The 18th edition of the American Black Film Festival will make its New York debut next month with films directed by Tim Story and Spike Lee bookending the June 19-22 event, organizers announced last week.
The festival, which promotes work by and about people of African descent, is presented by Film Life, a New York City-based entertainment company. The Miami area was home to the festival for most of its existence. Now, Jeff Friday, the festival’s founder and Film Life chief executive, said in a phone interview that he hoped the move will be a permanent one, with the goal of reaching a larger, more diverse audience.
“Last year proved if nothing else, that black films can be more mainstream,” Mr. Friday said. “We want to encourage audiences to consume, ingest and enjoy black cinema as much as multicultural audiences enjoy other forms of black culture.”
Posts tagged as “African-American crowdfunding”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyMplbQkEg0&w=560&h=315]
CHICAGO — If Baltimore native and Chicago transplant Savannah Wood has one regret, it’s that she didn’t take enough time to read all the books she said surrounded her as a youngster. Though the Chicago-based artist and Rebuild Foundation instructor said she was surrounded by incredible books, she laments that she didn’t stumble upon a book like Richard Wright’s 1940 novel Native Son, which she said she received as part of a book exchange while she was studying abroad in France as a student of the University of Southern California. Reading Native Son, which tells the story of a 20-year-old Chicago man feeling alienated like an expat in his own country, was an experience, she told The Huffington Post, that resonated deeply. “That was the beginning of my being interested in black literature as a reflection of black life, the positive imagery in black lit,” Wood said in a recent interview. “I want to share that with other people.”
Last week, Wood launched an Indiegogo fundraising campaign for Black Ink Book Exchange, an initiative that will eventually become “not quite a library and not quite a bookstore” focused on works written by and about those from the African Diaspora and located inside the University of Chicago’s Arts Incubator in the city’s Washington Park neighborhood. Wood told HuffPost she was inspired to launch the pop-up exchange after working with renowned Chicago artist Theaster Gates to create a library focused on the works of black authors for a private client. With the Black Ink Book Exchange, she hopes to take that idea and make it publicly accessible in a way that serves as a focal point for the predominately black neighborhood to engage with the arts. She plans to open the space by spring and, during the summertime, move it to other locations on Chicago’s South Side.
“I’m hoping to really activate the space and give people a place they can feel they can take some ownership of,” Wood said. “It’s not just to be looked at, but handled.”
Part of the interactivity Wood is aiming for entails the offering of free creative writing and crafting workshops taught in the space by guest artists. Money donated to the project’s $6,000 fundraising goal will go toward paying the artists a stipend for their services, in addition to purchasing books to supplement donated books, furniture and covering administrative costs.
“You can get hands on and make things here too,” Wood said of what makes the exchange different from a traditional library or bookstore. “I’ve been making things my whole life and I think it’s an empowering skill to have to produce something and put it out into the world.”
Visit the Black Ink Book Exchange’s Indiegogo page for additional information about donating funds or books toward the project.
article by Joseph Erbentraut via huffingtonpost.com
Spike Lee has surpassed his Kickstarter goal of $1.25 million, with 4 days remaining in his campaign. The 56-year-old director launched his campaign on July 21, in an effort to raise money to make his next film. Lee describes the movie as a “psychological bloody thriller,” about human beings who are addicted to blood (and not a remake of Blacula). Since launching his campaign 26 days ago, Lee as amassed more than 5,400 financial backers, (including Magic Mike director Steven Soderbergh) and raised $1,304,000.
But Lee’s Kickstarter campaign wasn’t a seamless endeavor. The Do the Right Thing director generated strong criticism from the media. Weeks ago Lee made an appearance on Bloomberg TV’s Street Smart and had a heated debate about the backlash he’s received for using Kickstarter. During an interview with theGrio’s Chris Witherspoon, Lee talked about his reason for using Kickstarter.
“I needed to go to Kickstarter to get this film made because this is not necessarily a Hollywood film, Lee said. “It’s more like an independent film.” The 56-year-old Brooklyn native then said he doesn’t envision his contemporaries in the industry, like Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg or Clint Eastwood, following in his footsteps and turning to Kickstarter to fund their future films. “Anybody could do this, but Steven Spielberg,” Lee said. “Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Scorsese, they don’t have to do that.” Why? “Because they don’t have to do it,” he said. “They’re great filmmakers and they’re beloved by the studios.”
Lee’s next film, which is scheduled to hit theaters in October, will be his remake of the Korean thriller Oldboy.
article by Chris Witherspoon via thegrio.com
Black Girls Code, the non-profit organization dedicated to teaching young women of color about computer science, technology and coding languages, has raised $109,357 and counting via Indiegogo.com for their 2013 10-city summer program, and hopes to raise $25,000 more by this evening, Friday, July 26, to provide this year’s Tech Divas with new equipment for their mobile apps workshop.
The summer tour kicks off August 3rd in Detroit, travels to Oakland with mobile app summer bootcamp August 5-9, then heads to Pittsburgh, Memphis, New York, Washington DC, Tallahassee, Dallas, Miami and Chicago on subsequent dates. To learn more about Black Girls Code, watch the video below, or go to Indiegogo.com. To register for the summer programs, go to blackgirlscode.com. Onward and upward!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x_htF4DmUc&w=560&h=315]
Related Stories: BlackGirlsCode Wins $50,000 Philanthropy Award
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Spike Lee has turned to Kickstarter to raise $1.25 million in funds for his next film. The filmmaker said the project will focus on human beings who are addicted to blood. “Funny, sexy, and bloody (and it’s not “Blacula”),” he added. Lee appealed to potential supporters by touting the film as counter to the current high-priced tentpoles.
via Spike Lee Joins Kickstarter: Seeks $1.25 Million | Variety
African-Americans have little-to-no representation in the technology sector, especially when it comes to dot-com businesses. Fortunately, William Michael Cunningham has created a platform specifically for African-Americans and women of all races.BlackCrowdFunding.net allows is a new crowdfunding platform that allows people to contribute to ventures created by African-Americans and/or women of all races.
In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Cunningham discussed the nature of his business. “Most people start a business by taking out loans on their houses or going to friends and family and raising money that way,” Cunningham said. “If you’re in a demographic where your housing wealth has been impacted significantly negatively, then that’s less of an option with respect to raising capital.”
Crowdfunding has been known to launch very successful projects, including the YouTube series “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl.” Cunningham said that crowdfunding presents a more promising option. Incase you’re unfamiliar with the term crowdfunding, it’s a method by which an entrepreneur can raise money for his or her start-up online by collecting small investments or donations from a large number of people. “The idea is that crowdfunding is a tool that can be used to get resources to low to moderate income communities in way that we haven’t seen before,” Cunningham said.
The site already has a number of ventures seeking funding, including an education on identity theft, a boutique, a garden, and a pride t-shirt, and more.
article by Maria Lloyd via techyville.com