For more than four decades, Black Public Media has maintained a proud legacy of supporting media makers who create content that reflect the diversity and nuance of the global Black experience. Throughout the year, we offer a range of funding and training, distribution opportunities to our creative community.
Scroll down to discover the BPM opportunities currently accepting submissions.
BLACK MEDIA STORY SUMMIT GUIDELINES
Black Public Media supports the development of visionary content creators and distributes stories about the global Black experience to inspire a more equitable and inclusive future.
The March 2023 edition of the Black Media Story Summit provided an opportunity for creatives to connect, network, and brainstorm story ideas with key stakeholders in the fight to address COVID-19 and adult vaccine equity in Black and Latinx communities. The Story Summit goal is to inspire the creation of media content that encourages our people to embrace the communal and personal health benefits of vaccination. This initiative addresses two of the eight best practices identified by the National Network to Innovate for COVID-19 and Adult Vaccine Equity (NNICE): Mass Public Health/Education Campaign and Social Media Diffusion of Knowledge.
The guidelines to submit a project proposal that focuses on addressing distribution, administration, and/or uptake of COVID-19, influenza and other identified adult vaccines among Michigan and Eastern North Carolina's Black and Latino residents are below.
The projects can be one of the following:
- Digital Short (Less than 15:01)
- Music Video
- Podcast (Less than 15:01)
- Public Service Announcement
- Social Media Campaign / Series (total series less than 15:01)
- Visual Media Art Installation (i.e. Digital Billboard)
- VR/XR Project (Less than 15:01)
The project must focus on one of the following Regions: Michigan or North Carolina
It must also include and include some of these elements:
- Environmental: social and cultural norms or health, economic, educational, and social conditions related to immunization.
- Community and Clinical: settings in which social relationships occur, such as a school or a neighborhood, or settings where healthcare is provided.
- Interpersonal: social and personal relationships with neighbors, colleagues, healthcare providers, friends, loved ones, or others relating to immunization/vaccination.
- Individual: attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors relating to immunization/vaccination.
The selected proposal(s) that demonstrates their work can be completed by OCTOBER 2023 will receive an award of up to $60,000.00.
To be eligible, the applicant must:
- Be the project’s producer or director;
- Be a US citizen, or legal resident;
- Must have a track record of publicly distributed work.(i.e. Museums, Festivals, Streamed, Broadcast);
- Include a person of color in Key creative personnel (producer, director, writer, or editor);
- Hold artistic, budgetary and editorial control, and must own the copyright of the proposed project.
Please note, though anyone may apply, BPM’s review process will prioritize applicants currently living in or from Michigan or Eastern North Carolina.
Projects or production entities that are foreign-based, owned or controlled are NOT eligible. Neither are industrial or promotional films.
Application Deadline: Monday, April 3, 2023, 11:59 PM EST – NO EXTENSIONS WILL BE ALLOWED
Announcement of the award recipient will be no later than May 2023.
Final Product must be completed by October 2023.
RIGHTS
Projects selected for funding will be eligible to receive BPM funding, subject to a fully executed contract. The contract shall be negotiated in good faith, except that the distribution and licensing terms will be non-exclusive, with the non-exclusive or shared right to package, schedule and promote the program across any and all media platforms. BPM makes no expressed or implied commitment to financially support a project until an agreement is signed by both the applicant and BPM. However, as a condition of any BPM funding, producers must agree to the following non-negotiable terms and conditions:
- Executive Producer credit to Black Public Media;
- Financial books and records related to the production must be maintained for three (3) years following the receipt of funds by the producers.
- Producers must comply with all equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination laws and policies, payola/plugola requirements and other applicable federal and state rules and regulations.
AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange has delighted audiences for over 10 years. Its stories are as beautiful as they are poignantly told. Black Public Media (BPM) is committed to bringing to the American public dynamic stories that celebrate the art, culture, history and creativity of people of African descent from the US and around the world.
We are looking for strong stories that will capture the breadth and scope of the diversity of the Black experiences. Programs can be about music, art, human rights, sports, politics, health, or anything in between. Programs should be accessible to a broad audience, have the potential for a national broadcast, and can be used for effective outreach and engagement activities to reach audiences beyond the public television broadcast. Completed programs must be able to meet PBS technical and editorial standards. We seek primarily documentaries but will consider narrative shorts that are 30 minutes or less. Submissions are accepted year-round.
For programs selected for AfroPop, Black Public Media provides competitive licensing rates for broadcast and/or digital platform distribution.
AfroPoP is produced in partnership with WORLD Channel for broadcast and/or digital release.