Netflix contributes millions towards Black Creatives Empowerment

Netflix have today announced a commitment of $400 000 USD (approx. R5.5 million) in the form of a grant and creation of scholarships to extend the support for Black representation. This will specifically be in the Film & TV industry to the creative ecosystem in South Africa.

The Black Creatives Empowerment Fund will be implemented in a two-pronged approach: the first being a $100,000 (approx. R1.4 million) grant in benefit of The Independent Black Filmmakers Collective NPC (IBFC), with the second being $300,000 (approx. R4.4 million) designated towards funding full scholarships at higher education institutions in South Africa to support the formal qualification and training of aspiring Black creatives in the film and TV disciplines.

“We recognise that being part of the local creative community in South Africa also comes with responsibilities, in particular the need to develop the talent pipeline and give new voices the chance to be heard. Talent development is extremely important to us and we will continue to work with the industry in South Africa to support and develop new opportunities to grow the creative community.” – Ben Amadasun, Director of Content for Netflix in Africa.

$300,000 (approx. R4.4 million) designated to provide financial assistance through full scholarships and graduate debt relief at higher educational institutions in South Africa so as to support the formal qualification and training of aspiring Black creatives in the film and TV disciplines.

Institutions where qualifying students will be able to apply for scholarships and where debt relief opportunities will be available include: University of Cape Town; University of the Witwatersrand; University of Johannesburg; University of Pretoria; University of KwaZulu-Natal; Cape Peninsula University of Technology; Durban University of Technology; Tshwane University of Technology; AFDA; Boston Media House; AACA Film and Acting School; and CityVarsity.

“We are delighted to have offered this opportunity and established such a strong partnership with Netflix who share our intention to build capacity in the black filmmaker and practitioner value chain. It is through such intentional and systematic approaches to empowerment that we will build effective economic participation. We thank Netflix for walking this road with us.” – Azania Muendane, Co-Chairperson, IBFC

Post Views: 0

#Ben Amadasun #Black Creatives Empowerment #Netflix #Netflix in Africa

Posted By

Thabiso Moloi

With many, many years of PR, digital & influencer marketing work under his belt, Thabiso has worked on a great number of technology, business and consumer brands. In addition, he has become obsessed with most things under the sun including music, series, sports, movies etc which he now regularly writes about. You can find him on Twitter: @Thabz_14