Hidden Empire Co-CEO Deon Taylor runs the company with his wife, Roxanne (Amanda Scurlock/L.A. Sentinel
Sky Dance Sports has recently partnered with Hidden Empire Film Group for their annual NFL Career Tour. The Career Tour is a professional development initiative that started in 2023. It exposes current and former NFL players to exclusive opportunities in a variety of industries.
Hidden Empire Co-CEO Deon Taylor has a passion for helping athletes thrive in the film industry. Taylor noted how it took 17 years for Hidden Empire to be the thriving company that it is currently.
“We found a way to do it and we became very successful at it and had made a bunch of movies that have been big-hit movies,” Taylor said. “Let’s try to give as much info in terms of content creation, film making, television that we can.”
Amon Arnold played for the Baltimore Ravens (Amanda Scurlock/L.A. Sentinel)
Hidden Empire hosted workshops and networking opportunities for the NFL players. The attendees were also put into groups to film and act out movie scenes for a contest. They had to choose who would be the director and the actors.
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Acting has been an interest for Dallas Cowboys corner Troy Pride Jr. since he was a student athlete at Notre Dame. He worked with cinematography in his group.
“The interesting facts that I learned was perfecting angles truthfully, making sure that there’s the right focus,” Pride said.
Kahlil McKenzie was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs (Amanda Scurlock/L.A. Sentinel)
Recent NFL retiree Brennan Scarlett, who has a nonprofit and a creative agency, gleaned knowledge from the director panel that was featured during the Career Tour.
“It was the all-star cast of directors,” Scarlett said. “[Taylor] shared his path into the industry from a directing standpoint.”
Amon Arnold, who attended Crenshaw High School and San Diego State, has done some acting in commercials after his stint in the NFL.
Brennan Scarlette played for the Houston Texans and the Miami Dolphins (Amanda Scurlock/L.A. Sentinel)
“To have the opportunity to explore a second career … or finding a career, it’s a great opportunity,” Arnold said. “There’s so many different directions of it too, whether it be from production or directing or editing.”
Kahlil McKenzie makes a habit of researching and taking advantage of the resources that the NFL provides to its players. He enjoyed hearing from the various speakers.
“All the knowledge that they poured into us, you can’t put a price on it,” McKenzie said. “That was amazing to hear from so many voices, especially Black and Brown voices that carved their own ways to the industry.”
