Now that the concept has been validated by more than one million views, the two entrepreneurs have created a subscription service for the site’s Netflix-style musical performances and documentaries. In addition to a related educational platform, Jewell said he hopes to have 10,000 subscribers — from individuals to families to home schooled students — by the end of the year. For a monthly fee of $7.99, or an annual fee of $49, subscribers get access to original content such as films, performances and a series on the arts, as well as exclusive interactive events and educational resources. The plan is to add new content every week.
Now that the concept has been validated by more than one million views, the two entrepreneurs have created a subscription service for the site’s Netflix-style musical performances and documentaries. In addition to a related educational platform, Jewell said he hopes to have 10,000 subscribers — from individuals to families to home schooled students — by the end of the year. For a monthly fee of $7.99, or an annual fee of $49, subscribers get access to original content such as films, performances and a series on the arts, as well as exclusive interactive events and educational resources. The plan is to add new content every week.
“Music can help you discover the world … and to be part of a project that can bring that to more people is really rewarding to me,” Jewell said last June as he and Donnelly planned next steps to fill the void in arts events this fall, with in-person concerts and school field trips largely on hold.
Jewell has a long-held interest in music. He played the cello and the bass until high school and had tickets to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra while in college at Washington University in St. Louis. He was a freelance music critic during law school, writing about rap and rock artists, and he restarted the Law School’s then-defunct Entertainment and Sports Law Society.
Donnelly and Jewell made a connection in college and stayed in touch after graduation, Donnelly heading to California to make films and Jewell enrolling at the Law School as a Levy Scholar. Jewell, while pursuing a career as a corporate lawyer, became the producer of Donnelly’s films, which were primarily about the arts and classical music.
Out of Donnelly’s desire to bring artists, performances and stories to students, CultureNet was born last year with seed money in the low six figures, according to Jewell. Jewell — General Counsel at ESAB, a global business that manufactures welding equipment — brought a set of legal skills that helped structure and raise capital for the company, for whom he works primarily nights and weekends.
Back in March, CultureNet was moving along and plotting its eventual roll out. Donnelly and Jewell were planning to screen their latest movie, Forte, a film that challenges the popular and perhaps outdated notion of success in classical music, all over the world during 2020 and were doing so at the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts on March 19. And then everything changed.
In concert with the changes wrought by the pandemic, CultureNet had to change, too. They offered a virtual stage to Philadelphia-based pianist Michelle Cann when her concert was canceled at Carnegie Hall and featured virtual performances by violinist Tatiana Berman and classical saxophone player Amy Dickson.
These concerts went over well with the general public and with schools. In addition to the individual subscription service, Jewell said they are offering a separate subscription package for educational institutions that includes a free virtual classroom session during which students will watch a short introductory video and a performance and then participate in a Q&A with the artist — a real opportunity, Jewell said, for “intellectual engagement.” Jewell, CultureNet CEO, said he’s also excited about CultureNet’s lesson plans and learning resources designed with educators that can be leveraged by schools, parents, and the homeschool market.
Jewell, whose mother was a teacher, said: “We’re not trying to replace arts education. Technology can really reduce barriers to access to arts and culture. We can bring a world-class musician in for a ‘classroom’ experience and Q&A and a concert experience that speaks to the student. We can do that just as easily in a rural area, in an underserved community,” leveling at least some of the disparities between these areas and better-funded school districts.