Whether you call him Donald Glover or Childish Gambino, the musician, comedian, writer and actor from Stone Mountain, Georgia, is without question an artistic genius. Over the past few years, Glover’s stock in the creative entertainment industry has skyrocketed. However, he has not embarked on this trip alone. Glover has advanced with a close-knit group of visionaries beside him, helping him steer the ship as they travel through an industry that presents a sea of opportunity — enter independent creative agency Royalty.
An agency comprised of screenwriters, creative directors, artists and producers, Royalty first formed in spring 2012. In addition to Glover, the talented team includes Donald’s brother Stephen “Steve” Glover, Fam Udeorji, Ibra Ake, Chad Taylor, Miles Konstantin and Jamal “Swank” Olori. Most recently, Royalty found significant success producing a variety of projects, including FX’s hit show Atlanta, the Grammy-award-winning song “This Is America” and accompanying concert tour, the PHAROS festival in New Zealand, Spotify’s RapCaviar Pantheon, a Google Pixel 3 commercial and a series of Adidas
ads more akin to short films produced by Mo'Nique.
Royalty’s latest film project is a short called Guava Island. Produced in partnership with Amazon Studios, the film features Childish Gambino, Rihanna, Letitia Wright and Nonso Anozie.
Childish Gambino plays a young musician named Deni, who is determined to hold a one-day festival as a means to liberate the oppressed residents of the island he calls home. The movie serves as a cornucopia of musical expression and storytelling, drawing in viewers and tugging at their heartstrings through the love story between Deni and Kofi, who is played by Rihanna. Deni’s fierce commitment toward uplifting his people, by any means necessary, is also captivating.
YouTube | Amazon Prime Video
At Coachella 2019, Royalty held an exclusive screening of Guava Island. Directed by Hiro Murai, the film was released via Amazon Prime Video and written by the Glover brothers, Ibra, Olori and Fam. An intimate event, the screening welcomed attendees into a secluded, mini island getaway with coconut juice, Caribbean-inspired appetizers, free merchandise, rhythmic island music and impressive stilt performers.
After attending the invite-only screening for Guava Island, I connected with two Royalty members, Stephen and Swank to discuss what their agency does, what they stand for and where they’re striving to go.
Blavity: How did premiering the film at Coachella come about? Once Childish Gambino was confirmed as a headliner, did the team decide to shoot for the premiere at one of the most popular musical and cultural events?
Stephen Glover: We try and look for interesting ways to premiere things to make sure the moments are created. Since we already had this movie planned and we were doing it, we wanted to get eyes on it and make sure people got a chance to see it. Packaging it for Coachella made for a good moment. I think people want to see stuff like that. They want to see new stuff and have cool events at Coachella, so it's the perfect ground for that.
Jamal 'Swank' Olori: We are sincere about anything we drop. Essentially, we think about the moment [and] the effect it'll have on other people. [Coachella] was the perfect stage to be able to do that. We didn't directly plan for it to be [at Coachella], but like Steve said, we try to capitalize on the different moments we have.
Blavity: How did the collaboration with Amazon Prime Video come about?
Glover: We had the idea for the movie, we talked with New Regency [Productions], and we were able to get it made. We were trying to figure out how to get it to a good amount of people. Over the years, we've come to know a lot of tech people and we've been linked with that. Fam and Chad — our guys — helped link that up. Amazon was really excited to do the movie, so that made it a good place to go. They understood what type of different things we wanted to do. Even though they hadn't done something like this before, they were open to the idea, which made it great.
Olori: They offered us the most money and gave us the most freedom.
Blavity: In the film, Gambino's character Deni serves as a protagonist for the people of the island striving to bring them joy, happiness and freedom. Is what Deni means to his people a parallel to anything in the real world?
Olori: For one, we wanted the whole feeling of what it's like to live in any type of society — not talking about a capitalist society — where so much of their economy is about the blue silk. Everybody [on] the island has these aspirations, which we thought is kind of how the real world works, where people have to go to their jobs but then talk about their careers and the things that they want [to] do. It's so much harder to be able to do things that you want. We just wanted to show that sometimes it's good to just sit back and enjoy the things around you. With them, they live in paradise on an island. Deni says in a point of the movie, “We live in paradise and we don't have a chance to have fun and explore it.” We definitely wanted that motif to shine through.
Glover: Not just America — there are a lot of places that can relate to that sort of idea. There was just a story about the Chinese tech billionaire who is advocating for a six-day 12-hour work week, so we're not that far from that in the real world.
Blavity: What overarching message do you hope those who watch the film get?
Glover: Hopefully, it teaches this new generation [that] selling out is not cool. That's a big idea for me.
Olori: From this movie, I want people to take the aspect of what we call the American dream: If you work hard, you can get whatever you want. That is true, but I want people to also understand that for you to have all the things you want, somebody else can't. You need to appreciate the things that you have, and also at a certain level [realize that] money isn't fully everything.
Glover: Do you want to die a legend or a sellout?
Blavity: Royalty is comprised of several members, who all have various talents and ideas. How does the group work together to hear each other’s ideas and thoughts and bring them to life?
Olori: We all definitely have very good taste, but we also have very different perspectives on things, and we really appreciate that about each other. It gives us an opportunity to have like ideas, but we're also very honest with each other about what we don't like. We tackle all bad ideas so when we get out, the ideas don't sound bad on the outside. A lot of times, even when an idea is good, we find all the ways between each other to map out what makes them actual good things.
Glover: We're a good sounding board for each other, and I think that helps get the best ideas. All of us working together, we talk about the way we feel or the way things make us feel individually.
Blavity: When you look back on the past seven years, what are you most proud of accomplishing in terms of the group's work?
Olori: Honestly, it's a few things between our travels, getting to see a bunch of awesome places, meeting incredible people. A lot of the work we've done, from the albums, Atlanta, the short films, the Emmys and going [to] the Golden Globes — I'm overall just grateful that we're also able to stay together throughout this process. A lot of the dreams we had from back then are being realized now. We are still together as a group.
Glover: That's mine, too. Us still being together — that's hard to do.
Blavity: What goals do you have for the group in the years to come? Are there any particular projects you'd like to embark on?
Olori: Making a billion dollars.
Glover: Swank has been saying that for a long time. I want to see some movies from us — short film ideas we have individually and the big feature film ideas. I want to see Fam driving a Ferrari. I want to see the stuff that makes me proud, see my friends doing good and everybody living their best life.
Olori: Us all doing more things — me directing, Steve directing and continuing to produce — and with the things we're doing, becoming fully realized filmmakers. Being more in control of what we release, so it could fully serve the purpose of what we want it to, and having the avenues and space to do that.
Glover: Most importantly, we're making great art and not selling out.
To see Guava Island, you can view it on Amazon Prime Video.
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Donald Glover's New Film 'Guava Island' Includes An Alternate Rendition Of 'This Is America'
