Page 4
June 12, 2019
Fostering Media Diversity
C ontinueD From F ront
the work itself and let the work
speak for itself,” she said.
Bell, who conceived the pro-
gram, is a northeast Portland na-
tive who grew up just blocks from
the former Portland Community
Media building, which was re-
launched as Open Signal in 2017.
Having worked in public media
on both coasts, as well as in the
production side of major motion
pictures like “The Departed” and
“Mystic River,” Bell was inspired
to create the incubator to address
the stark lack of black voices like
him in film and television indus-
tries.
The program provided its six
fellows with training, mentorship,
a stipend, and access to profes-
sional equipment. The filmmakers
met weekly on Friday evenings to
talk about their individual proj-
ects.
A talk from a lawyer about in-
tellectual property, watching then
dissecting popular films, and even
travelling to Seattle and other
places to work on video shoots,
were some of the other experienc-
es the fellows were able to have
through the program.
In addition, the program con-
nected the filmmakers to promi-
nent black storytellers in the in-
dustry, such as Ime Etuk, the first
assistant director of the Netflix
series “Everything Sucks” and the
upcoming feature film “The Water
Man,” directed by David Oyelowo.
Brooks expressed gratitude to
have been a part of the program
that Bell and Open Signal worked
together on to launch.
“I feel like it’s been really im-
pactful for myself just being able
to submerge myself back into film
work and help other people get
more invested in their own per-
sonal craft,” she said.
She added that Open Signal
continues to do a lot for people
who might not otherwise have ac-
cess to professional video equip-
ment or training, such as offering
community members free access
to industry standard equipment so
long as they become certified in
using it through one of their low-
cost classes beforehand and agree
to share their work on one of Open
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Black and women filmmakers, who are sorely underrepresented
nationwide in the television and movie industries, were the focus
of a yearlong fellowship for filmmakers of color, called Open Signal
Labs, which will premiere its first cohorts’ work this Friday.
Signal’s cable channels.
“It’s not just starting projects
and dropping them, but having the
bandwidth to continue to create
and bring people along that you
know are not always recognized,”
Brooks said.
Open Signal Marketing Direc-
tor Rebecca Burrell added that the
black filmmaker incubator is also
a notably unique endeavor.
“[A]s far as we know this the
only program of its kind in our
state, and potentially in the region,
maybe more. It’s a rare program
for sure,” Burrell said.
Kamal Sinclair, Senior Consul-
tant of the Future of Culture Ini-
tiative at the Sundance Institute
will give a talk at the screening to
contextualize the program’s im-
portance in the larger film indus-
try, Burrell added.
Black filmmakers made up
only 5 percent of the industry’s
top directors in the country in the
past decade, according to a 2018
University of Southern California
study, and a much smaller per-
centage were black women.
The screening will also feature
a behind-the-scenes documentary
short about program.
While the screening starts at
7pm, the doors open at 6:30pm
with a pre-show DJ set from VN-
PRT. The screening is at the Hol-
lywood Theatre on Ne Sandy Blvd
for $10 general admission and $75
VIP tickets.
An after party for $15 general
admission at Doug Fir Lounge
starts at 9pm and features perfor-
mances by local musicians Foun-
taine and Brown Calculus, with
DJ Kream of Oakland, California.
All proceeds for the event ben-
efit the next black filmmaker fel-
lowship cohort, in 2020.
More information, including
online ticket purchase options, can
be found at opensignalpdx.org.
2019 SCHOLARSHIP
APPLICATION PACKETS
Are available to:
High School Grads, College Students
And Adults Cont. Educ.
PACKETS CAN BE REQUESTED AT
Patriciaanntrice@gmail.com
Or by phone ~ 503 283-6312
For more information contact
Elizabeth F. Richard or Patricia A. Trice
at 503 284-0535
THE APPLICATION DEADLINE
IS MIDNIGHT, JUNE 15, 2019
The Della Mae Johnson
Scholarship Foundation
2216 NE Killingsworth
Portland, OR 97211