Black Public Media set to hit $2 million in funding through PitchBLACK

Black Public Media (BPM) is on target to hit $2 million in funding this year for film and immersive projects through its PitchBLACK Forum.

About PitchBLACK

PitchBLACK is the largest pitch competition of its kind in the United States for independent filmmakers and creative technologists who create Black content.

The event will take place in Harlem on Wednesday, April 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Forum

Advertising futurist Tameka Kee returns as moderator of the PitchBLACK Forum this year.

Those competing in the film segment, taking place from 9 a.m. to noon, all with documentary projects are: Sidney Fussell and Jennifer Holness; Karen Hayes; Arlieta Hall and Brittany Alsot; Chelsi Bullard and Jacqueline Olive; and Caron Creighton.

Immersive project competitors — Anatola Araba, Aya, Steven Christian, Jeremy Kamal, Joel Mack and Rasheed Peters — will take the stage from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. with projects that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, 3D animation, or are games.

Awards

Lillian Benson (Photo Credit: Wm. Stetz)

Winners of production and distribution awards will be announced at the PitchBLACK Awards on Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m., an event during which history-making film editor Lillian E. Benson, ACE (American Cinema Editors) will receive the prestigious BPM Trailblazer Award. Benson is known for her Emmy® nominated work on Eyes on the Prize II, Showtime’s Soul Food, NBC’s Chicago Med and OWN’s Greenleaf.

Hosted by comedian Jamie Roberts, the event will also include a conversation with Benson moderated by NPR host Brittany Luse (It’s Been a Minute).

About Black Public Media

BPM is a national nonprofit that funds quality film and immersive work, develops media makers and produces and distributes original content.

Since 2015, the group has awarded more than $1.8 million to 23 film and immersive projects through the competition, which this year moves to The Apollo Stages at the Victoria in Harlem, the New York City neighborhood where BPM is based. With BPM planning to award more than $225,000 to projects this year, the organization will break the $2 million mark for funding awarded through the PitchBLACK program since it launched in 2015.

“We are happy to host PitchBLACK in the creative and cultural mecca of Harlem this year,” said Leslie Fields-Cruz, executive director of BPM. “PitchBLACK always offers a wonderful array of projects presenting unique mixes of entertainment, ingenuity and craftsmanship. We look forward to what this year’s creatives have in store for audiences.”