellectual Property in perpetuity. We also invest in the education of our content producers about the various elements of global content distribution that they may be unaware of. We believe that the best producer is an informed producer, so we spend time mentoring and educating producers as to the nature of the buying markets such that they can understand what the market is seeking as they plan their future content production projects.

How do you envision your work contributing to the broader societal landscape in the coming years?

After realizing success through global placements of African-American based Urban content, it struck us that there must be additional minority producers from various cultures that may be facing the same exact same set of issues. In order to embrace these additional content producers we expanded our corporate vision to be more inclusive of content from other cultures. This led us to the realization that in filmed content there is really just one culture - the culture of producing filmed content that reflected a vision of life as seen by the various producers. That inspired us to change our corporate name to One Culture Media Group.

What personal development activities or habits have you adopted that you believe have most impacted your professional success?

My number one personal habit - and one that I infuse into everything that we do as a company - is to "We will never give up 'Never giving up'!"

What piece of advice would you give to those looking to make an impact in their respective fields in 2025 and beyond?

I would advise people to consistently network in their respective industries and to realize that your current set of accomplishments is just a precursor to your future successes.

In your opinion, what key trends will shape your industry in the next few years, and how are you preparing for them?

Given the recent developments in the political arena, we are more determined than ever to fight relentlessly to establish and support the fact that the inclusion of diversity into programming makes the world a better place for us all.

What are some of the latest projects you are working on in 2025? 

We are currently in the process of unveiling The Ruckus Comedy label which has one of the largest catalogs of stand-up comedy available anywhere in the world. It's the home of Gotham Comedy LIVE, The Kings Of Comedy, The Queens of Comedy, Jamie Foxx's Laffapalooza etc. The mission for The Ruckus Comedy is to open up global audiences to an expanded pool of incredible comedic talent.As Barrett Dungy embarks on this exciting new chapter for his company, he remains deeply passionate about fostering an ecosystem where creativity thrives and independent filmmakers can share their unique perspectives with the world.

The birth of One Cultural Media Group and Ruckus Comedy is a testament to Barrett's belief that dreams can indeed lead to transformation. He invites fellow creatives to continue dreaming big, breaking barriers, and shaping the future of storytelling. Together, we can create art that not only entertains but also inspires change. For more information or to connect with this visionary leader, please reach out to Bill Murphy at bill@urbanhomeent.com.