Entertainment Company AND Artist Guild?? What's the difference? Why both?

The Esocrypt Artist Guild is something very special to me. Founded in 2019 while I was participating in a performing arts high-school, it was a way for students to have a voice. Wrestling student control over performances, voting on repertoire, getting more varied classes, and even holding faculty accountable for their actions were all things that not just I, but a group of students did to try and leave the institution better than we left it. When it was time for us to move on to work in our field, the artist guild continued by being a mouthpiece for un-unionized editors to fight together during the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic.

Though at the time I didn't have the language to explain what was so exciting about doing this, now it's evident that I really enjoyed what a group of people could create together. Art is at a pivotal point of both capital and labor, as everyone universally agrees that good art deserves to be held at a high esteem. That's why we hang it high on our museum walls under bright lights and protective glass, put it on our bumpers, and in our homes. But art is also something that anyone can make, relative only to the time you spend on it, and talent. It is something that inherently is so human, but has to be treated as unnatural, something rare to be hoarded and traded.

The Esocrypt Artist Guild now exists in its true infancy, as a society of artists mostly around the Northeast US, but we also have members throughout the United States. Currently we are working on being self sustainable, with our artists making materials and resources for each other. We also research and write with each other, helping us ensure that our scripts and exhibitions are factually accurate, and are historically accountable. The Guild functions with a council, made up of a Head Chairperson who is voted in every two years in December. There is one head chairperson position, but there is also one new chairperson for every 33 members. The Head Chairperson has the ability to create more roles within the Guild to delegate responsibilities. No member gets paid for being a member of the Guild.

Starting in 2025 Esocrypt Entertainment was created to produce film and video content. It releases free content on several online steaming platforms, as well as paid content on Esocrypts official Patreon. Esocrypt hopes to follow in the footsteps of other independent media companies as well as try to help to their part correct industry standards.

We don't accept funding from other companies or media conglomerates. A majority of our funding for Esocrypt Entertainment comes directly from the family funds of Royin Yap and myself. Private investors, mostly small businesses we've partnered with and individuals, are directed to give donations to the Guild rather than invest into the company. Esocrypt does NOT offer executive producer or writing roles to non-guild members. Large sum donations do not give creative input to individual projects. Guildmembers also have the individual power to choose their own sponsors. There has been some confusion as to why this is: this is so artists can have control over their project. Children’s content in the eyes of many of our artists, and my own, should not have ads. By giving more power to our artists, a director or showrunner may deliberately choose to not to take sponsors and instead opt to make additional content for Esocrypt’s Patreon. Truly, donating through Patreon, or whatever paywall platform we plan to use in the future is the easiest and most mutually beneficial way to support Esocrypt. Large sum donations are nice don't get me wrong, but not a lot of our audience are in the position to name a section of our library or studio after you or a loved one and we totally understand that, and don't expect it.

Esocrypt Entertainment is controlled and operated by the Esocrypt Artists Guild. Recognized positions within the company have individual seats on the Guild council. This allows the company to have only a margin of the voting power of the entire Guild. Meaning everyone gets to have a say, from the staff operating the library to the guild members you see in our content. It's a more fair, equitable, studio based mindset that helps get people who care into union positions that fit them. I myself was appointed Lead Organizer by Chairman Gigi, to help reach out to pro-progress institutions and establish relations with them. Building community was a big part of this for me and being in this role not only helps me reach out to civil rights groups, libraries, museums and more while aligning both the Guild and companies values.

So as we begin entering a new era, let's make sure we start by building institutions and communities that are sufficient. No matter what they create, how many people make them, everything has to come from someone spending time and talent creating it. When we begin to respect and understand that every human has the power to create, we can begin to see arts that we wouldn’t have considered before that make our world possible.

Eye on esocrypt will continue with more installments • • •