Three inclusive entertainment brands have joined forces to create Keep It Colorful, an initiative to give an even more significant boost to creators of color.
Keep It Colorful combines inclusive crowdfunding and streaming platform Seed&Spark, entertainment and lifestyle network Black&SexyTV and Erika Alexander’s diversity-focused media company Color Farm Media to develop a multi-city educational tour and a crowdfunding rally this fall. The focus of the initiative is to educate filmmakers and give them a platform as well as use their educational stops as political opportunities such as voter registration drives starting in July.
“I’ve been in showbiz for three decades, and I watched a New Majority of creators of color emerge. Now those creators, previously ignored and disposable, are valuable,” Alexander, best known for her roles on The Cosby Show, Living Single, Get Out and Queen Sugar, said. “We will help them learn the tools and techniques needed to tell their stories. And they will discover they have the power to change the world, forever.”
Seed&Spark founder Emily Best also talked about how the initiative will address Hollywood’s stagnant focus on inclusive entertainment.
“There’s a lot of talk in the industry on how to solve the ‘diversity problem,’” she said. “We’re coming together with one solution: getting work made by creators who have not yet had the chance to make it.”
Dennis Dortch, Black&SexyTV co-founder, spoke about how his company provides an opportunity for black writers.
“Black&Sexy TV has served as the undeniable launching pad for new black writers, creators and actors who found further success in the film & TV industry while connecting with a living and breathing online audience that’s hungry for authentic stories and characters about black people,” he said.
The first education tour dates, which includes informative panels, Q&A sessions with Alexander, and Seed&Spark workshops, have already been set. Here’s what’s been confirmed so far:
June 2: Cleveland, OH
June 7-8: Detroit, MI
Late June: Los Angeles, CA
July 9-13: Atlanta, GA
July 14: Washington, D.C.
July 19-21: Philadelphia, PA
More tour dates will be announced for August and September soon. The crowdfunding rally, which will focus on creators of color who do episodic work, will open for submissions June 18 and will launch September 4. Prizes will total $25,000, including matching funds for production and distribution from Black&Sexy TV and matching funds and production support from Color Farm Media.
Follow Keep It Colorful at its Seed&Spark page.
