When we think of producing a lot of big names come to mind. From Howard Hughes, to Jerry Bruckheimer and more recently Kevin Feige, big producers have always shaped pop culture and commercial film trends. But today we are going to look forward to a new up and coming producer. Omar Parker is a producer, media executive, YouTuber and soon to be author that is on the rise. He already has forty films to his name and isn’t even twenty five yet. Let’s dive in.
Omar Parker was born in San Diego, California to George Parker & Ghida Parker. His father was a Webby nominated web designer, and his mother was a painter & American Musical and Dramatic Academy graduate. According to Parker, “both of my parents were huge film buffs. They had seen every notable movie and could break it down for you in a conversation. That definitely had a big effect on me growing up.” For college, Parker graduated with honors from Montana State University with a Bachelor’s in film & photography.
While at Montana State University, Parker also met Charlie Burt. Burt has a family history in film production. His grandfather Don Gaston used to run Gulf & Western and by extension Paramount Pictures. For Burt it is a family legacy venture. The duo became producing partners and founded a production company known as Egerton Crescent Productions. Over the next seven years the duo would produce approximately forty titles, made up of both features and short films. These titles would be selections of film festivals like Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, & TIFF, and would show in over 150 nations & regions around the world. Some titles can also be found on platforms like Amazon Prime and Shudder. To this day Parker still produces titles at Egerton Crescent Productions with Burt.
Parker also has dabbled in YouTube and a web series. With his best friend from college, Jonathan Gower, Omar co-founded Captain’s Log. Captain’s Log was a YouTube channel that was dedicated to the Star Trek fandom and celebrating it. Over time the channel amassed over two hundred thousand subscribers before moving to their own platform, captainslog.tv. On the platform they had forums, daily streams, video uploads, watch parties, and a merchandise store. Two years later the platform was absorbed by a competitor and the duo went on to announce their next venture, a book series called Providence.
Also on the horizon for Parker is an OTT platform called Road Sofa that he is in the process of creating. This is a new venture that he has undertaken to create a streaming platform specifically designed for Gen Z. Parker claims he is best suited for this undertaking as there aren’t many other big producers yet in the Gen Z age range, so no one else can effectively understand their demographic. Since the platform has just been launched it is hard to tell if that will prove true but it makes him one of the more ambitious producers out there under thirty.
As those same Gen Zers enter the workforce, many more of these up and comers will start to make waves. But so far Omar might be one of the biggest producers out there under twenty five. Films at every big film festival on the planet, a Silver Play Button award from YouTube, and a streaming service may just be the beginning.
