Leslie Fields-Cruz heads up the nation’s only nonprofit organization dedicated solely to media content about the black experience. As the executive director of the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC), the Harlem-based media arts organization, she has made some major moves.
Under Fields-Cruz, NBPC has expanded its mission to serve not only documentary filmmakers but media-makers of all types in a new media environment, from broadcast to Web to mobile. Launched in October 2014, NBPC 360, the organization’s incubator and fund, identified and selected both broadcast and Web documentary series and a short narrative Web series. Producers were awarded between $50,000 and $100,000 to develop their pilots. The group is launching year two of its 360 Incubator and Fund as they are looking for the next innovative stories about black people. The deadline is March 28 and the 360 guidelines and applications are available at www.bit.ly/NBPC360-2016. NBPC also produces the television documentary series AfroPop, hosted this year by FOX’s Empire breakout star Jussie Smollett.
Fields-Cruz is working to expand the organization’s mission to serve artists in all types of media from traditional broadcast to Web to mobile platforms. For the first time last year, NBC hosted a hackathon focusing on gamification in partnership with Silicon Harlem. Teams of student coders were paired up with eight producers from NBPC 360, bringing together storytellers from the program with technologists over 48 hours to create games around content from their TV and Web series. NBPC also conducted Webinar Wednesdays where they train new producers on key aspects of pulling together a film or Web series and developing an outreach campaign beyond just having screenings around the country.
Also in the works is a succession of new funding priorities. Over the next two years, NBPC will primarily fund documentary and Web content exploring issues of race and around social justice, with an emphasis on black male achievement, the international black woman, blacks and the environment and economic inequity. The group will award productions with seed money as well as finishing funds.
With current headlines turning the spotlight on the perception of and plight of blacks in this country, the role our media-makers play in providing the American public with stories of the varied black experience is as important as ever.
caught up Fields-Cruz to discuss her role in stewarding black content to public television and beyond.BlackEnterprise.com: How did the NBPC 360 incubator and fund come about, what was the catalyst?
Fields-Cruz: In 2013, the board and staff embarked on a strategic planning session. We needed to re-evaluate our mission and look at the programs we are offering black filmmakers. We needed think innovatively about what we can offer. We thought that an incubator would be a great opportunity. We have always done professional development but let’s figure out a way we can combine that with substantial rewards so that producers can walk away with money and a much stronger support system. We wanted to help them get the funding or financing to be closer to completion of their projects.
What type of artists or filmmakers do you seek to participate in the incubator?
We had about 160 applications last year and that was whittled down to 25 after the first round and out of that group we selected eight projects for
the incubator. Usually we have 10 but last year we chose eight. We are not looking for those filmmakers who have just finished school and who don’t have too many credits to their name. [Rather], we are looking for the emerging producer or mid-career producer who has completed a film and it has had a broadcast or has had a very successful festival run. And they are looking to expand and build upon their career; they need additional support and to expand their network in the industry. We always had independent producers contacting NBPC and seeking funding. But we had not had an open call for about five years. So a lot of this year was me meeting and speaking to independent producers and letting them know what was coming down the pike. We are actively trying to bring new talent to work in the PBS system. We know that public television is very interested in [hiring] the next generation of talent and producing content that reflects the changing demographics.(Continued on next page)
The organization is seeking programs that explore issues of race and around social justice. Does that include such movements as Black Lives Matter and black transgender women’s rights?
That is one of the beauties of the work that we do at NBPC. We have a broad category in terms of race and social justice. There are independent producers out there who are making all types of programming, whether it is for broadcast or the Web, documentaries or narrative shorts. We are seeking all of those stories under the banner of race and social justice. It could be a piece focusing on events in Ferguson [Missouri] or what is happening in Alabama around voter rights and DMVs being closed in black neighborhoods. Those broad categories allow us to navigate through a wealth of stories to identify the ones that we think work best for us.
Do you think that now more than ever independent producers are using various platforms to engage, to get people to act?
Arts and social activism has always played a role in American culture, particularly in African American culture through our music and visual arts. I think with changes in technology and multiple platforms, we are really at a point where activism can engage with multiple constituencies on multiple levels in a way that it could not before. A musician with incredible lyrics can release his or her song as a video on the Internet and it can be shared and mashed up. For artists who are exploring stories not ready for traditional broadcast, their film or video can have a life as a Web piece that also has a live [offline] interactive [component].
What is the biggest challenge facing producers, is it still access to capital?
Yes, it will always be access to capital. There is money out there, but it is not easy to get to and it is not easy to find. There is definitely a process of networking that independent producers have to do. Some do it very well, others do not. It [also] depends on the type of film you are making whether it is a documentary or a narrative or a Web series. There is funding and then there is financing. Many producers of colors do not
come from places of [financial] means so they still have to have jobs in order to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Running around and trying to find money especially for your first project is difficult. What we are trying to do through 360 is to seed some of these early stage projects, but also at the same time connect these independent producers with people who can help them get additional funding. Even though there are multiple streams of distribution, the second challenge is marketing and promotions. The issue is awareness, letting people know that this story exists. It is a challenge because there is so much content that is being made and that are so many ways that people can watch it, but how do they even know that something exists. That takes money and creativity.The Corporation for Public Broadcasting continues to be your main funding source but what creative sources of funding are you exploring?
We are looking at corporate sponsorship. We are mining our current earned income stream. We do fiscal sponsorship for very select projects but we are considering an expansion of that. There is a fee that is attached to that. We are exploring opportunities around distribution to entities like the Discovery Chanel or even Netflix that are seeking black content and the kind of content that we support. We are looking at how we can create a distributions stream for entities looking for interesting programming content. We are looking at exploring other kind of content that may not be for public broadcasting but for a network like HBO.