RECLAIMING BLACK STORIES
BRIELLE URSSERY: We all know that the OTT marketplace, be it SVOD or AVOD, is very crowded. But there’s not that much content. Content owners are hoarding what they produce for their own platforms, and the little out there that is able to be picked up on a revenue-sharing basis is not exclusive. What I found – especially working at Roku – was that many Black-owned media companies would reach out to us FEED: What are the advantages to Mansa being an AVOD platform? “THERE ARE VERY FEW AVOD PLATFORMS INVESTING IN ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING” to pitch FAST channels and have the same or very similar libraries. Likewise, when you turn on Pluto TV, Zumo or Roku, the FAST line-up is all the same channels. There is little originality in programming in the AVOD space, and there are very few AVOD platforms investing in original programming. Roku used Quibi to get into that space, for example. One of the advantages of Mansa coming into the AVOD space is it gives newer and smaller brands the opportunity to afford content. You can only do rev-share if you’re AVOD, so it also makes the app and the experience affordable, accessible and attractive to our audience.
“Why Mansa? I’ve experienced what it is to be Black on three continents. I was born in England to Nigerian parents, lived in Nigeria until my teenage years and now I am raising my own family in the US. “As a young boy living in Nigeria, what I saw locally as a representation of myself was curated, governed and distributed by people who looked like me. That was a powerful thing to experience, but even back then the influx and influence of western entertainment was in full effect. This reality has only been supercharged by the advent of streaming and its growing influence globally. “Distribution through streaming presents a once-in-a- generation opportunity to start reclaiming the curation of Black culture, by the creators of it for and to its global audience. The effect this will have is to deepen the global scope of what Black culture is, in turn benefiting world culture as it breaks down stereotypes, exposing the world to the many layers and levels of arguably the most influential culture on the planet. “It’s time to go beyond the tip of the iceberg of the entire thing itself. Mansa’s goal is to partner with the creatives and curators responsible for creating that iceberg. They will be our partners and co-beneficiaries as we distribute a streaming celebration of what global Black culture actually is.” STAR ACTOR DAVID OYELOWO OBE IS MANSA’S CO-FOUNDER. HERE’S HIS START-UP STORY:
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