Tongal

Tongal operates as a content creation platform, structuring the creative process to connect businesses with a global community of writers, directors, and production companies. The company was founded in 2009 by James DeJulio, Rob Salvatore, and Mark Burrell, launching its first video project in May of that year. The concept originated from a conversation between the founders in 2007, inspired by the book "The Wisdom of Crowds," which posits that collective intelligence can lead to better decisions. The company's name, "Tongal," is an anagram of "Galton," referencing Sir Francis Galton, a social scientist featured in the book. Co-founder James DeJulio brought significant industry experience, having served as a Vice President of Production at Paramount Pictures and co-founded Half Shell Entertainment. This background in film production highlighted the inefficiencies and rising costs of content creation, which Tongal aims to address.

The firm's business model is centered around a multi-stage, competition-based process. A client posts a project with a prize pool, and the process unfolds in phases. The "Idea Phase" invites the community to submit concepts, with the best ideas winning a portion of the prize money. Next, in the "Pitch Phase," directors and production companies develop the selected ideas further with storyboards and scripts. Finally, the winning pitches are greenlit for the "Video Phase," where the content is produced. Tongal's revenue is generated through this platform, which facilitates the creation of a wide array of content including TV commercials, digital advertising, original content, and even feature films. The company serves a diverse client base, ranging from iconic brands like The LEGO Group, Procter & Gamble, and NASA to major studios such as NBCUniversal and Warner Bros.

Since its inception, Tongal has achieved notable milestones. By October 2009, it had its first employee and a community of 1,000 members. The company secured funding from Insight Venture Partners in December 2012 and aired a Super Bowl commercial for Speed Stick in 2013. By 2015, its community had grown to over 70,000 members in more than 140 countries, and the company had seven films premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. A significant achievement was reached in December 2024, when the platform surpassed $100 million in lifetime earnings paid out to its creative community, which now numbers over 160,000. This includes ten creators who have each earned over $1 million through the platform. Tongal's model was notably used for the animated Pharrell Williams biopic, *Piece By Piece*, where nearly 100 creators from the platform collaborated on the feature film.

Keywords: content creation platform, crowdsourcing creative, video production, digital advertising, branded content, creative community, filmmaker marketplace, on-demand studio, social content, creator economy, advertising production, original content development, crowdsourced commercials, global talent network, animation production, marketing campaigns, film production, video contests, creative services, content strategy