New Indie Filmmaker Platform 'Vault' Gains Larenz Tate

Actor Larenz Tate, renowned for his extensive career in front of the camera, is now expanding his influence into content distribution with the launch of Vault, a new streaming and distribution platform. This innovative venture is specifically designed to empower independent filmmakers by providing them with greater control and access in the evolving entertainment landscape. Tate has co-founded this initiative with Kenneth Gifford, founder of the Newark International Film Festival, and his brothers and business partners, Larron and Lahmard Tate. Their collective mission, as articulated in a press release announcing Vault’s debut, is to forge a direct connection between creators and global audiences.

Vault, which is already operational, serves as a comprehensive hub for a diverse range of independent content, including feature films, television series, documentaries, short-form videos, and music. The platform caters to viewers through a dual-access model: offering free access to a selection of content, alongside a subscription model that delivers a more curated and exclusive viewing experience. According to the release, Vault has already garnered significant interest, with over 50,000 subscribers having signed up to date.

A core tenet of Vault's design is to put power back into the hands of creators. Filmmakers are able to host their content on the platform without incurring any costs. Crucially, they retain full autonomy to decide which of their films, programs, or episodes are made available for free and which are placed behind a paywall. This control extends to crucial business aspects such as pricing, monetization strategies, and revenue generation, ensuring that creators maintain ownership and benefit directly from their work.

Beyond content hosting and monetization, Vault also equips filmmakers with robust tools to effectively market their projects. Creators can assign specific genres to their content, facilitating discoverability, and generate shareable, interactive, branded landing pages for individual titles. These features are meticulously designed to enhance opportunities for promotion, audience engagement, and overall discovery within the competitive digital space.

Larenz Tate articulated the platform's significance, stating, “The entertainment industry continues to evolve, but too often filmmakers and creatives are left with limited control over how their work is distributed, monetized and ultimately seen. With VAULT, we have an opportunity to shift that dynamic — putting more power back into the hands of creators while giving their stories the ability to reach audiences around the world. It’s about ownership, access and creating a platform where great work can find its audience.” This statement underscores the platform’s commitment to addressing long-standing challenges faced by independent artists.

Tate brings over four decades of experience in the entertainment industry to this new endeavor, having starred in iconic films such as “Love Jones,” “Dead Presidents,” “Ray,” and “Girls Trip,” as well as a prominent role in the highly successful “Power” franchise on Starz. Most recently, he portrayed Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in the film “Michael.” Vault represents the latest expansion of Larenz Tate's collaborative work with his brothers Larron and Lahmard Tate through their company, TateMen Entertainment. The company has a history of supporting emerging filmmakers, having previously partnered with AMC Global Networks, ALLBLK, and Starz on various programs, and has also initiated film, television, and creative industry programs in their hometown of Chicago.