CÎROC Blue Dot Creative Residency Offers Artists A New Way to Achieve Their Dreams

In our society, work and ambition are rewarded. Those two attributes working hand in hand will undoubtedly yield some results. However, in artistic fields like entertainment, music, art and fashion, luck and access are also major players in success. Without adequate resources and funding, even the most ambitious among us will find themselves stretched too thin, unable to reach new levels and even burning out completely. Knowing the challenges that underrepresented creators, in particular, continue to face, the makers of CÎROC Ultra-Premium Vodka have announced their Blue Dot Creative Residency.

A first-of-its-kind initiative, the Blue Dot Creative Residency seeks to shatter some of the most significant barriers that underrepresented creators face by providing them with direct funding, resources and access. Ahead of the residency’s application launch, Blavity was invited to the CÎROC Blue Dot Creative Residency Creative (Ease)scape at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Nestled in Park City, Utah, CÎROC and Blue Dot offered a unique, fun and inspiring perspective of Sundance with partnerships with MACRO’s Macro Lodge. 

During the Creative (Ease)scape, I also collaborated with actress, writer, producer and director Nefetari Spencer for a workshopping session on my personal passion project. Spencer offered me some much-needed insight and some next steps. Furthermore, I sat down to chat with BDCR’s inaugural member, Woody McClain, who is expanding his talents beyond the big and small screens and into the music studio.

As a journalist, my life consists of deadlines, reminders and the constant frenzy of being on the go. Moments of ease are few and far between. Though I’ve attended Sundance previously, my work schedule hardly allowed me any downtime to think, let alone reflect. At Creative (Ease)scape, I could engage with other creators while thinking about my writing outside of a timeline.  

I attended two compelling panels at Macro Lodge. The first, CÎROC’s Addressing the Creator’s Dilemma Panel, was a stellar discussion between actors Michael Ealy, Jharrel Jerome, David Oyelowo and Woody McClain. Though these four men have made names for themselves in Hollywood, they spoke candidly about how the industry has changed, especially for Black men. They also spoke about the importance of mentorship and community, why rest is often the catalyst for creativity and why it’s imperative to never allow others to place limitations on you. 

The second panel, “Love, Brooklyn,” which included producer/actor Andre Holland, director Rachael Abigail Holder and actors Cassandra Freeman, DeWanda Wise and Roy Wood, Jr., discussed the forthcoming romantic drama, which took six years to make. The panel also addressed why seeing Black actors in varied roles is important.

Often, when we see people thriving in their fields, especially those heralding from underrepresented communities, we don’t know the work, pressure and sacrifice that enabled them to reach their goals. Sitting in witness during both panels, while inspiring, was a reminder that creative ease is so rare and often not afforded to people who look like me. 

Later, McClain, known for his roles in Power Book II: Ghost and The Bobby Brown Story, sat down with me to share his career journey and why he was inspired to join CÎROC’s Blue Dot Creative Residency.

“I feel like this was the perfect opportunity to step outside of whatever box people believe that I’m in,” he says. “And I think that CÎROC’s doing a great job of giving me a platform where I can actually show other talent outside of just the acting and TV stuff.”

Though McClain is known for acting, he is a true multi-hyphenate. He danced with Chris Brown for years, was recently in a Yolanda Adams music video, and is now focused on music production. In partnership with BDCR, McClain is looking to continue expanding his horizons. “I feel like I’m at this point in my career where one project away is going to take my career to another level,” he says. “So I really want to work with an artist that’s like one song away from blowing up. I want to work with someone who’s just as hungry as I am, so that’s the vibe.”

Mentorship is also a major pillar for BDCR. While McClain hopes to extend his hand backward to the next generation, he also recognizes how integral mentors have been in his career and life. “My first mentor was Yvette Nicole Brown,” he says. “When I did The New Edition Story, I remember her coming to my trailer and being like, ‘Woody, I just want you to know you’re amazing. You’re going to do amazing things, but I want you to always be down to earth.’ She was like, ‘If Will Smith can come on set and knows everybody’s name and everybody loves him, there’s no reason why Woody McClain can’t do the same thing.’ She was the first person that put me on game. And moving forward, I’ve had great relationships with everybody.”

Like McClain, I am also looking to stretch myself in different ways. A journalist by trade, I have secretly worked on a passion project for years. My dramatic pilot is loosely based on a family member’s real-life experience growing up in the 1990s on the South Side of Chicago. I wrote the pilot two years ago and even received some fairly good feedback from a professional reviewer. However, because my work is on a different side of the industry, I’ve let the idea go dormant, focusing instead on my creative comfort zone. 

During BDCR’s CÎROC Creative (Ease)scape at Sundance, I workshoped my idea with fellow Chicago native Nefetari Spencer. Known for her writing on awards shows like Oscars and the Emmys and her starring roles in series like South Side and Reasonable Doubt, Spencer and I spent the morning connecting, reviewing my pilot and brainstorming next steps. 

After reading through the script and the feedback I received previously, Spencer recommended and encouraged me to sign up for a screenwriting course (I begin Feb. 9), which will help me refine the script, which currently leans more into prose than dialogue. She also offered me a fantastic tagline for my series, provided the next steps for thinking about the series Bible  (which outlines the TV show from pilot to series finale) and gave brilliant suggestions for where and to whom I should begin pitching my idea. 

While my Creative (Ease)scape experience at Sundance was only for a weekend, it has reinvigorated me. I finally feel equipped to strive for a dream I’d tucked aside. So often, when creators are good at one thing, we allow others, our fears and uncertainties to keep us boxed into that particular thing. In a culture where “the grind” is still celebrated, there hardly seems to be time to focus on multiple interests. With the Blue Dot Creative Residency, CÎROC offers a new way for creatives to thrive while finding joy and levity in their work. Applications for BCDR are now open.

Story by Aramide Tinubu