LOS ANGELES, CA September 3, 2021 – Chromatic Black is proud to announce their partnership with Marvel’s Falcon and The Winter Soldier producer and writer Malcolm Spellman and a host of industry innovators to launch the Ida B. Wells Fund.
This $100,000 investment will help black creatives to produce independent film and documentary projects. With this opportunity, ten storytellers will receive a total of $10,000 each for a unique creation of their individual short film or documentary.
The fund is purposefully named after investigative journalist, educator, and political activist, Ida B. Wells. Inspired by her philosophy… “building an equitable society is a creative act… The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
With a total of $100,000 in ten creative projects, Chromatic Black and the jurists will critique projects that embody dominant social and historical narratives with artistic attributes such as commitment, communal meaning, disruption, cultural integrity, emotional experience, risk-taking, coherence, openness, stickiness, and resourcefulness.
Angela Harmon, co-founder of Chromatic Black describes this project as “a cultural moment. This fund represents creative yet pragmatic thinking and effective practice when it comes to supporting chromatic black artistry and early investment in disruptive filmmakers.”
Emil Pinnock, co-founder of Chromatic Black, states “This is not a ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative’. It is an investment in our most promising and prolific storytellers – moving us beyond a focus on iconic power toward institutional power.”
Alongside Malcolm Spellman, other jurists include: Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte (“The Kids Are Alright”), an Academy and Emmy Award nominated, Golden Globe winning producer; Paula J. Giddings, 2014 recipient of the LA Times History Book Prize for “Ida: A Sword Among Lions” optioned by Disney; Ian Duff, actor – known for his roles in Judas and the Black Messiah, The Republic of Sarah, and New Amsterdam; Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Grammy winning and Emmy nominated director/producer of the critically acclaimed film “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”; Jewell Jackson McCabe, feminist, business executive, and activist, Founder of The National Coalition of 100 Black Women movement; Julie Dash, award winning writer, director, and producer of “Daughters of the Dust”, which was the first full-length film by an African American woman to obtain critical acclaim and international theatrical release in the U.S.; and Gloria Steinem, writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organizer.
This opportunity is open to storytellers who help us make meaning of our world and deepen our collective literacy around liberatory justice. Winners will be announced on September 15, 2021. For more information, visit www.idabwellsfund.com.
Chromatic Black is powered by a community of 10,000 Black artists/activists, technologists, community organizers and journalists working to build cultural power through the reclamation of story as a public common. Founded by Abeni Bloodworth, Angela Harmon, Ian Robertson and Emil Pinnock, Chromatic Black is building cultural power through the disruption of the master narrative through good storytelling. Equity architects and narrative strategists, Chromatic Black along with other movement leaders are seeding the conditions for transformative justice and new societal structures that help us to close the gap between our deepest aspirations and our material reality.
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