Harlem-based Black Public Media (BPM), the country’s only nonprofit dedicated only to media content highlighting the black experience and one of the backers behind Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro, The Murder of Emmett Till and Daughters of the Dust, is re-opening its 360 Incubator+ competition program.

BPM wants producers for nonfiction broadcast projects, including series pilots and individual programs, as well as producers of scripted or nonfiction digital web series to enter in the nonprofit’s third round of 360 Incubator+ competition program. Up to 10 teams can enter for a chance to win $150,000 in funding to help produce pilots or funding reels for their digital or broadcast projects.

Participants in the program will receive tailored training and mentorship in areas such as script writing, fundraising, proposal development, outreach, distribution options and more. They will also be able to work toward completing their pilot or funding reel as well as a full project proposal and in-depth fundraising strategy. Producers with projects in pre-production under BPM’s areas of focus, such as the environment, health in black communities, mass incarceration, LGBTQ issues and immigration may also compete in the current round of funding.

The producers chosen to become 360 Incubator+ Fellows will attend the boot camp and incubator from January 11, 2019, through January 25, 2019, in New York (with travel elsewhere during that timeframe). Afterward, producers will return home and work on their projects for nine weeks with mentorship before attending the Pitch Black pitching session April 4. An awards reception will take place April 5, where winners will be announced.

Past winners of the program include Dominique Taylor’s Read Awakening, which premiered July 23 as a PBS Digital Studio’s Facebook Watch digital miniseries. Other winners are POPS by Garland McLaurin, which premiered as part of ITVS’ Indie Lens Storycast, Nosaireme Garrick’s My Africa, which premiered in 2017 as part of BPM’s public television series AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange and Chanelle Aponte Pearson’s So Young So Pretty So White, which received funding from ITVS.

“We are excited to offer the third round of the 360 Incubator+. With the success of past winning projects like My Africa Is and POPS, and the recent release of Read Awakening, we hope this round brings just as many exciting new projects and talented artists to public media,” said BPM Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz.

For those wanting to apply, Black Public Media is hosting a series of informational webinars August 8 at 12 p.m. and August 15 at 12 p.m. Visit blackpublicmedia.org to register. Past webinars can be viewed on BPM’s YouTube channel.

The deadline to submit your project is August 31 at 11:59 p.m. BPM will announce those chosen to participate as fellows November 30. For more on the program, visit https://blackpublicmedia.org/360-incubator-fund.

Black Public Media

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