Black Sands Entertainment Calls for Change in Biased Film Productions
A majority of films today only rely on a leading black cast to discuss topics of slavery or segregation. While it’s important to remember the millions who lost their lives to an injustice, African American’s would rather see themselves as leads in other genres as well. The entertainment industry is taking baby steps towards diversification, as shown in notable films such as Bad Boys, Soul, Girls Trip, and Us. However, the speed in which the industry is moving towards inclusion is painstakingly slow, and it’s up to black-owned film companies and black directors and filmmakers to help speed up the process.
Black Sands Entertainment is working towards becoming the front runners for diversifying the blockbuster film industry. Founded by marital partners Manuel Godoy and Geiszel Godoy in Birmingham, Alabama, the startup began as a publishing company releasing chapter books, children’s books, and comics for black audiences. One of its popular publishing series, Mori’s Family Adventures, is targeted towards children and follows a modern African American family that travels the globe to learn about local culture. Its comic series and BSE’s current focus for animation, Black Sands: The Second Kingdoms, details a young prince’s journey to become a king in a fictional African kingdom. Through the prince’s journey, he is faced with many trials and tribulations that test his ability to rule. The sci-fi action-adventure is destined to be a hit and has gained a loyal following, eagerly awaiting the series release.
BSE turned heads in 2020 after declaring war against top production companies and denying investing offers from major firms, aiming to find sufficient funding without sacrificing their integrity. BSE’s need to remain independent stems from a long history of production companies silencing black voices. Disney, one of the top global film production companies, has only released four animated feature films with black leads, those being Into the Spiderverse, Bebe’s Kids, Soul, and Princess and The Frog. Among its numerous subsidiaries, Marvel is the direct rival to Black Sands Entertainment. Marvel is a powerhouse film company with an enormous fan base. Still, it’s difficult to ignore the backlash their films receive for whitewashing their characters and depowering POC characters. Compared to the comics, POC characters are rendered as tokenistic, useless side characters. After two failed attempts to raise funds from 2015-2018, earning just under $100,000, the brand blew up in 2020, raising over one million dollars in December 2020.
Black Sands represents a range of skin tones, focusing on darker complexions. They promise that they will change the entertainment industry for the better. Black Sands Entertainment is reshaping animation and guiding social norms away from placing African Americans in struggle roles. With the help of BSE, we are one step closer to proper representation for the black community. Black Sands Entertainment has great promise and will fill the void that today’s production companies aren’t acknowledging. I can’t wait for the day that I sit in a movie theatre, eagerly awaiting their newest film, feeling appreciative for BSE and their contributions to the film industry.
