The Power of Home and Community
At the recent BET Plus network’s For Your Consideration event at NeueHouse Hollywood, the vibe was electric and buzzed with excitement as the crowd celebrated the organization’s leadership and talent, who together have created more eligible content this year than any other in BET’s 44 year history. As performing artist Seraya shared after her performance with Kirk Franklin, “It was a timeeee!” Panelists such as luminary Robi Reed, SVP of Talent and Casting at BET Networks; Diarra Kilpatrick, creator of “Diarra from Detroit”; and the legendary director Oz Scott, contributed both powerfully and vulnerably, as discussions ranged from the challenges of being a creative—let alone a Black creative—to the ahhhh feeling of finding a home and community in production of shows such as The Miss Pat Show, Average Joe, and Kingdom Business.
“This is….where we have the conversations that move us forward,” said writer and EP Jordan E. Cooper of his work with The Ms. Pat Show. “Joy as resistance is part of our culture,” shared actor and producer Bryan Terrell Clark, and it was evident on the panels and on the rooftop, where activations from the networks’ Emmy-eligible shows represented the organization’s groundbreaking slate.
Collaborate or…Go Extinct
BET+ celebrates most Emmy-eligible projects, more proof that Nature knows, this, in contrast to the general entertainment industry slump and angst, as writers and actors try to find (and fund) work as strike wobbles continue, Wall Street worries about streaming shakes, and theater goers just aren’t going. Thousands are unemployed amid unprecedented disruption. Tensions are high. Variety’s Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis, who moderated several of the panels at the BET+ event, noted several times the diverse backgrounds of the featured creatives. Comparing the vibe at this FYC event to that at some recent meetings with entertainment industry friends, I could not help but think of the words of author and futurist Rebecca Costa who wrote in her book, The Watchman’s Rattle: Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction, “Any drive toward singularity is a drive toward extinction.” At present, there is not one part of our biosphere—that part of the planet that is habitable by humans—that is not under threat of extinction. We do not have time to waste.
The Results Are In
Following the 3.7 billion-year-old wisdom principles of Mother Nature, we know that the flip side of singularity is diversity and collaboration, which build healthy, vibrant, and resilient ecosystems. Clearly, the folks over at BET+ are on to this. The results are exciting and rich—and definitely worth your consideration.
Interested in driving innovation with the natural power of collaboration? Let’s chat.
