Actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have gained new partners in their media company this week.
Their company, Westbrook Inc. has announced that a minority stake has been invested
in the media company by Candle Media, which is a media company that is backed by industry executives Kevin Mayer, Tom Staggs, and Blackstone (the world’s largest alternative asset manager), Deadline reports.In a written statement, the Smiths said, “Westbrook is the realization of our dream to give artists from all backgrounds equal opportunities to pursue their creative visions and share their stories. We are pleased to join forces with Kevin, Tom and Blackstone to accelerate this mission by growing our content pipeline, our talent network, and our global expansion plans.”
Candle Media has struck a strategic minority investment in Westbrook Inc. The media company was founded in 2019 by Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Miguel Melendez and Ko Yada. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Westbrook Inc. incorporates Westbrook Studios, Westbrook Media, Red Table Talk Productions, and Good Goods.
Westbrook curates and produces content from short and mid-form digital to traditional television and motion pictures. They are the producers of the Emmy Award-winning Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk and Red Table Talk: The Estefans.
Recent projects include the biopic film KING RICHARD, Amend: The Fight For America, season 4 of the six-time Emmy nominated and SAG Award-nominated series Cobra Kai
, and Welcome to Earth with National Geographic which premiered on Disney+. Will Smith’s Will From Home as well as Will From Home Season 2, Ryan Doesn’t Know starring Ryan Reynolds, Jaden Smith’s social justice series The Solution Committee, the YouTube series Best Shape of My Life with Will Smith as well as the Alicia Keys docu-series, Noted, and the HBO Max hit Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion.Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs said: “We are thrilled to back Will and Jada and for the opportunity to work with Westbrook’s CEO Ko Yada and the rest of their incredibly talented team. They have established Westbrook as a home for world-class creators that is built for the digital age – which fully aligns with our company’s vision for the future of media. We are excited for what we can all achieve together with Blackstone in the years ahead.”