The City of Atlanta Now Has Its Own Video Streaming Platform to Lure Millennial Workers

ChooseATL, an initiative launched by the Metro Atlanta Chamber in 2015 to get more millennials working in the area, decided the best way to accomplish that was to launch its own OTT video streaming platform at SXSW this week.

According to ChooseATL, the move marks the first city-based OTT streaming platform.

“One of the things that is both special about Atlanta and desired by the millennial generation is diversity and diversity of people, but also diversity of thought, industry, culture and subculture,” said Kate Atwood, executive director of ChooseATL. “In Atlanta it kind of makes it hard as a marketer to narrow in on a niche identity, but we also know right now it’s something to celebrated,” she said.

The platform, called THEA, is designed to allow local brands and content creators to build their own channels–a-la YouTube–to promote their own content. Most of the companies featured on THEA are content creators in their own right, so it’s designed to be a way for some of these smaller platforms to showcase their work on an Atlanta-focused platform.

Some of the initial partners for the project include startup hub Switchyards, diversity-focused content creator Blossom, marketing agency Moxie and others. The hope is that as the platform grows, more brands will create channels and promote their content which will encourage and convince millennials to want to move to or stay in the Atlanta area.

Take Blossom for example. In the early stages of THEA, Blossom has uploaded video Q&As with founders of companies as well as a series of longer videos focused on being a black woman and a mother. The whole mission of Blossom is to tell real, inspiring stories about women of color, especially in the Atlanta area, so Blossom founder Diamonde Williamson thought the opportunity to work with THEA was the perfect fit.

“I knew I had to be involved because I am a creator in Atlanta, I want to grow in Atlanta, I want to bloom in Atlanta so it just made sense,” Williamson said. “THEA really accelerates the opportunity to spread the word about what we are doing, but it also allows us to prove what we are trying to do. We have this platform that is behind us that supports us and their mission is solely dedicated to making sure the world knows about the creative in Atlanta. That’s special.”

ChooseATL plans to add more partners in the coming months as it continues to encourage millennials in tech and creative roles to make Atlanta a home.