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The nonprofit content accelerator for BIPOC creators has selected six Fellows and 10 Residents, including Indie Spirit nominee Raven Jackson, out of more than 400 applicants.
By Rebecca Sun
Senior Editor, Diversity & Inclusion
Rideback Rise, the nonprofit content accelerator announced last summer by Rideback producer Dan Lin to help level the playing field for BIPOC creators, has revealed its inaugural cohort.
Six Fellows will each receive a $50,000 grant, while 10 Residents will each receive $10,000 in funding to develop their own film and television projects, which they will own and be free to set up or sell anywhere. The Fellows also have access to an Intellectual Property Fund to help them obtain rights to material as well as a Visuals Fund to help them create high-quality presentations and sizzle reels to pitch their projects. Rise is supported by a growing mix of private and institutional donors, led by the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and Doris Duke Foundation.
During the yearlong program, Rise seeks to foster a community among the inaugural cohort of Fellows and Rise, encouraging them to learn about and provide feedback on one another’s projects. They also will attend networking events and other Rise programming and receive guidance from industry executives and creatives, starting with Lin, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law creator Jessica Gao and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse co-writer and co-director Phil Lord and Kemp Powers, who all spoke at the cohort’s kickoff event last Saturday at Rideback Ranch.
“We are tremendously excited to have identified this inspiring and diverse group of talented writers and filmmakers, and we’re committed to not only supporting the development of tehir projects but also to driving successful outcomes as these series and features enter the studio and streamer marketplace,” Rideback Rise head of content Tracey Bing said in a statement. “Our ultimate objective at Rise is to get these projects made, to normalize more stories about people of color onscreen and to reshape public opinion wherever possible, using the immense power of popular entertainment.”
The six 2023 Rideback Rise Fellows are:
The ten 2023 Rideback Rise Residents are:
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