Crawford joins other area stars on the list including: Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Borrow, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, Procter & Gamble Brand Director Hannah Sagel and more local notables.
For Crawford — a 2014 Monroe High School and Butler Tech graduate — the localized Forbes honor comes in the wake of his being hailed nationally by Forbes as part of America’s 250 “Rising Entrepreneurs” in 2021.
The 28- year-old head of the independent film studio Four By Three Productions founded his independent film production company eight years ago.
The new Forbes listing noted his company produced nearly “a dozen feature films from 2017 to 2020 (and) now the company has pivoted to stand-up comedy specials with comedians like Hasan Minhaj, Nate Bargatze, Adam Conover and Sinbad.”
“To date, Four By Three has produced over 90 comedy specials and works with more than 30 streaming platforms like Tubi, Amazon and YouTube. Crawford projects $500,000 in 2024 revenue,” the magazine said.
Crawford, who lives with his wife and children in Northern Kentucky, said he was happily surprised to be named and credited his high school years at Fairfield Twp.’s Butler Tech campus as sparking his passion for filmmaking.
“I’m a huge fan of Butler Tech,” said Crawford of career school. “It allowed me to be surrounded by likeminded people and pursue what I loved.”
Crawford, who is currently working in Eastern Kentucky shooting a film production, also credited Butler Tech instructor John Ginter for “always encouraging me in my pursuits.”
“He allowed us to take cameras home and stay after school to work on projects,” he said. “I took full advantage of that and am thankful he always went above and beyond to help his students.
“Butler Tech gave me the head start I needed to find success in my industry. Being surrounded by peers in pursuit of the same goal was incredible.”
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