We Love Films!
The Akuko International Film Festival is a project by PAN Entertainment, a joint venture between Curtis Nichouls, CEO of production studios Sweet Unknown South and Coy Gauthier, CEO of full service technology provider Software Consulting Services (www.BeTheGeek.com).
The AKUKO festival will build worldwide awareness for festival participants, and then once we settle on the top twenty films, episodic shows, shorts, and documentaries, we will move from virtual to in person screening for those who can participate (location TBD).
The AKUKO Film Festival is the first step towards PAN Entertainment’s goal of creating a full-service Video Streaming and Social Media platform built by Film Makers for Film Makers and we named it AKUKO. The AKUKO platform will be the first content delivery and stream service in the world that is focused solely on the rights and equity of the Film Creator Community and ecosystem. The [X]ollyWood systems are broken and the rights of the creatives and crew are being taken advantage of.
AKUKO is here to shake things up a bit.
Curtis Nichouls
Curtis Nichouls started his production company Sweet Unknown South in 2020 and has worked many productions including the Bruce Willis film ‘A Day To Die’, filmed in Jackson in 2021 and released in 2022. The Chicago native was raised in Louisiana and first moved to the Magnolia State in 1999 to teach as the Artist in Residence: Jackson, MS.
Coy Gauthier
Coy Gauthier brings over 30 Years experience in the high technology sector. Employee and consultant to fortune 500 companies including Exxon Chemical, LA Department of Justice, Entergy Nuclear South, and AT&T Wireless, Coy founded SCS in 2003 and currently serves as CEO of SCS LLC, Director of Information Technology at Sweet Unknown South, and Board Member of Lobaki Corporation (a Virtual Reality production company).
Sweet Unknown South (SUS)
Sweet Unknown South (SUS) is a film production studio located in Jackson, Mississippi. SUS is focused on expanding the ecosystem of Mississippi’s film community to service the production needs of the surrounding areas. Operating out of the old Metro Center Mall, with the primary studio currently in the old Dillard’s building (170K SQFT), SUS has completed several small movies only just months after opening their doors and is planning to start Filming several additional movies and series this year.
Software Consulting Services (SCS)
Founded in 2003 with a mission of bringing expert technical capabilities to a market unable to satisfy these needs internally. SCS brings sophisticated technology solutions to SMB companies by providing physical infrastructure and hardware, network security, data resiliency, and customer software development. SCS services multiple industry verticals which includes manufacturing, financial, government, automotive, healthcare, retail, film, and telecommunications.