Martialarts higher res

Here’s an upcoming project that should excite a lot of you, given its combined inspirations and elements – a web series titled “Black Kungfu Chick” from creator Rae Shaw. It’s what the title suggests it’s about, but it’s also much more than that. So I’ll guide you to the details about the project via the press release below, which also includes a pitch video from Ms. Shaw who is trying to raise $20,000 with 34 days to go until the campaign ends (5% of that has been contributed thus far, so there’s still a long way to go; but, with a full month left in the campaign, certainly possible to reach, and even surpass its goal, with your help).

Black Kungfu Chick is a transmedia coming-of-age web series that follows a young black girl from South Los Angeles who learns kungfu from her Chinese American premed teacher to protect her community from local menaces. Along the way she pursues a path to becoming a doctor and faces many challenges but with martial arts she discovers the strength of not only her body, but her heart, spirit and mind.

A narrative that is born from elements of The Karate Kid, A Different World and martial arts films like A Touch of Zen, Black Kungfu Chick is a new approach to the martial arts genre which seeks to look at the spiritual, intuitive, and mental approaches to kung fu, tai chi and qi gong. The main character is an ordinary girl who is trying to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor, but must learn how to balance her own ambitions with the desires to help her family and community.

Black Kungfu Chick is written by director producer Rae Shaw who recently completed shooting a trailer for the feature project The Repass. Rae is an award winning filmmaker and her films have screened at festivals including Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival, BFI International Film Festival and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series. She is also the recipient of Woodrow Wilson National Foundation Fellowship, Frances E Williams Fellowship, and Delaware Division of the Arts Fellowship among others.

The talented team is also joined by emerging cinematographer Eli Arenson (Hourglass, Killing Time), brand and transmedia specialist Jainhardan Sathyan (Pepsico, Kellogg), and designer and coproducer Prarthana Joshi (Vaatsaru, Black and Shiny Things). The cast includes Jim Lau (Fear the Walking Dead, Jurassic World), Ace Gibson (Masters of Sex, Grey’s Anatomy), Ester Jiron (Master of None, Luke Cage), Tiffanny Nelson (Crenshaw Nights, Bula’s Fortune), and Ray Auxais, (Bones, CSI NY) and introducing La’Raia Gribble.

As a transmedia project, the narrative of Black Kungfu Chick is designed to be released on multiple platforms and formats: YouTube; a smart app that will include the episodes, a game, and interactive blog; and, a comic. The creators are eyeing partners at tech and new media companies as well as girl empowering groups in Africa and the US with the intent of creating a learning curriculum that would utilize all facets of the narrative and focus on improving the decision making skills of young girls. Other themes addressed in the transmedia project include healthy eating, STDs and community gardening.

The funding campaign for Black Kungfu Chick is on the film only funding platform Seed and Spark which is an 80% or nothing platform meaning that creators need to reach at least 80% of their goal of $20,000 (or $16,000) to access any of the funding. Rewards include membership to the BKC Fan Club, a handmade leather bracelet, and downloads of various content and media. The filmmakers are seeking $20,000 to complete the pilot episode with a reach goal of $45,000 to complete two additional episodes. The shoot is currently scheduled for July 2016. Launched on Tuesday May 10, the campaign continues through June 24.

Website: http://www.blackkungfuchick.com

Campaign: https://www.seedandspark.com/studio/black-kungfu-chick#community

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackkungfuchick/

Twitter: @blackungfuchick

Tumblr: http://blackkungfuchick.tumblr.com

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