We Speak Filmmakers

A3 ARTISTS AGENCY SIGNS VETERAN TELEVISION PRODUCER RI-KARLO HANDY

Published

4 years ago

February 23, 2023

Handy arrives at the agency with over 25 years of experience producing and editing scripted and unscripted original content; and a two-year journey that has seen his non-profit organization The Handy Foundation forge the kind of high profile partnerships needed to create sustainable pathways to Hollywood careers for people of color.

LOS ANGELES – Veteran film and television executive and equity advocate Ri-Karlo Handy has joined A3 Artists Agency for representation in their ever-expanding Alternative Programming, Digital Media, Licensing & Branding Division. Handy arrives at the agency with over 25 years of experience producing and editing scripted and unscripted original content, and a two-year journey that has seen his non-profit organization, The Handy Foundation, forge the kind of high-profile partnerships needed to create sustainable pathways to Hollywood careers for people of color.

Handy currently serves as the showrunner for NBC’s Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward. His company, Sunwise Media, for which he serves as CEO, is also responsible for all content for fintech firm Greenwood Bank including their branded iHeart Podcast Money Moves: Powered By Greenwood, which is sponsored by MasterCard. The multi-platform media company has also established a number of bold creative partnerships, through which it is currently developing several projects that are both culturally relevant and socially responsible.

“I’m excited to be represented by A3 and to know that my efforts and goals are backed by a team who not only believe in the creative impact we aim to make as a company, but who are in lockstep with our vision of parity in Hollywood,” says Handy.

“Ri-Karlo Handy’s incredibly diverse track record of success, as well as his ability to initiate substantive change across the industry through The Handy Foundation, is exactly the type of person we welcome at A3. We look forward to further collaborating with Ri-Karlo as he continues to grow his brand,” said Robert Attermann, CEO of A3 Artists Agency.

Prior to launching Sunwise Media in 2018, Handy had already amassed a multitude of impressive film and TV credits as a producer, editor and showrunner, including creating Bounce TV’s hit drama Saints & Sinners, which was recently added to Hulu. He has also helmed reality and documentary projects for BET, MTV, and OWN, and has earned a Prism Award as well as an NAACP Image Award nomination for his work on Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is. In addition to his experience as a creative in production, Handy has spent several years in the boardroom developing television programming and building a network from the ground up. As the SVP of original programming at Bounce TV, Handy oversaw the entire original programming budget, development and schedule, growing the network to number 2 in the ratings for the AA market.

After sparking a viral conversation in 2020 regarding the need for more Black editors in Hollywood, Ri-Karlo founded non-profit organization The Handy Foundation. Its mission is to connect below-the-line workers to job opportunities in Hollywood and provide professional development, while helping studios and networks meet diversity and inclusion goals. To date, The Handy Foundation has partnered with Lionsgate, ITV, IPC, Warner Horizon, Bunim-Murray, Netflix, Urban League, NAACP, California Department of Education, and most recently, the California Film Commission. Since mid-2022, Ri-Karlo has led efforts to expand the foundation’s assistant editor program across all film and TV tradecraft, and is set to launch its next apprenticeship vertical.

To learn more about The Handy Foundation, apply for programs, donate, or get involved, call 818-235-3456 or visit online at www.handyfoundation.com. For interviews with Ri-Karlo Handy, please contact Tosha Whitten at 202-246-7875.

ABOUT A3 ARTISTS AGENCY

A3 Artists Agency is a leading talent and literary agency known for fostering careers and building the personal brands of some of today’s most notable actors, writers, content creators and producers across a broad spectrum of the media industry. Visit A3ArtistsAgency.com and follow on social media @A3ArtistsAgency.

ABOUT SUNWISE MEDIA

Sunwise Media company’s principals have over 50+ years of combined production and advertising sales, focused on the African American Consumer Market. Sunwise Media, Inc. is a Certified Minority Business Enterprise founded in 2018 by Ri-Karlo Handy, who had been Senior VP of Original Programming at Bounce TV before the digital broadcast network was acquired by E.W. Scripps Co., and Elverage Allen, previously Bounce’s Executive VP of Advertising. We are a multi-platform media company focused on today’s diverse multicultural market. Through bold creative partnerships, Sunwise bridges the intersection of content and branding. Sunwise is well positioned to capitalize on today’s demand for socially responsible and culturally relevant content. Our objective is to become recognized as a leading content creator for the new majority multicultural market by funding and producing evergreen multi-generational content and events distributed across all media platforms.

ABOUT THE HANDY FOUNDATION

The Handy Foundation, founded by Ri-Karlo Handy, CEO of Sunwise Media, is dedicated to giving members access to expert career advice through digital workshops, live panel discussions, and virtual mentorship. Through partnerships with organizations such as The Urban League, unions, networks and studios, The Handy Foundation works to foster programs that focus on training and career advancement for below the line positions. Additionally, we continue to expand on our efforts to foster mentorship with the goal to create a bridge between education and training organizations and companies that can hire them. For more information on programs and the organization, visit: http://www.handyfoundation.org/

We Speak Entertainment

Beth de Araújo Wins Breakthrough Director Award at Montclair for ‘Josephine’

Published

1 week ago

October 23, 2026

Royal Jones

The Montclair Film Festival has named Beth de Araújo its 2026 Breakthrough Director, honoring the filmmaker on Sunday, October 18 at The Bellevue Theatre following a screening of her new film, Josephine.

In presenting the award, the festival praised de Araújo’s “compassionate and deeply felt exploration of trauma, humanity, and the responsibilities that bind us to one another” — the qualities that have marked her rise as one of the most closely watched American directors of her generation.

De Araújo first drew major attention as the writer and director of Soft & Quiet, her blistering debut feature, which premiered at SXSW and earned her a place on year-end lists and awards ballots for breakthrough filmmaking. Josephine is her second feature, and the Montclair honor — part of the festival’s annual Honors program, which this year also salutes Ava DuVernay and Tony Gilroy — confirms her standing as a director whose work travels.

The 14th Montclair Film Festival runs October 16–25 in Montclair, New Jersey.