I watched this B-E-T web series called 8 Days A Week. Its pretty good and it got me to thinking. You know, with the vast majority of Hollywood still stuck in the early days of the 20th century, Blacks and Minorities barely have a presence on Broadcast, Cable, or Premium TV with shows featuring an all black/minority cast or black/minority leads. On top of that, when big name studios do come out with black and minority programs, they struggle because the content of the shows hardly fit with the life and culture of black or minority Americans.
My question is, why are so many blacks and minority actors, directors, and producers still chasing “The Hollywood Dream” when Hollywood hardly wants anything to do with us? I suggested to an actor I am connected with on Facebook that blacks and minorities need to create their own Hollywood. With the internet giving our cultures so many opportunities for success, and technology making it easy for us to create and distribute media, more blacks and minorities should be building the foundations of their dreams online instead of chasing the Hollywood dream. The audience is there with people the world over flocking to the internet to find new forms of entertainment to enjoy. Sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and Daily Motion are giving mainstream media a run for its money. You can even see this happening in the music industry as well. The internet provides everyone on the planet the opportunity to find new and unique entertainment they want to see, not just what some big time entertainment exec thinks they want.
Web Series are a great way for blacks and minority actors, directors, and producers to showcase their talents to the masses with the ability to reach more audiences than ever before. This gives blacks and minorities the chance to be creative and genuine without big Hollywood dictating how we should portray our cultures which is usually very cliché and stereotypical. Add to that, blacks and minorities can use the internet to influence our cultures in ways that Hollywood will not. Businesses love to align their brands with web content that gains tons of traffic and engagement from viewers, supporters, and fans. This equals a great opportunity for blacks and minorities to gain revenue and earn a living. I believe that the internet is the newest and best frontier for blacks and minority entertainers and businesses. It can level the playing field between a new Black and Minority Hollywood and the old Hollywood.
The only thing that I feel keeps many blacks and minorities chasing the Hollywood dream instead of building their own is the idea of fame and fortune. Sure, with the right opportunity a black or minority entertainer can see fame and fortune through Hollywood but those opportunities are slim compared to massive amount of black and minority entertainers seeking those opportunities. Blacks and Minorities are also constantly trying to prove themselves to Hollywood to show that they fit in yet, because of Hollywood’s business model still being stuck in the past, our cultures are shown time and time again that blacks and minorities are hardly wanted in Hollywood. This is why the internet is so crucial to the success of our current, and future, black and minority entertainment brands, and businesses.
I, for one, will start watching and promoting more black and minority web series. I think its necessary for our cultures to embrace this open web platform now before someone in 
corporate entertainment, big government, or corporate America finds a way to lock the web up for their own gain making it harder for blacks and minorities to build their creative platforms without having to go through them first or abide by their rules. I’m so glad bills like SOPA and PIPA never saw the light of day.
Here are some other links you can follow to see more web shows featuring blacks and minorities:
http://tvisual.org/ – Televisual Magazine blog. This site has a ton of Web Series Resources to explore and many of them are focused on Blacks and Minorities.
http://www.webserieschannel.com/ – A website completely dedicated to Web Series. Though they’re not centrally focused on Black and Minority Web Series and you may have to search for them, its still a great resource for Web Series. There’s even a submission section so if you don’t see your favorite web series, submit it!
http://thegrio.com/2012/10/23/the-black-web-series-trend-6-shows-to-watch-out-for/ The Grio is a blog created by NBC News centrally focused on Black America. In this post there are 6 Black Web Series to take note of each with a synopsis that tells you what each Web Series is about.
http://www.theroot.com/views/7-must-watch-black-web-series – The Root is another popular blog focused on the African-American experience. This post, much like the Grio post, talks about 7 Black Web Series to watch. With only two matching the ones in the Grio post, you can bet the rest are other high quality and entertaining Web Series to take note of.
Check out this fan page http://www.facebook.com/BlackWebSeries for a listing of over 100 Black Web Series to watch including BET’s 8 Days A Week.
Embrace The Web!
The Network29 Perspective 