Banner image of Steven Christian pitching at PitchBLACK 2025. Credit: Ed Marshall Photography NYC.
APRIL 29, 2026
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA
WEEKLY DISPATCH
by Leslie Fields-Cruz
By the time you read this, PitchBLACK 2026 will already be underway. Ten teams, pitching 10 projects and hoping to win up to $150K. We are so excited to host this year’s competition. I can recall a time last summer when we didn’t know what the future would hold — not just for this event, but for our organization. I never feared BPM would cease to exist, but I did worry we might have to curtail our programming so severely that programs like PitchBLACK might have to go on hiatus. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
PitchBLACK is made possible by people who understand why the program is needed. Netflix is the Premier Sponsor of PitchBLACK and despite all the public media turmoil last year, they never once wavered in their support for the program.
Our new Trailblazer Award sponsor, Andscape, was eager to help us honor extraordinary media makers like this year’s recipients: Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith of Firelight Media. The Sonder Foundation remained with us as our Innovator Sponsor and PBS, despite the challenges it has faced this year, remained on as our PitchBLACK Community Sponsor.
It Takes a Village
Then, there are our PitchBLACK Friends, our PitchBLACK patrons, and dozens of other supporters, including many of you who’ve kicked in to support our ongoing 1.8M Donors campaign. Together, you’ve made it clear that supporting independent media makers who create stories about the Black experience is a valueable practice. I KNOW the 10 teams pitching in this year’s PitchBLACK Forum all appreciate that commitment. As do I.
Of course, I also need to thank our general operations funders, and our phenomenal BPM staff, consultants and board members for all they do to make BPM and PitchBLACK possible. We cherish PitchBLACK because we know how much it means to this community and the viewing public.
So, thanks to all who make it possible for us to keep it going. We have no intention of abandoning this incredible program now. I hope you’re already watching and/or plan to join us tomorrow for the awards ceremony. Tickets for that are still available. It is going to be a FABULOUS couple of days. And I can’t wait to do it all again next year.