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'Black Netflix' KweliTV Partners With Ebony and JET on Shows, Contests

By Kelly Bauer | February 11, 2016 7:58am
 KweliTV, named for the Swahili word for
KweliTV, named for the Swahili word for "truth," will stream videos, documentaries, cartoons and TV shows that focus on "the stories, issues and culture of the global black community," according to its website.
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DOWNTOWN — Chicago-based Ebony and JET magazines are helping promote filmmakers of color through a partnership with a streaming service dubbed the "black Netflix."

KweliTV, named for the Swahili word for "truth," streams videos, documentaries, cartoons and TV shows that focus on "the stories, issues and culture of the global black community," according to its website. Ebony and JET have launched a contest to find filmmakers to be featured on the streaming service, which is currently in its beta test phase.

"Ebony.com has always been in support of black filmmakers ... black TV producers, people behind the scenes," said Kyra Kyles, who runs Ebony and JET's websites. "As we saw with the whole #OscarsSoWhite debacle, there's clearly a need for people of color to be able to represent themselves in film or web series, just in general in pop culture."

 KweliTV features a variety of documentaries, movies and TV shows that focus on black culture and the issues affecting African-Americans.
KweliTV features a variety of documentaries, movies and TV shows that focus on black culture and the issues affecting African-Americans.
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Screenshot/Kweli.TV

For the first contest, filmmakers are asked to submit an 8- to 20-minute-long video that follows the theme of celebrating black culture. The winner will be written about on Ebony.com and will have a yearlong streaming deal with KweliTV.

The deadline to submit entries online is 11:59 p.m. Monday, and entry is free.

Future contests will feature themes such as black female empowerment and anti-police brutality, Kyles said. JET and Ebony hope to make the contests quarterly as they push for more diversity behind the scenes of movies and TV shows.

“We are empowering those types of people to come out and present themselves to the larger world. I think that the technology has just unlocked so much potential,” Kyles said. “We have the power to reverse some of what we’re seeing in the film and television industry.”

Ebony and JET's videos — including a roundtable on "Chi-Raq" and pieces on the death of black teen Laquan McDonald — are also being featured on the streaming service. A docu-series focusing on cities with large black populations will be released in March, Kyles said, and the magazines will do videos leading up to the Oscars, covering topics like #OscarsSoWhite and how to make Hollywood more diverse.

KweliTV subscriptions start at $2.99 per month during the beta test period, though there is an option to pay $19.99 for the year with more benefits. Users can also pay 99 cents to watch one video. Those prices will rise after the beta phase ends and the steaming service officially launches later this year.

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