← all drafts ✏️ Edit in Google Docs ↗

East Atlanta Business Association (EABA) — Interview-Series / Partnership Intro

Target: East Atlanta Business Association (EABA) — eastatlantabiz.com — the East Atlanta Village commercial-district org + Atlanta Main Street district

Tier: A — Main Street commercial-district org; one of five Atlanta Main Street districts, and the door into every EAV member business

Channel: Email (hello@eastatlantabiz.com) / phone (Chelsea, 614.209.7265) / Instagram @eastatlantabiz

Contact: Chelsea Sommers, Main Street Coordinator (primary, operational lead); Armando Celentano, Film Liaison Chair (Argosy) — film@eastatlantabiz.com; Nate Minor, President (ScreenFixing, board-level fallback)

Built: 2026-09-12 (night-shift)

Wedge: Interview-first, same play as the L5P series and the Sweet Auburn / Midtown / CAP items — the interview is the door; the relationship yields paid work / sponsorship downstream.

Context

EABA is the volunteer nonprofit that runs the East Atlanta Village business district, and since 2019 it has been an Atlanta Main Street (AMS) participant — one of five Main Street districts inside the City of Atlanta, awarded the 2022 cohort with a $20,000 grant that funds the Main Street Coordinator role and National/Georgia Main Street memberships. The four pillars are design, organization, promotion, and economic vitality, and the org's transformation work is concrete: street-pole banners and rideshare drop-off points, the Historic Madison Theater restoration, cohesive EAV branding, EAV-O-Ween, the Whispers of History walking tour, a non-profit 5k series. It runs monthly general meetings (3rd Tuesday, 6pm) and a "Shop EAV" digital gift card program.

The thing that makes EABA different from the other main-street targets: it already has a Film Liaison. The "FILMING IN EAST ATLANTA" page, the "#FILMEAV" tag, a "sign up to be a film resource" form, and published filming guidelines are all about coordinating outside TV/film productions that shoot in the neighborhood — and the org explicitly calls those production donations "a considerable fundraising avenue." So EABA already thinks of film as a money channel. The gap: its own member businesses don't get that camera. A short series featuring the district's own shops, bars, and venues is the natural next step, and it's the interview-first wedge for GCV — each feature is a credible third-party voice, and the relationship opens paid series work, event coverage, and sponsorship downstream.

Cross-check against targets.md (no duplication): EABA is not in targets.md. The existing EAV rows are individual venues — Argosy (D4), The EARL (C9), 529 (C10), Banshee (C11), The Pub @ EAV (C12) — each with its own cold-outreach draft in drafts/. EABA is the org-level entry point that sits above those: a relationship with EABA is the door into the whole member directory, not a duplicate of any one venue. There is no existing GCV client relationship in EAV — those five venues are cold prospects, not past clients (per editorial principle §3d, none should be implied otherwise).

The one real cross-reference: Armando Celentano, EABA's Film Liaison Chair, is from Argosy — which is already on GCV's list as D4. That's a genuine link between an existing GCV target and this org, not a fabricated one. If Argosy outreach has moved at all, that's the warmest possible intro into EABA.

Verification (this session): Org confirmed active. eastatlantabiz.com live (Wild Apricot site, full nav incl. EAV Main Street + Film pages). Instagram @eastatlantabiz (2,102 followers) posts actively — a Sept 2026 board spotlight ("new Treasurer Rue Clark") went up days ago, and the bio still advertises monthly general meetings. Facebook @EastAtlantaBiz active ("26 talking about this"). Chelsea Sommers is the published Main Street Coordinator with a direct phone (614.209.7265) on the Contact page; she's held the Main Street role since at least 2022 (authored the "EAV is now a Main Street community" piece in The Porch Press). Armando Celentano (Film Liaison) publishes a direct line too (film@eastatlantabiz.com · 404.808.9939). Caveat: the "About" page board roster carries a ©2020 footer and may be stale — Nate Minor is listed as President there, but the Sept 2026 spotlight shows a new Treasurer, so the executive committee has rotated. Confirm current President before any board-level touch.

Message — EMAIL (to Chelsea Sommers, Main Street Coordinator, via hello@eastatlantabiz.com)

Subject: A short video series on East Atlanta's businesses

Chelsea —

>

East Atlanta Village is one of five Main Street districts in the city, and the businesses are the whole reason it works. You've got a Film Liaison coordinating outside productions in the district, but the venues and shops themselves don't usually get that camera — just a line in the directory.

>

I make short documentary video in Atlanta, Ghost Coast Video. I'm putting together a short interview series over in Little Five Points right now, five minutes with a shop owner in their place, then a 60-second cut they can post. The person who built it, saying why it matters.

>

That's a series EABA could run on its own members. I'd put the first one together on me, no invoice, you pick the business. If it lands, we figure out the rest.

>

Worth a conversation?

>

— Brandyn
ghostcoast.video

Message — INSTAGRAM / LINKEDIN DM (shorter, 1:1)

Chelsea — I make short documentary video in Atlanta, Ghost Coast Video. I'm running a short interview series with L5P business owners, and East Atlanta Village's the natural next district. I'd like to pitch a short video series featuring EABA's member businesses. First one's on me, you pick the business. Worth a quick chat?

Downstream asks (after the first interview lands — don't lead with these)

Before sending

1. Verify Chelsea Sommers is still Main Street Coordinator. The Contact page publishes her name + direct phone (614.209.7265), but the site is a volunteer-run Wild Apricot build and the ©2020 footer suggests stale sections. If she's moved on, Armando Celentano (Film Liaison, film@eastatlantabiz.com) is the strongest fallback — he's the person already adjacent to film/video in the district, and he's at Argosy (a GCV lead, D4).

2. Channel: Chelsea's phone is published, so a call or text is the warmest 1:1 (unlike Midtown/CAP, where only boxes surfaced). hello@eastatlantabiz.com is the general box. Instagram @eastatlantabiz is active. Pick one — don't triple-send. If going the film angle, write Armando at film@eastatlantabiz.com instead.

3. Don't name-drop specific member businesses unless they're confirmed members. Argosy, 529, and Banshee are all listed as EABA Reboot contributors, so they're safe. The EARL is not in that list — don't lead with it.

4. Don't imply Argosy/529/Banshee are GCV clients. They're cold prospects in the same batch (targets.md D4/C10/C11). The one honest warm thread is Armando Celentano of Argosy chairing EABA's Film Liaison — reference that as a fact, not a client relationship.

5. The L5P reference is the honest proof. If the L5P series hasn't actually filmed anything yet, keep it as "putting together" rather than "running." Adjust if any L5P episodes are done.

6. EABA is volunteer-run, grant-funded ($20k AMS cohort). Land the pitch as "storytelling that serves the district's promotion pillar and funders," not a hard commercial sell. The interview-first wedge already does this — keep it soft.

7. Word count: ~140 in the email body. Good.

Status log