Team

Eric Vincent Allen

Founder/Partner - Creative Oversight

Eric holds degrees in art and design and has spent more than 30 years in creative marketing across various industries, including but not limited to; Capital Markets, Banking, Commercial Real Estate, Publishing, & Hospitality. He provides oversight and management services ranging from design to brand development and creative strategies. Eric oversees all production and client projects.

Mark S. Slotnick

Founder/Partner - Operations Oversight

Mark has a master’s degree in business management with concentrations in finance and marketing. Throughout his 40-year career he has held several c-suite positions in Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Commercial Real Estate, and Phrama. Mark oversees the day-to-day operations of Black Ink.

Director of Digital Strategies

Kanani Voegeli

Kanani holds degrees in business and technology and has spent the last 15 years developing tech based small businesses.

Public Relations Director

Juli Branson

Juli holds degrees in journalism and finance and has spent the majority of her PR career providing professional services to the Bush (GWB) Administration, the DOD and various DC based NGOs.

Film Producer & Director

Doug McAward

Doug is a veteran film producer and director. He has spent the majority of his 40-year career producing broadcast commercials for national brands.

Writer/ Director

Tina Krause

Tina holds degrees in design and filmmaking and is an award winning director. She has starred in over 300 independent films. Tina understands the view behind and in front of the lens.

Information Coordinator

Rita A. Allen

Rita holds degrees in fashion design, merchandising, and computer technologies. She has worked across a range of industries serving clients such as Comcast and Ernst and Young.

Employment Policy

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer with a goal to hire and contract talented, experienced, creative, and diverse people within the regions we are contracted. While our core team members may be assigned to projects or specific tasks, it is our goal and policy to utilize local professional resources where ever we undertake a project. This includes freelancers, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and students. The key factors we look for are ability to understand the task, capable of meeting deadlines and timetables, a body of work that represents creative abilities, technical acumen, and quality of work.

Our method to staffing starts with utilizing one of the organizations we are members of: Graphic Artists Guild, AIGA, DGA, Freelancers Union, PPA. We then move to the local W/MBE databases either through the city/county/state or through SBA, SBDC and/or PTAC. We then work with local college career services office to fulfill our needs for staffing, before we place an open call.

Age, gender, nationality, sexual identity, religious affiliation, political party, do NOT play a factor in our contracting/hiring decisions. We do not discriminate against any of the above and do not consider minor infractions of the law as a barring factor to opportunities, as people sometimes make mistakes. Our qualification policy is; talent, skill, commitment, creativity, a willingness to interact and collaborate with the team and client, and budget. Our standards do not eliminate students or those with less experience.

All contracts, whether public sector or private, are staffed on an as-needed-basis. In some cases we may not require additional team members due to project sizes, however, we will make an effort to fulfill our commitments to supporting local (city, county, state) professionals and businesses.

All project staffing is subject to contract budgets. All team members, permanent or contracted are 1099 wage earners.