2013-04-17

Soledad O'Brien Continuing the Black in America Series With Her Own Production Company


In a Businessweek column, Soledad O’Brien revealed that she struck a deal with CNN which allows her to maintain the rights to the Black in America series she produced.
O’Brien said, “We struck an unusual deal, I’ll get to leave CNN with my catalog and documentaries. We were able to create a brand at CNN — Black in America — that I now own. I can take that brand and extend it in any way I want. You have Netflix and all these channels that are looking for interesting and different ways to tell stories. To have ownership of Black in America and Latino in America is hugely important”.

She went on: ”I absolutely pushed for that — it was critical to me. I’m so affiliated with this brand that there wasn’t a real struggle. I don’t just own it, but I can now take it across other platforms”. Previously, O’Brien has said that she enjoys exploring areas of American life which go ignored by most people, and has long wanted to do a “Poor in America” series as well.

This arrangement provides O’Brien the opportunity to do just that. She also said that her focus is not necessarily on being an anchor at another network, but being creative in her own way.

“What’s exciting is to own my own product. I think of myself as a journalist and a storyteller. Now I get to be an entrepreneur, too.” she said.  

Source: Soledad O'Brien Says She Owns Rights to the 'Black in America' Series | Your Black World:


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