Jordan Benston is the founder, owner, and operator of The Oracle Media, a black female-owned full-service production company specializing in custom-curated digital, linear, and editorial content.
Prior to starting her company, she worked in logistics and production management. Working in these fields was critical to her company’s establishment. She got a thorough understanding of how to build a budget, book crew, create schedules, understand both union and non-union rules, and be well-versed in all aspects of the business.
“And often, we would hire a third-party company—a consulting company or a consulting person—and sometimes we would give large sums of money to do this work,” she told BET.
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“And I would look at it like, if I’m hand-holding you and walking you through this work or if I’m having to clean up behind you, or sometimes I would look at it and be like, ‘Wait, I’m on the wrong side of the money!’”
She subsequently decided to begin her own company. To start, Benston shared the idea with her good friend, Malik Buie, who put her on email with his lawyer and said “Hey, this is JB. She wants to start a company, get her LLC set up, whatever she wants, set it up, and charge it to my company.”
“[He] literally paid for the incorporation of my company,” Benston recalled.
The female entrepreneur explained that once she formed the company, people reached out especially during the pandemic.
“So, instead of me suggesting other people, I was suggesting myself. Suggesting myself instead of others when people needed help was the greatest decision. Suggesting myself meant suggesting Oracle Media, and here we are four or five years later and Oracle Media is doing everything,” she told BET this month.
She started Oracle Media as a company where she could come on and consult with larger companies and help people. Today, the small company has grown to have an overseeing producer, a creative producer, a production coordinator, and a social media manager, all of whom she pays biweekly.
“From managing multiple clients at a time to multiple projects at a time, it was a natural progression. But at the same time, in its natural progression, I was also able to sit back and realise that every single step in my career, every single job that I’ve had, and every single person that I’ve touched has been a lesson or has guided me to where I am in the company.”
Touching on her plans for the company, she said she wanted to tell stories through the lens of a black woman.
“I want to tell stories. I have a Google Drive of documentaries, scripted series, and unscripted series that I want to be able to produce and tell from the lens of an African-American woman who does not necessarily have the traditional path to getting into media, getting into the industry, and coming from a smaller town. It’s not a dream. I didn’t even know it was possible. Also, the pandemic showed us that you don’t have to be anywhere specific to do it.”
A small-town girl who grew up in Washington, NC, Benston graduated with a major in Pre-Law and a minor in Philosophy from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University before moving to New York City to start her media career. From interning at BET, she has today worked for some of the biggest media brands like MTV, VH1, REVOLT TV, and AppleTV+.
Her most recent project, “I’m Really Like That,” made waves due to its collaboration with DJ Drama and its reenactment of scenes from the legendary hip-hop film “Juice”.
