Posted by | Ray Cornelius
UP TV announced today that it is partnering with the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) on a new initiative designed to generate content as part of the network’s expansion of original scripted and unscripted series for multicultural audiences.
Called “UP Flips the Script to Series: Remixing the Development Pipeline,” the new initiative replaces the successful five-year run of the “UP Faith & Family Screenplay Competition,” which generated five feature-length films for UP.
“It’s a natural transition to shift the focus of our ABFF partnership from screenplays to series development since we have ramped up our production of high-quality, entertaining original scripted series, like our first original scripted series ‘Ties That Bind,’ and our unscripted hit reality series, ‘Bringing Up Bates,'” said Amy Winter, executive vice president/general manager, UP. “Based on the tremendous response and high quality of work that we saw in the screenplay competition, we are extremely confident this new partnership will generate some outstanding series ideas and scripts. We are looking for content that will resonate with our audience and their desire to see highly entertaining series they can feel good about watching whether by themselves or with their whole family.”
Content creators with unique and original series concepts that entertain and uplift are invited to submit ideas encompassing any or all of the following:
- An original, fresh, distinctive and contemporary theme that appeals to a multicultural audience with family at the heart
- Stories with heart and humor that offer life lessons and messages to take away. These can include stories with a deeper meaning, or those that showcase challenges to overcome and/or are transformational for viewers or characters
- Characters/talent with character that are authentic and relatable
Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 27, 2015. All submissions made by that time will be reviewed and three submitters will be selected to meet with UP’s General Manager and EVP Amy Winter or Senior Vice President, Original programming Barbara Fisher at ABFF to discuss their projects. Submission details can be found at www.abff.com.
