OYA Black Arts Coalition (OBAC) Announces Second Cohort of Participants for a Sophomore Business Affairs Bootcamp

Oct 18

Toronto, October 18, 2022 - OYA Black Arts Coalition (OBAC) is pleased to announce the successful candidates for the second cohort of participants in a sophomore round of their successful OBAC Business Affairs Boot Camp. Similar to initial Boot Camp, which ran from January to March this year, the program provides 11 Black-owned mid-career film, television, or digital media production companies with a unique opportunity to holistically scale-up capacity of their creative operations.

As with the first cohort, this new session of Boot Camp takes the form of several key elements and industry learnings, from in-depth, business-focused workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities including one-on-one meetings with broadcast executives, and will run for a new 3 month duration (October 2022 - January 2023).

The participants consist of Ontario based multimedia producers with creative Canadian works spanning film, music, theatre, photography, digital content, and more. These include content creatives who are in the various stages of screen based media production, such as documentary filmmakers, and video producers. To date, their projects have screened at international film festivals, on broadcast television, and streaming from the likes of the Caribbean Tales Film Fest (CTFF) and Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF), YouTube, AfroLand and production support from CBC Television. Program partners of the OBAC Business Affairs Bootcamp are Bizable Media, I.M.P.A.C.T., RBC, and WIFT Toronto.

Relative to the initial group, cohort 2 will have the benefit of some new and exclusive in person experiences for the first time. As led by Women in Film and Television Toronto (WIFT-T), participants will attend an opening networking reception, along with an end of program networking forum with panel discussion highlighting individual industry stories.

Participants will also receive valuable industry insights from OBAC’s award winning support system, which seeks to amplify multimedia, accessible, generational Black storytelling and content ongoing. This includes the carefully curated offerings of technical, creative storytelling, production, and administrative skills, all of which align with mandates from WIFT-T. Boot Camp participants will benefit from a year long membership with IMPACT and WIFT.

The second cohort of Business Boot Camp consists of:

Abby Ayoola-Williams, Marlys Publishing Media and Management
Chibie Louis-Okoye, (TBD)
Daisy Komujuni, Sunset Productions
Franck Fon, BDB Productions Inc
Gordon Culley, C6M
Mike Regis, OUTSIDER GENRE
Muna Deria, YEAG
Solange Fermin, STEAM Driven Productions Inc.
Tristan Barrocks, Barrocks Inc,
Natanya Barrocks, Barrocks Inc,
Vanessa Mitchell, Madden & Mitchell Media Inc.
Ladan Mohamed Siad, Fugitive Work

OBAC was supported through a Government of Canada contribution of $3 million through the Black Entrepreneurship Program Ecosystem Fund, delivered by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).

“We are grateful to turn in a new slate of OBAC Business Boot Camp cohort for Fall 2022. Their participation follows a successful inaugural team who are now professionally boosted by key learnings by our generous partners. Given our mandate, and our sense of responsibility as intersectional Black Women filmmakers, we look forward to how these Canadian creatives will collectively move the needle for Black storytelling in their respective fields,” Ngardy Conteh George, OBAC Co-Founder.

“What a pleasure it is to be delivering a second year of OYA’s Business Affairs Bootcamp to such an engaged cohort of producers. These producers are poised to create exciting new film and tv shows while building successful production companies. As with last year’s cohort, the producers have a huge appetite to learn the finer points of producing in Canada and develop strategies for creating lasting business and creative relationships” Janice Dawe, Co-President, Bizable Media.

"I didn't know how much I didn't know until I now have the opportunity to learn it. Each week, the presentations, case studies, and guest speakers fill in the void, providing information in my blindspot to better understand how to navigate this often lonely journey of content producing. While this is a great introduction to understanding the business, I can safely say I am open to applying myself to the ongoing study to better equip myself to comparably deliver quality, vetted projects."

Ryan Singh, Ryan Singh Productions Ltd, cohort 1 participant.

“Black Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs play an important role in Canada’s economy, but continue to face systemic barriers to start and grow their businesses. The Government of Canada’s support for organizations like OYA Black Arts Coalition through the Black Entrepreneurship Program Ecosystem Fund is an important step to ensure they are supported to create and grow their business and reach their full potential. This funding is designed to support and inspire success which will lead to strong economic growth and job creation,” The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

About OYA Black Arts Coalition