Founders
ERIKA ALEXANDER
Co-Founder
For Erika’s full bio, visit here and https://ErikaAlexander.com
ERIKA ALEXANDER is beloved for her iconic acting roles as Maxine Shaw (“Living Single,” NAACP Image Awards as Outstanding Actress/Comedy Series), Detective Latoya (“Get Out”), Cousin Pam (“The Cosby Show”), Perenna (“Black Lightning”), Linda Diggs (“Wutang: An American Saga”), Barb Ballard ( Run The World), and Meredith Lockhart (“Swimming with Sharks”).
Erika wears many hats, including actress, trailblazing activist, entrepreneur, creator, producer and director -- one of the country’s boldest, most daring, and powerful voices. As a creator, she recognizes that entertaining stories, when socially conscious and carefully constructed, have the capacity to create impact and meaningful change. As co-founder of Color Farm Media, she is on a mission to bring greater equity, inclusion, and diverse representation to both media and electoral politics.
Color Farm Media, self-described as the “Motown of film, TV, and tech,” develops and produces scripted and non-scripted content for film, television, streaming and podcast platforms. Color Farm’s most recent project, about the legendary Congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis: Good Trouble, won the NAACP Award Best Documentary and was nominated for three Emmy Awards.
Color Farm is also currently producing two podcasts. On Reparations: The Big Payback, they are partnered with The Black Effect Network and iHeartMedia. Finding Tamika, which will premiere in March 2022, is in partnership with Audible and SBH Productions (Kevin Hart / Charlamagne Tha God). Color Farm also has several scripted film and television projects in advanced stages of development. Erika also previously co-wrote the Buffy the Vampire spin-off, “Giles,” a graphic novel collaboration with Joss Whedon and Dark Horse. And Erika co-created the award-winning, ground-breaking sci-fi series, “Concrete Park,” which was published by Dark Horse.
Erika has also stepped into the arena of film director. She is currently co-directing a documentary film about the first reparations bill for African Americans entitled The Big Payback.
In addition to her entertainment career, Erika is a critical thought leader on racial and gender equity and leadership. She serves as a Board member for One Fair Wage and Exponent, and is highly involved with many other social and racial justice orgs, including The Poor People's Campaign, Color of Change, NAACP, UNCF, and others. Her work in content reflects the social activism work she does on the ground.
A sought-after speaker, Erika delivers keynotes on topics including leadership, communications & performance, and diversity & inclusion. Born in Winslow, Arizona, Erika grew up in Flagstaff before moving to Philadelphia.
BEN ARNON
Co-Founder
Ben Arnon is co-founder of Color Farm Media. Ben’s co-founder is award-winning actress/writer/ producer/activist, Erika Alexander. Color Farm, self-described as the “Motown of film, TV, and tech,” develops and produces scripted and unscripted content for film, television, streaming, and podcast platforms. Color Farm's mission is to bring greater equity, inclusion, and diverse representation to media.
Color Farm’s latest project to be released is John Lewis: Good Trouble, a documentary film about the legendary Congressman and civil rights icon that is distributed by Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media, and CNN Films. Color Farm is also currently producing two podcasts with Spotify and has several scripted film and television projects in advanced stages of development. The company previously set up an untitled horror/thriller film at Lionsgate Entertainment.
Ben Arnon’s professional background uniquely positions him to lead a 21st century, forward-thinking company that spans across content and technology. Ben was integral in scaling the Facebook-incubated tech startup, Wildfire, from 6 to over 400 employees and an acquisition by Google. In media, Ben has led business development for Yahoo! Music and worked in numerous business and creative roles at Universal Pictures, Universal Music Group, Jersey Films and Scott Rudin Productions.
Ben has always pursued a wide array of interests, including writing and photography. From 2008 to 2018, Ben offered social commentary as a contributing writer and photographer for the Huffington Post, where he covered a range of topics spanning across politics, technology, digital media, visual arts, culture and society. Ben’s visual journalism work focuses on documentary reportage, street portraiture, and the impact of human existence on urban landscapes.
Originally from White Plains, NY, Ben earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture from Emory University in Atlanta. Ben completed an Honors thesis at Emory entitled 'Packaging Racial Identities: Market Segmentation in the U.S. Recorded Music Industry,' which examines the ways in which race has historically been utilized in the production, distribution and marketing of recorded music. Ben later received an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, California.
Ben is active in Democratic politics, social activism, and community organizing. He represented the 36th Congressional District of California as a Delegate for Barack Obama in 2008, after having organized both Maxine Waters’ and Jane Harmon’s districts for the Obama campaign in 2007-2008.