Seed&Spark continues to kick ass. With the highest campaign success rate of any crowdfunding site and its focus on inclusion and diversity, the platform is already helping give the industry a much-needed makeover. Now Seed&Spark has announced the results of its “Keep It Colorful” crowdfunding rally. Pilots for 27 television series developed by creators of color were funded, and nearly $250,000 raised.
“Approximately 50 content creators of color entered the crowdfunding rally with 27 pilots meeting their financial goal and moving forward into production,” a press release detailed. Hailing from genres including comedy, drama, sci-fi, and animation, “12 pilots reached an additional goal of gathering 500 or more audience members which qualified them for grants and mentorship.”
Two pilots were selected for additional grants and development deals: “Pink” and “Black Girl Training.” The former, an hourlong drama series about a group of 10-year-old African-American girls living in Washington D.C., received a development deal and additional $10,000 grant from Color Farm Media, and the latter, a drama about a 21-year-old African-American woman in the Midwest, received a development and production deal and an additional $15,000 grant from Black&Sexy TV.
The other ten finalists will have the opportunity to work with mentors. They’ll receive guidance from industry pros such as “Get Out” actress Erika Alexander, “Precious” star Gabourey Sidibe, and Mary Ann Marino, who serves as head of physical production for Amazon Studios Original Movies.
“We are showing the industry there is a very solid and viable pipeline of talent and projects from creators of color even if they are not yet represented by agencies or don’t have deals with studios,” said Emily Best, founder and CEO of Seed&Spark. “We are going beyond the notion of ‘inclusion’ to just change the entertainment industry to reflect the world in which we actually live by getting work made and seen.”
To be considered for production deals and the additional grants, pilot crowdfunding campaigns needed to launch on Seed&Spark on September 4 and end October 4. Campaigns needed to meet their crowdfunding goal and gather a minimum of 500 campaign followers. Finalists who met the required criteria had to post a 30-second video pitch about how the additional cash grant and production partnership would be used.
Check out videos from “Pink” and “Black Girl Training’s” Seed&Spark pages below.
