Statements

Mission

Our mission is simple... create authentic, engaging entertainment arts that document and preserve the American cultural experience.

Background

AEWorks was founded in 2013 and is dedicated to creating entertainment arts that enrich, enlighten, educate and inspire. While AEWorks is young as a company our creative trust has over a century of combined experience working with some of the most recognizable names in the entertainment industry. We've also helped some of the most visible companies in the world communicate and craft their message through media. We've produced award winning programs on a shoestring and been trusted with multi-million dollar extravaganzas. In 2013 we combined those decades of experience to make something different? an entertainment company that focuses on the work and the artists creating it - making decisions based on integrity and authenticity instead of the bottom line.

Impact

By focusing on the works and the artists creating them instead of the bottom line - AEWorks produces and preserves valuable entertainment arts that enrich, enlighten, educate and inspire.

We call it creativity with a conscience.

Working towards that goal in 2020 we continued to record music for a pair of new Jim Holthouser albums to be released in 2021. (These were slated for 2020 but COVID protocols put them on hold)

In 2020 we also created a podcast/documentary series called The Story Of Carols Podcast - exploring the stories behind our favorite Holiday songs. The Story Of Carols has video documentary, audio and Spanish versions available and has so far reached 17 countries, and increased our podcast reach by over 500% and our YouTube presence by 800%.

Unfortunately - due to COVID- we had to put "A Vote of Her Own," a musical/theatrical production celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment affording women the right to vote," on hold. We're planning on producing the play as soon as it's safe to do so. (Our goal is summer 2021)

We also began development of an audio podcast series called Blues Alley about the people, places and stories that gave America it's first completely original form of music. Blues Alley Series 1 - (currently in production) is called 'Mr Handy's Blues," and tells the story of WC Handy, and the contributions of African American musicians to our global culture. Series 2 - "The Founding Mothers," reveals the little know fact that the first couple of decades of blues music were dominated by female artists. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, Ethel Waters and dozens more were the biggest names in the new art form until the 1930's.

We're developing a live stream concert with artist Allison Kerr, for mid 2021.

We've also begun researching The Story Of Carols Series 2 - for Christmas 2021.

In 2020 we also added American Entertainment Works Music BMI creating a publishing division for compositions created by AEWorks artists, and continue to grow our publishing efforts.

Needs

At present AEWorks has a need for:Volunteers/Board Members with expertise in fundraising and marketing.

As always we need funding for programs in production and development.

CEO Statement

Hi, my name is Alan Reitano. I'm a musician, composer, screenwriter, and filmmaker - which is a long way of saying, I'm a storyteller.

I created American Entertainment works in 2013, as a not-for-profit, to document and preserve the American cultural experience. AEWorks focuses on high quality, professionally produced programs, using a broad range of story based media: from music and theater, to documentaries, dramatic film, podcasts and more...

Thanks to mergers and acquisitions, a handful of companies now control 95% of everything Americans read, watch and hear on a daily basis. At AEWorks, we tell stories that deserve our attention, not just those that will turn a profit.

Our mission is to provide an alternative, while we entertain, inspire and teach, allowing audiences to connect their own stories with ours.

We call it Creativity With A Conscience.

Board Chair Statement

One of the biggest challenges we face as an organization is explaining to people why entertainment is important - why they should care. We're so inundated by entertainment that we seldom notice the impact it has on our lives.

A mashable.com survey found that Americans spend 77 hours a week with media - including TV, radio, movies, music and social-media. That media influences everything from our dress codes to our political ideology. It's everywhere and it has enormous effect.

According to Fortune 500, 95% of all American media is controlled by 5 companies. With mergers and acquisitions that number decreases constantly.

We understand that they are in the business of making money? we all like to make money - and in fairness much of our creative team has - in the past and continues today - to work with those companies. There's absolutely nothing wrong with what they do. We just think the audience should have another choice.

As a not for profit company, our decision making process is different. We can focus on the work instead of the bottom line - We can chose what to produce based on the authenticity and value of the underlying work, and craftsmanship - instead of having to worry about box office receipts and profit margins Now we're in business too - we worry about the bottom line. It's just not our driving consideration.

Art and finance have always been at odds - they always will be. Here the thing though, we don't look back at ancient civilizations and say - "Wow! Their profit margins were impressive and what about that EBITDA?. " We look at the Pyramids and the Parthenon and the Sistine Chapel and with wonder in our hearts and say "Wow." Look what they created. What a special people they must've been." We get a sense, from their art, of who they were and what it must have been like in their day. We can have exactly the same human experience that they had seeing the statue of David for the first time, when we see it for the first time. Art is a human connection across hundreds of years.

The artistic medium of today is media technology - movies, music, TV, theater. We should strive to make our souls soar with our technology the same as they did with theirs. There is absolutely no reason to expect less from entertainment or ourselves.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Performing Arts
Secondary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Theater
Tertiary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Film & Video

Areas Served

While AEWorks is based in middle Tennessee - our integrated media approach, maximizing social, traditional and emerging media channels, allows us to extend access to quality, integrous entertainment arts on a global scale.

TN - Davidson

TN