Black Sands Entertainment
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Black Sands Entertainment, Inc. is an American entertainment company founded in 2016 and based in
Black Sands publishes a number of graphic novels and comics with Afrofuturist themes, often coded in the non-fictional and fictional genres, and reissues of Afrofuturist titles from comic-book houses like DC and Dark Horse. Manuel and his wife, Geiszel, want to create Black media outside the realm of slavery and within historical means. In the end, creating worlds in which existing power structures are dismantled and Black people thrive.[2]
History
Black Sands Entertainment was established in 2016 by founder and CEO Manuel Godoy to provide indie comics by Black artists, written for Black families about Black people, with a focus on tales of Africa before slavery. The first publishing of the company was the launch of a video game named Kids 2 Kings. This was the original name, however, after Black Sands spent $20,000 on it and game production failed, Godoy transitioned to comic books. Black Sands started a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 and raised $20,000 for comic book production. but with the independent success of their titles, Black Sands Entertainment is transitioning into a publishing company.[3]
The company created Black Sands: The Seven Kingdoms in 2017. The character Ausar, loosely based on the
In 2020, Black Sands Studios was formed as an animation studio leg of Black Sands Entertainment. The independent animated content will be based on the bestselling comics of the Black Sands Entertainment library. It was founded by Manuel Godoy and Teunis de Raat. Teunis was picked up as partner & head of studio. Teunis will guide the development and production with his 25 years of experience as an artist, technical director, creative/technical lead, and VFX Supervisor with companies like
In December 2020, Black Sands raised over $1 million on Wefunder, exceeding the company's fundraising goal.[5]
The company launched the Black Sands Publishing app on May 1, 2021, which was Free Comic Book Day and will offer free access to 26 original comic books. The new app offers access to a variety of digital comics series created by Black Sands and about 16 independent publishers and artists.[1][6] Among their projects are an upcoming animated series and to manage their intellectual property (characters) in other units as they work with other companies in the future.
In January 2022, Black Sands Entertainment was featured in the 13th series of ABC’s “Shark Tank”, represented by Geiszel, Manuel, and partner Teunis. They sought $500,000 in funding for the company for 5 percent of their company's equity. They accepted a handshake offer for $500,000 in funding from Kevin Hart and Mark Cuban in exchange for a 30 percent stake in the business.[7][8] In November 2022, Kevin Hart and Mark Cuban have closed the deal.[9]
Titles
Original series
- Black Sands: The Seven Kingdoms
- Cosmic Girls
- Mori’s Family Adventures
See also
- Webtoon
References
- ^ a b Reid, Calvin (20 May 2021). "Black Sands Publishing Launches Digital Comics App". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
- ^ Pineda, Dorany (29 April 2021). "Yes, lots of comics were racist. A new generation of Black artists is reinventing them". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
- ^ Adams, Tim (25 January 2021). "Black Sands Entertainment's Manuel Godoy Reflects on Running a Black-Owned Comic Publisher". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
- ^ Worthy, Ariel (24 June 2018). "Birmingham publishing company creates stories that children of color don't often see". Birmingham Times. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
- ^ Prosser, Keegan (18 January 2021). "Black-Owned Comic Publisher Raised Over $1 Million in December 2020". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ Burns, Stephanie (3 December 2021). "3 Ways You Can Become Your Own Publisher". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
- ^ Baruch, Yolanda (9 January 2022). "Black Sands Entertainment Secures $500k Deal on Shark Tank with Kevin Hart and Mark Cuban". Black Enterprise. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
- ^ Baruch, Yolanda (9 January 2022). "Black Sands Entertainment Secures $500k Deal on Shark Tank with Kevin Hart and Mark Cuban". Yahoo. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
- ^ Mortin, Tyler (2023-01-04). "Kevin Hart's Hart Media Company and Mark Cuban have closed the deal with Black Sands". Retrieved 2023-01-04.