Gary Solomon Jr. is the guy you call when the stakes are high and the spotlight’s hotter than usual. As Co-Founder and CEO of Solomon Group Productions, he’s made a career out of turning civic spaces into cultural theaters. Case in point: Super Bowl LIX, where Gary and FOX Sports reimagined Bourbon Street as a full-blown sports carnival, with live broadcast, local flavor, and big-brand energy folded into one sprawling takeover. He brings the same blend of showbiz and systems thinking to ESSENCE Festival of Culture, which he’s been producing since 2012. With RFID tech, intricate buildouts and a city-wide footprint, the festival has become a case study in how to scale XP without losing soul.
