The Maker’s Lab, originally started four years ago as the postproduction studio of advertising agency the community, has evolved into Plural, an independent minority-certified content production hub under the aegis of José Mollá who serves as both CEO and chief creative officer. Mollá, co-founder of the community, is tasked with building the Miami-headquartered Plural into a place where production and ideation go hand in hand, with talent and diversity at the forefront.
Plural is billed as a doers’ hub, an eclectic team of doers with diverse backgrounds and a single mindset: to innovate and produce content at the speed of culture, making ideas better through execution. Plural embraces collaboration and adaptability, believing in the plurality of thinking and talent, and that there is no singular way of doing things.
Noting that he and Joaquin Mollá founded the community 22 years ago, José Mollá said that the agency “surpassed all our expectations. I’m very proud of how far we’ve come and everything we’ve accomplished together. One of those accomplishments was creating The Makers Lab, our internal postproduction studio, a few years ago. Its success made this evolution into its own entity the logical next step, and one we always had in our minds, even at the very start. ‘Plural’ is all about diversity of thinking and doing because great things are made by many. We believe in ‘We’ and that execution and innovation are key to making ideas better.”
Joining José Mollá is Tracy McDonough, previously EVP, finance & operations at the community, who is Plural’s chief operating officer. Prior to joining Plural, McDonough spent more than 14 years at the community helping the agency grow globally from 30 to over 300 employees across five offices.
The current The Makers Lab team is also joining Plural, including a core group of individuals who helped lead The Makers Lab from the very beginning. Over the last four years The Makers Lab has grown substantially, supporting partners like Verizon, Amazon, Samsung, Mondelēz, and more. This shift to a new entity that’s minority-certified allows Plural to continue to grow with its current clients and partners, as well as expand into a series of new creative growth areas under José Mollá’s leadership.
“Building the community together with José has been a dream come true,” said Joaquín Mollá, CCO and co-founder of the community. “There’s nothing better than creating something special with family. With The Makers Lab, it was always in the back of our minds to make it something more, and I couldn’t be more excited for José and the entire Plural team. The community started with the same minority-led roots, and I can’t wait to see what Plural does next. At the community, we’ll continue to work together with them every day. It’s the best of both worlds, pushing creativity together, side by side.”
“Scandal” cast will reunite for online script reading for hurricane relief in western North Carolina
The cast of ABC's hit political drama "Scandal" may need to brush up on their snappy, speedy delivery known as "Scandal-pace," because they're reuniting for a good cause. Its stars including Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Bellamy Young will take part in a live virtual script reading on Nov. 17 to raise money for hurricane relief in western North Carolina.
Beginning Friday, fans can go online and donate to reserve a spot for the online reading. Proceeds will benefit United Way of North Carolina. Everyone who donates will be able to take part in a virtual pre-event with the cast and Shonda Rhimes will give an introduction.
Additional guest stars will also be announced. The online fundraising platform Prizeo is also holding a contest where one person who donates online via their site will be selected to read a role from the script with the actors. The winner should not worry about the "Scandal"-pace, assured Young over Zoom.
"Whomever the lucky reader is can read at whatever pace they want," she said.
Young, who played Mellie Young, the first lady and later Republican presidential nominee on "Scandal," was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. She came up with the idea for the effort with a friend and took it to her fellow "Scandal" actors, who all jumped on board. Young said this is the first script reading the cast has all done together since the show ended after seven seasons in 2018.
Which episode they will be reading has not been announced yet.
Young said it's "been devastating" to see so many parts of her hometown badly damaged by Hurricane Helene, which ravaged western North Carolina one month ago.
To research the best use for donations, Young spoke with numerous political leaders, including North... Read More