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Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

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Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#361

Post by [deleted] »

Uzo0312 wrote: post #176
sokoloff wrote: post #11

Best of luck in your endeavor. I don’t personally have the guts to take on a space where it seems to me like Netflix could decide to squash you at any moment by outbidding for the catalog of work by other creators. I wonder to what extent that was also true with BET, which is an obviously extremely successful outcome. (Maybe I’m just chicken.) Again, best of luck; this seems like a really smart idea and has a team th…

Yeah, the Netflix squashing us is certainly something we've thought through. We think there are 2 reasons we've got a good chance here though. One, Netflix has to worry about competing with a lot of other major players, while also being profitable going forward, so they really can't over-spend on an audience that is likely underrepresented among their customer base relative to the global population. And two, we think…

[deleted]

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#362

Post by rootusrootus »

cptaj wrote: post #276
f6v wrote: post #2

“X for black people” sounds so bizarre to me(non-American). The cultural divide between the people must be insane.

Man, this is always such a spicy comment to make. Americans always get mad but its true. As a Venezuelan I always find the racism stuff coming from the US completely baffling. I think most of the world is just completely weirded out by how US culture tackles this issue.

Much of the rest of the world is more casually comfortable with racism, it does not cause the angst that it does in the US.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#363

Post by andkon »

As an indigenous guy getting into film and trying to get indigenous stories made, I really love this. Hope it comes together.

Is the licensing you do for content that's already been made? I guess I was curious how the "original" stuff works for you, like if you produce it more directly or if it's more about buying the distribution rights.

Also super curious how you feel you fit into the existing ecosystems – festivals, production companies, etc. Do you have/want connections in specific parts of the film and content world that would help?

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#365

Post by RuleOfBirds »

disneygibson wrote: post #194
raclage wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s not the “melting pot” idea of America that I was raised with, where everyone contributes their own unique culture to a unified American whole. Then I don't understand why your response to someone trying to create a platform to express their culture strikes you as "Fracturing."

Because it’s encouraging separatism. I would much rather have a startup that promotes black creators to the broader culture than one exclusionary by design. Looking at top musicians, artists, and other cultural figures, it seems to me like this is already largely the case. Hip hop sales come in large part from white people. I want more of this cultural sharing, not isolationism.

While I agree with "not wanting separatism," I find it infuriating that the burden of analyzing and debating "separatism" (or etc) always gets foisted on the minority or marginalized populations create a space for themselves. And relatively never the mainstream, dominant culture and institutions that have left out, pushed out, or outright exploited them in the first place.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#366

Post by Joeri »

vorpalhex wrote: post #313
warent wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that white Americans don't have the same American experience as black Americans, which is where the divide comes from and it creates another culture. It's been getting a lot better, but there are still two legal systems, two education systems, etc. My perspective as a white man is that when black people create something for themselves like this, it's reclaiming the power. Like how they use the N word w…

If you feel that there are two education systems, eg one for Black people and one for White people, aren't you simply reinforcing that by having more segmented services? Separate but equal was a dismal failure in the US. I don't understand why it deserves a second attempt.

There are apps that cater to comic book fans, are they promoting the comic nerd divide? What is wrong with a service that caters to a content niche? Separate but equal is only a bad thing when people cannot choose which of the two systems they select into. A black person can choose to get regular netflix instead of this niche service.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#367

Post by blackgirldev »

whoknowswhat11 wrote: post #81

My netflix feed at least has been pretty full of shows and movies that feature black stories and characters. I think they have a specific channel for this. So have the other streaming networks from what I've seen. My apple News+ has had a black experience and racial justice spotlight - you can't turn some of these off actually.

People working for a mainstream service like Netflix are wrapped in maintaining their job and catering to white people. Having a separate streaming service with curators from the Black community means more opportunity to express unpopular ideas. This means less Harriet Tubman bios and more current culture/expression.

edit: I should add that having watched a few shows like Jack & Jill (which I had never heard of until now)...I am reminded that when you have white people choose the Black actors/actresses of a show (even if they have Black employees' advice) limits the range of beauty. I forget how many gorgeous people are overlooked because they don't fit the mainstream idea of what "we" are supposed to look like in order to be seen as attractive. It's a subtle thing that permeates our children and culture and really makes a difference in perspective.

Also, the portrayal of middle and upper class Blacks is soooooo limited. I am so tired of hearing about up-and-coming poor Blacks. What about privileged assholes like me who always had a great life with plenty of opportunities? We are out here and we have stories.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#369

Post by dont__panic »

depaya wrote: post #218
megraf wrote: post #7

I feel like this encourages a divide.

There is no inherent divide. If this was marketed as only for Black people, other races are not welcome to watch, sure. If this company was vocally against Netflix and demanding Black people watch this instead, sure. As far as I can see neither of these are true - this is a service aimed at delivering a certain type of content. Does the existence of ESPN encourage a divide between those who like sports and those that…

If they plan on engaging in bidding wars with Netflix for exclusive content (as all streaming services tend to do), won't they tend to deprive Netflix and other streaming services of content featuring black people? Since this service is inherently more niche than Netflix, it seems like that's going to result in black stories being harder to access for your average person. And given subscription fatigue levels, "just subscribe to this service for X content" is a hard sell these days.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#370

Post by Perstone »

bluedino wrote: post #305
nablaone wrote: post #86

"And black creators often did not get the same chance at success that their mainstream counterparts did, leading to some black creators filing lawsuits against YouTube. Despite YouTube's good intentions, systemic biases in how non-black users treated black creators, as well as the economic realities of Black people only representing 10% of the U.S. audience, have led to YouTube never doing quite enough to address thi…

Non-black viewers are less likely to watch videos with black people in them.

Is that because they are black though? Without asking those people why they watched something else you are just making the assumption it was to do with their skin colour and not anything to do with the content itself.

e.g. I don't watch a lot of content with women on Youtube. Not because I have anything against women. It because the subjects I am interested in, isn't covered typically by women.

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