Meet Purple Magnet Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Purple Magnet Productions. Them and their team share their story with us below:

The creation of Purple Magnet Productions has been a beautiful journey founded by best friends, Lauren Musgrove and Maggie Brown, in 2020.

Lauren is the “Purple” because it is her favorite color, the color of enlightenment. Maggie is the “Magnet” based on her connections, and ability to bring people together. Magnetism is also the fifth element, after earth, air, wind, and fire. The name was picked by Lauren’s parents out of a long list of names we put together.

Purple Magnet Productions was born during the lull of the pandemic, as a place for us to create and showcase our films. Our love of creating together really fueled the idea of starting our own production company, which would hold true to the loyal values of our friendship. Our mission is to create films that are magical, colorful, and honest.

We met at the University of Alabama farmers market about ten years ago. We were instant friends, and kept ending up in the same classes and at the same parties. We worked together as Teacher Assistants. Lauren directed numerous films that premiered in the school’s Black Warrior Film Festival, which Maggie helped fire-start and program the films for. We made many short films together over the course of our education at Bama.

After college, Maggie moved to Los Angeles. Lauren stayed in Alabama. This did not stop the “magical alignment” of our friendship, as we often discovered ourselves in the same places over and over.

Lauren spent her time in Alabama creating videos for companies like “Southern Living,” “People,” “Time” and “This is Alabama.” This led to Lauren acquiring millions of views on projects she Directed, Produced, and even acted in for social media. During this time, Lauren became the recipient of 8 Southeast Emmy Awards.

During Maggie’s time in LA, she worked on numerous projects like: “America’s Got Talent,” “TeenWolf,” and “Modern Family.” She was hired as a lead researcher by Oscar winner, Jared Leto, for a feature documentary film shot in all 50 states in one day. Maggie brought on Lauren as the Alabama shooter. “A Day in the Life of America” premiered, with the girls in attendance on the red carpet, at Tribeca in 2019.

Leading us to 2020, when we created our ever-growing Virgo company. Maggie is now based in Atlanta, GA and Lauren are in Boston, MA, but we support artists all over the world, and want to help them bring their unique and diverse stories to the screen.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Running a company is a lot of work. We have film degrees, not business degrees, so there has been a learning curve.

Sometimes we have to remind ourselves, and everyone else, that we are doing everything. We are Producing all of our projects and the content we put out, but, we are also running a business: accounting, marketing, contracts, finding funding, finding clients, taxes, etc. We are doing it all! We are so grateful to have amazing collaborators that have helped us on this journey.

As we grow, we are achieving the ability to bring on more collaborators.

Our company also tries to support small artists. Financing has been a learning point for us. We have helped provide numerous artists with platforms to raise funds for their projects, which we in turn produce.

We just hit YEAR TWO! We are super excited to start seeing returns on the work that we have already put out! God has really blessed our company.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Film production, we can do it all. Start to finish. We both produce and direct, sometimes shoot, do production design, act, and write. Maggie also does hair and makeup, and Lauren edits. Our role(s) on a project varies depending on its unique needs.

Purple Magnet has produced eight music videos so far for artists in various places such as Nashville, TN, Birmingham, AL, and Denver, CO. Our most viewed music video (432,333+views), currently, is “Same Ship Different Day” by Erica Sunshine Lee, a top-rock artist! We are anticipating the release of our video with Nashville artist, Charlie Argo, which Maggie directed. Lauren directed our first music video, “Best at the Show” for Nashville artist Brendan Mayer. Music videos have been the bread and butter of the company in these first few years, and we are excited to continue collaborating with musicians alongside our narrative and documentary film projects.

Our company’s first horror feature film, “The Third Saturday in October,” directed by Jay Burleson, premiered this summer at the Chattanooga Film Festival. We are cooking up our second narrative feature film, which will be shooting in New Mexico this winter.

Our first documentary feature, “Stop Drop and Roll,” co-directed by Autumn Ruch and Lauren, about the family origin story of that fire safety phrase, is currently in production.

Recent collaborations with Planet Froth Productions brought us our first international film shot in Berlin, directed by Jordan Henderson, as well as “Yellow Wallpaper,” directed by Ricky Rhodes, a collaboration on the 1900s mental health short story turned into a short film.

We had two short films premiere at the Sidewalk Film Festival this year. “Convection,” directed by our iconic female lawyer, Stacey Davis, is a docu-style narrative about a freed convict, a cookie business, and the mentally imprisoned adult child of her victim. “Blossoming,” directed by Lauren, is a queer coming-of-age story that emphasizes the positive impacts of talk therapy through the seasons.

And these are just a handful of the projects we have put out so far! We love stories that use creativity and collaboration to deliver raw, emotional experiences to our ever-expanding demographics.

We are always looking for new projects, especially ones that have good financial backing!

Check out our website: PurpleMagnetProductions.com

What matters most to you? Why?
Our goal is to tell authentic and raw stories that are outside of Hollywood. Being female-owned and operated is also very special to us as we aim to be a part of the movement for more diverse voices in the art of film. We are hoping to cultivate a work environment that is naturally inclusive and kind.

All genders, races, abilities, and orientations are welcome with equality and free of judgment in all Purple Magnet spaces – to be heard, seen, and supported.

Lauren, specifically, loves to teach! She’s currently on track to receive an MFA degree in Film & Media Arts from Emerson College. Maggie loves to network. Two things we hope to implement in the day-to-day operations of our company. We love learning and growing!

Pricing:

• Music videos start at $6k.
• Feature films start at $200k.
• Short films and commercial prices vary. We try to work with what is budgeted.
• We are always looking for sponsorships, investors, and donations! We are happy to credit corporations or individuals for any donations made.

Contact Info:

• Website: PurpleMagnetProductions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purplemagnetproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purplemagnetproductions
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user123546854

Image Credits
Jaysen Michael of Secret Playground