Leadership

PHIL THORNTON

CEO | 3 Diamonds Entertainment

Because he wears so many hats, plenty of words can be used to describe music industry executive and television producer Phil Thornton. Ingenious. Brilliant. Ambitious. But one word in particular also comes to mind: fearless. And that’s because Thornton, who has served as senior vice president of Capitol Christian Music Group (Capitol CMG) and has now launched his own media company, Three Diamonds, has proven time and time again that he can confidently and consistently create projects and content that successfully go against the grain.

After graduating from Norfolk State University and moving to New York City, Thornton started his first company, Bright Star Entertainment, an artist management/consultant firm. In 2007, Thornton settled in Los Angeles and co-founded Ten2One Entertainment, a multimedia, television production, and artist management conglomerate. In October 2016, Ten2One, along with Sony Pictures Television and ThinkFactory Media, released the made-for-TV film Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Miche’le, which premiered on Lifetime Network and garnered 2.3 million viewers.

While overseeing the artist management side of Ten2One, Thornton guided the careers of Faith Evans, Michelle Williams, Kenny Lattimore, and Mack Wilds. He also served as executive producer of the eOne- created hit show “It’s a Mann’s World,” starring David and Tamela Mann, which initially aired on BET and TV One. In 2018, Thornton and his team celebrated an NAACP Image Award win for “Outstanding Reality Series” for the show.

Before being named senior vice president of Capitol CMG in April 2022, Thornton served as senior vice president and general manager of RCA Inspiration (a division of Sony Music Entertainment) from June 2016 to March 2022, where he worked with a wide range of inspirational artists, including Kirk Franklin, Koryn Hawthorne, Marvin Sapp, and Donnie McClurkin.

Over the past several years, Thornton has tapped into first love, TV and film, and has created many exciting television and film projects. In 2022, he executive produced Never Would Have Made It: The Marvin Sapp Story, an epic biopic about the gospel star, while in February 2023, he served as consulting producer on A Nashville Legacy, starring Pooch Hall and Andrea Lewis, which premiered on the Hallmark Channel. Thornton has also served as director and executive producer of several episodes of TV One’s popular series “Uncensored,” on Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tevin Campbell, Missy Elliot, and Lil Wayne. Thornton teamed up with Jamie Foxx and Datari Turner to serve as executive producer of the documentary Never Too Much, about the life and career of legendary R&B singer Luther Vandross. Foxx, Turner, and actor Colin Firth also produced the film, which premiered at Sundance in January 2024. The film is slated to be screened at the Tribeca and ABFF film festivals and will hit streaming later this year. In addition to that, the entertainment impresario has excelled in the podcast arena. His podcast, We Sound Crazy, which focuses on R&B and hip hop and became a two-hour radio show on Sirius XM (and in different markets), now has a television version and was recently nominated for an Emmy. Guests have included Mary J. Blige; Earth, Wind and Fire; Rodney Jerkins; Tamar Braxton and Usher.

In June of 2024, Thornton launched Three Diamonds, a television and film company with partner and producer Trell Woodbury, which will create scripted and unscripted television shows, films, and live music events and specials. This new company will partner with Insignia Collab, a multimedia conglomerate with a recorded music and publishing division and a touring division called Undivided Entertainment (in collaboration with Live Nation). Thornton will also serve as a partner and Executive Vice President at Insignia Collab.