Visibility Equals Power

Visibility equals power. Period. You cannot find solutions using the same consciousness that created the problem.  Can the unseen filmmaker claim to exist in a world where Main Street starves and Wall Street eats?  Not at all.  You cannot change a dream from inside, you must step outside of the dream to change it. The question becomes how do multicultural image-makers increase their media visibility in order to connect directly with communities who care most.  My work with Project Catalyst continues to tackle this pressing issue. We’re pioneering a digital settlement in the wild west of the web, offering an uncompromising signature destination for art passionate, tech savvy, socially aware, multicultural millennials who yearn for a mediascape where creators and connoisseurs can connect, voice, see, and hear fresh perspectives reflecting our diverse society.  

Artel Great, Project Catalyst, Technology and the Future of Multicultural Entertainment

Recently, I was invited to participate in Urbanworld Digital, a New Media program held at the HBO Theater in New York City.  The one-day event served as a digital media conference that focused on addressing the impact of technology on the creation and marketing of new media content. Executives ranging from HBO to YouTube and various film and media professionals shared their expertise as a primer for the 18th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival. 

My presentation highlighted the role of Project Catalyst in ushering in a brighter future for multicultural entertainment. Our disruptive model thrives outside of the dominant system. Through our advancements in new technology and strategic focus on audience building we find ourselves at a moment impregnated with empowering possibilities.

By focusing on real-world issues, we’ve found real-world answers with the Project Catalyst Multicultural Movie & Music App. We’ve heard from a global audience on 6 different continents now spanning 32 countries and counting. Take a look at the map below to see where the app's growth is most rapid. Project Catalyst App users around the world have demonstrated their interest in liberating the multicultural image from the shadows of dominant media culture.  We are currently working to uncover even more solutions. My commitment is to bringing communities progressive content curated to empower, illuminate, and inspire.  Together we can open new windows of opportunity for content creators to expand the reach of their work and for diverse audiences to stay on the cutting edge of indie film, music, and art.  Together we can increase our media visibility--- not only for this generation, but for the sake of a better multicultural future. 

The 32 countries that are currently watching content on the Project Catalyst  Multicultural Movie & Music App

So if you’re only watching broadcast, cable TV, or Hollywood film, you’re missing out on really amazing artistic works. Take control of your image and download the Project Catalyst App. You’ll see a better world. 

CRI Fellow Artel Great Talks Project Catalyst & the Dilemma of Multicultural Media Distribution

2014 CRI Fellow Artel Great is a thought leader on media visibility and an advocate for the improved representation of both multicultural content creators and audiences. As a PhD candidate in Cinema Studies at NYU, a filmmaker with degrees from UCLA, and a CRI Fellow, Artel has been tirelessly instigating positive change on both sides of the camera.

During his CRI Fellowship, he has dedicated himself to Project Catalyst - an app that delivers content produced by multicultural filmmakers to multicultural audiences. Through Project Catalyst , Artel is working to give voice to often-marginalized artists and to satisfy a largely underserved audience's demand for better, more resonant entertainment . In this interview, writer/director/producer Kiara C. Jones talks with Artel about Project Catalyst - from the philosophy behind its development to how to download the app for free. 

Artel claims that "visibility is power" and we wholeheartedly agree. If you do, too, share the interview and download the app! 

Do Multicultural Movies Make Money?

Why does it seem as if Hollywood is always surprised when a Black film comes in #1 at the box office? The most recent example being, No Good Deed starring Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson. The film's $24 million showing out earned the blockbuster superhero fantasy film Guardians of the Galaxy.  

When will Hollywood ditch the fallacious logic that says diverse films don't sell?  A

nd when will they begin to see the value in multicultural experiences, images, and stories?  According to an insightful study conducted by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American studies at UCLA, films that have more diversity in the cast bring in more cash at the box office.  "Those [films] with a relatively high amount of [multicultural] involvement (21–30 percent) on screen posted the highest median global box office receipts ($160.1 million). In contrast, films with the least minority involvement (10 percent or less) posted much lower box office receipts ($68.5 million)."

So why the counterfeit surprise when Black films do well on opening weekend?  If Hollywood is truly about the bottom line (as most will readily admit) how can such stark numbers be overlooked?  Seems odd for billion dollar corporations to be so naïve.  And if it's not an oversight, perhaps a lack of social value would be more appropriate?

Throughout our national tour to launch the Project Catalyst App, we have encountered many valuable lessons. We got off "On the Good Foot" in New York City.  We engaged with diverse communities in Chicago about "How to Solve 2 of the Biggest Problems in Multicultural Media Distribution."  And in Los Angeles we gathered feedback and put all of our ideas to the test launching the app in the heart of Hollywood on the backlot at Raleigh Studios.  Our goal was to determine once and for all if multicultural audiences would turn out to support diverse underground artistry.  The red carpet event was sophisticated and vibrant.  Guests of all colors and ethnicities came together and shared knowledge and ideas.  I designed the event as part industry mixer, part app presentation, and part film screening in the studio’s Charlie Chaplin Theater. Guests were treated to the finest libations and the delectable soul fusion fare of Artistic Endeavors-LA.

The turnout was incredible. So far Los Angeles has been our largest event resulting in the most app downloads in a single outing.  Way to represent!  Attendees included celebrities Nelsan Ellis (Get On Up, True Blood) and Craig Robinson (The Office), as well as studio execs, producers, actors, directors, musicians, entrepreneurs, journalists, and other art enthusiasts. 

During my presentation, I encouraged the audience to recognize their own agency to act and change the images they consume.  I reminded them that we are all apart of a bigger story that has to do with reinvesting and making a contribution to the culture.  Above all, the visual media we consume should reflect us, relate to us, stimulate and energize us to be our very best.  That’s what it’s all about. 

So is there really a market for multicultural media?  Absolutely.  Are you kidding? Stevie Wonder could see it and show it to Ray Charles!  In fact, if the tremendous success of the Los Angeles App launch showed me anything it’s this--- when we come together we can make amazing things happen, and when we are aware of better entertainment options that reflect our true potential we will support it. 

Multicultural audiences have always been here.  Ask Oscar Micheaux, Melvin Van Peebles, Spike Lee, or even Tyler Perry for that matter.  The question is when will Hollywood wake up and ditch their antiquated logic?  Who knows.  The most important thing is the Project Catalyst App was designed to bring a poetic solution to this fifteen year stalemate. 

Since August we’ve reached audiences on 6 continents across 22 countries— and counting.  If you haven’t downloaded the app get it free here.  If you have the app already, share it with a friend or family member.  Help make a positive contribution to spread high quality multicultural stories.

Use the comment section below and tell me if you agree or disagree that a multicultural media market exists.

Great ideas can change the world, but it takes great people like you to make it happen.

Whatever Happened to Multicultural Cinema and Television?

Gone are the glorious days when television programs like: A Different World,  New York Undercover,  and Living Single graced the airwaves and stimulated the small screen.  These TV shows (among many others) reflected broader depictions of humanity for people of color, and expanded visions of the possible for millions of Americans.  Since the early 2000s there has been a steep decline in the production and distribution of diverse entertainment in Hollywood overall.

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And yet, it is important to note that the removal of multicultural films and television programs from mainstream screens has not removed the necessity for or the insatiable craving for multicultural images and stories from members of diverse communities.  Quite the contrary— the desire for diverse content has never been greater!

In fact, Black and Latina/o Americans watch 44% more film and television than other groups.  A recent survey conducted by the Harvard University School of Public Health reveals that, African-Americans rank the highest in terms of their dissatisfactionwith their current entertainment options.[1]  Historian Preston Lauterbach points out “entertainment is good for the soul [and] entertainment hits you the best and hits you the hardest when it’s directed toward you.”[2]   Can I get a witness?!?  However, for various reasons, dominant media continues to ignore multicultural audience members and this has created a tremendous void for people of color.

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Thus, with the support of the NYU CRI, I have officially launched Project Catalyst— an innovative transmedia organization that galvanizes amazing filmmakers, thinkers, and visual artists, to combine creative community building practices with cinema, art, and technology. Our mission is to provide alternative entertainment options for an ever-expanding multicultural population. Throughout my fellowship year, (and beyond) we will diligently work to put forth an exciting new model that unveils positive solutions to this very pressing dilemma.

 My aim through Project Catalyst is to cultivate an artistic and cinematic space rooted in the cultural affirmation of diverse communities.  A space where culture is produced and knowledge is shared that reflects the multivalent stories, experiences, and images that challenge traditional boundaries of what others conceive as valuable, not only for ourselves, but for the sake of generations of young people growing up in a media culture bereft of reflections of themselves.   Project Catalyst is a model for disruptive innovation.  A platform that fills the enormous gap in diversity that Hollywood has created.  We are providing a culturally expressive communal space that celebrates the spirit and diversity of American life!

Project Catalyst is an organization that serves as a vehicle for filmmakers who are creating works specifically for communities outside of Hollywood’s lamestream.  If you desire to reach a multicultural audience, we can help you. If you desire to share a powerful story from a traditionally underrepresented perspective we’re here to serve you.  Our goal is to amplify films, filmmakers and artists who create visual culture that possess high quality and strong humanistic voices, in order to transform our collective media invisibility into an undeniably visible cultural and cinematic force.

As always, I real(eyes) great ideas can changethe world, but it requires great people to make it happen. That’s why we need your help to share our message of positivity with others.  I thank you in advance for your continued support.  And I'm honored to take this amazing journey with you---

Check out our website for details on how you can become a CATALYST and spark your GREATNESS!!! www.projectcatalyst.com  Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/projectcatalyst  and follow us on Twitter: @pjcatalyst

[1]See Shereen Marisol Meraji’s article Black Americans Give Entertainment Options Failing Grades, NPR http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/06/07/189603116/black-americans-give-entertainment-options-failing-grades

[2] Ibid.

NYU Think-Tank Awards Artel Great Fellowship To Aid Underserved Film Communities | Shadow and Act

Indiewire's "Shadow and Act" featured 2014 CRI Fellow Artel Great this week, delivering an interview in which Artel outlined his plans to reach underserved film communities via his CRI Fellowship. NYU Think-Tank Awards Artel Great Fellowship To Aid Underserved Film Communities | Shadow and Act.

As part of his Fellowship, Artel founded Project Catalyst  to "meet the needs of passionate, emerging communities of color who yearn to be inspired by new productions of culture that they can take pride in." Project Catalyst will serve as a platform that leverages technology, performance, and exhibition in the service of media diversity.

This is just the beginning for Artel and Project Catalyst - stay tuned for updates and invitations to events!