Sundance: Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Set for Blackhouse Foundation’s Schedule

For this year’s Sundance, The Blackhouse Foundation has found a new partner in Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network.

OWN will be the event’s inaugural presenting sponsor, joining returning premier sponsors Facebook and BET Networks. Blackhouse, a nonprofit that executes programming with the industry’s most influential black creatives and provides support for up-and-coming talent, is entering its 12th year at the fest.  

This year’s programming will include a first look at Oscar-winning Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney’s new OWN drama, David Makes Man. The series, about a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects who is haunted by the death of his closest friend and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty, is inspired by events in McCraney’s own life.

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McCraney will be on hand for a panel with exec producers Michael B. Jordan and Oprah Winfrey, showrunner Dee Harris-Lawrence, and castmembers Akili McDowell, Alana Arenas and Phylicia Rashad. 

OWN will also host a fireside chat with the network’s general manager, Tina Perry, and Harpo Films executive vp Carla Gardini moderated by Blackhouse Foundation co-founder Brickson Diamond. 

“We are blown away by the growing presence of Black audiences, creatives and programmed films at Sundance. This year is on track to be another record showing. Our sponsor partners are bringing the best in education, access and opportunity for our constituents and we can’t wait to open our doors,” says Diamond.

Returning to the festival this year will be the BET Networks-Blackhouse Fellowship Program, which brings 10 black MFA students from across the country to the festival to network and help facilitate Blackhouse’s slate of events. Facebook will also return to with its Project SEEN, including an interactive workshop and the opportunity for filmmakers to partner with Facebook to create their own promotional content.  

Blackhouse Foundation’s 2019 Sundance schedule will run Jan. 25-28. Details can be found on Blackhouse’s website.