Spotlight on Co-Founder Joshua Long

Spotlight on Co-Founder Joshua Long

Joshua Long, Co-founder of Greenlit Entertainment was born and raised in Florida. Coming from a military family, he moved to the panhandle, graduated high school, and then attended community college while he started work on film sets.  He had always expressed an interest in movies and film. As a young boy he was into acting and drama and would frequently participate in church plays. 

One day Joshua received a letter in the mail advertising film schools, and he considered the possibility of pursuing a career within the industry, something he had thought unobtainable. 

Ext. Day – Later

Joshua volunteered at Florida State University’s film school assisting MFA thesis projects which led to long-term connections and friendships in the industry. He finished community college with an AA in technical theatre and his acting instructor Clint Mahle served as an influential and supportive mentor helping him pave the way into his entertainment industry career.  

In 2008 he moved to Tampa with four years’ experience as a union stagehand for Broadway road shows like Miss Saigon, Oklahoma, and Hairspray.  Eventually he made the choice to attend University of Tampa’s film program. 

While at UT, Joshua’s thesis film The Source won several local and national awards. With professors Tom Garrett and Tyler Martinolich (current Tampa Bay Film Commissioner) guiding him, Joshua went to the Cannes Film Festival as a part of study abroad program allowing him to intern at the American Pavilion and Lionsgate for the Fair Game premiere. He also entered The Source in the Short Film Corner and took several meetings with distributors about a feature adaption. 

Career

After graduation, Joshua worked in the film industry for several years before moving to Tennessee to help a friend start a marketing company called Shift Creative Group. The company was responsible for campaigns with some of the automotive and trucking industries biggest brands. 

Fast forward a year and Joshua moves back to Tampa to take a job as Lead Producer at another marketing agency WhiteLine Creative. While at WhiteLine, Joshua helped the company spread into the entertainment and sports markets by creating content for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rowdies, and assisting a Lionsgate feature PRECIOUS CARGO for the film’s director and ex-FSU film school connection Max Adams. 

It was on Precious Cargo and the subsequent visit to the Sunscreen Film Festival that cemented Joshua’s belief that the entertainment industry needed a company like Greenlit Entertainment.  

Taking the path less traveled, and seeking work prior to attending school, gave Joshua experience in fields he may not have otherwise had access to. He learned more about film and relevant processes with a hands-on approach. A mixture of theory and application. Joshua’s experience from production office to set to edit suite to marketing meetings gives him a unique prospective into the entertainment industry. He knows how choices made in one affect the other. He takes that wealth of experience and applies it to the projects Greenlit undertakes. 

As a professional marketer with exclusive experience in the film industry, the most recommended piece of promotional material Joshua recommends is the EPK. He says that while standard press kits are still relevant, electronic press kits offer further insight into a project with interviews, b-roll, photography and outtakes. As a bonus this content can serve as deliverables for the project’s release onto TVOD and home video release. 

Greenlit Media & the Future

Having the experience of the film industry behind him Joshua co-founded Greenlit Entertainment with Stu McLaughlin.

The marketing agency works like any other marketing agency does, only they specialize working in the entertainment industry.  A unique perspective, Joshua knows when BTS footage needs to be captured and how it will connect the project with its audience. He also understands what processes should happen alongside the filming and what marketing materials can wait until the end. 

Greenlit Entertainment is a film marketing agency, working with filmmakers, producers, sales agents and distributors to develop the necessary materials to implement a solid marketing campaign that not only drives awareness but connection with the audience and bolsters international sales.  

Greenlit Entertainment has recently been acquired by TheRiot Agency in a partnership that will provide specialized expertise and a next-level digital marketing experience for their clients. 

Create Together

We believe in the collective experience of the moving image.  From campfires and cinemas to the screens in our homes, moviegoers seek to become inhabitants of a shared imagination. At Greenlit, we create stories and marketing that are seamless extensions of those worlds producing engaged audiences that are ambassadors of the filmmaker’s dream.