Capital Entertainment is a multi-faceted, Washington, D.C.-based public relations and brand management firm with over two decades of successful campaigns for musicians, vocalists, actors, entertainers, non-profit organizations and politicians.
The company germinated in 1996 and had bloomed by the following year when one of our first clients was the late Johnnie Cochran who worked with us when he was on a post O.J. Simpson book tour. Early on, we specialized in inspirational and faith-based media projects, working with some of the leading personalities in the genre such as David & Tamela Mann, Kirk Franklin, Bebe & CeCe Winans, Shirley Caesar and Bishop T.D. Jakes, to name a few. However, we spread our wings to work with several Roots & Americana acts such as Mavis Staples, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Liz McComb and The Fairfield Four’s legendary bass singer, Isaac “Dickey” Freeman.
Another Capital Entertainment specialty is African-American culture projects. We handled press for the launch of the UniverSoul Circus – the first black circus - in its early days and brought great attention to the need for black organ donors through marketing the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education program (MOTTEP) that was headed by the esteemed surgeon, Clive O. Callendar. We have also worked regional publicity or premieres with a variety of films – ranging from big screen flicks such as “A Time to Kill” and “Soul Food” to small screen ones like CBS’ “The Rosa Parks Story” and ABC’s “Selma, Lord Selma.”
Co-Founder, Bill Carpenter, earned his credentials as a media staffer for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. He then spent a year as the Media Coordinator for Coretta Scot King’s 30th Anniversary March on Washington rally that drew 100,000 people to The Mall in Washington, D.C. in 1993. After a few years of working as a freelance music journalist for publications such as People, Goldmine and The Washington Post; he became a fulltime public relations consultant.
Co-Founder, Robert Shanklin, launched his career as an information technology specialist with the Smithsonian Institution. He later moved on to The Securities & Exchange Commission where he headed up the publications department. On the side, he carried on a parallel career as a photojournalist who has captured images of President Barack Obama, Hilary Rodham Clinton, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, Janet Jackson, Rod Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Whitney Houston, and scores of others. Aside from shooting album covers for Warner Bros. Records and other recording labels; Shanklin’s photos have been published in The Washington Post, The Source, Jet, Ebony, and dozens of other publications.