FULLY INTEGRATING

Story: Amira Kidd
Photo: Mark Mainz

A revolutionary in the African-American film industry, this once leading concert promoter who rose to president and CEO of Codeblack Entertainment has made his waves. Known for his successful promotions of the “HBO Def Comedy Jam” tour, Clanagan knew he could go further. Leaving the tours behind and transitioning into film and television, he has managed to create the first fully integrated African-American-owned film studio.

What’s the difference in promoting a film company compared to a concert? The difference is with a concert you have only one night to get 20,000 people into an arena. If there is anything such as bad weather, you can lose it all. It’s a highly risky business.

How did being President of No Limit Films prepare you for being CEO of Codeblack? No Limit Films could be hectic because I was dealing with the music. Working with musicians and rappers, I was on call at all times. Working with people such as Master P., who didn’t have an agent or manager at the time, I had to answer whatever calls came to me, while doing film at the same time. I even helped him with merchandising and it taught me a lot. Away from No Limit I helped to acquire a piece of MP3.com, which hadn’t been done yet.

As President of Mandalay Urban Entertainment, you produced tele films for BET Television and the Sundance Film Festival. What goes into producing shows? Well, the shows were based on books so we have to get our sources straight, pay for the rights to the books and hire a screen writer. Then we have to talk with authors to get them onboard because these books are like their babies. After development, we just have the task of hiring crew, cast, the director and producing the film.

What came out of Urban Entertainment? Out of the experience of No Limit, I couldn’t understand why there were no black distributors of film. So from Urban Entertainment we decided to make our own revolving door for black filmmakers. So we made movies direct to video, cut deals with record companies and went to retailers like Walmart and Target who weren’t carrying movies at the time.

You founded Codeblack Entertainment in 2005. How did this come about? Well, I had a partner before leaving Urban works, but I had a larger vision than he did at the time. I wanted to build a fully integrated film studio, so I decided to sell my stake and create my own company.

What does it mean to actually have a fully integrated film studio? We have the same capabilities as Disney or MGM for national and international broadcast. From theatrical projects to video on demand through all the same distribution platforms. In what direction would you like to see Codeblack heading in the next three years? Out of the physical and into the digital world. In the next twelve to eighteen months, expect to see us striking a deal with some cable networks for a movie channel.

Any projects that we may be seeing soon? We’re in the process of finishing the film “Mamma I Want to Sing.” We are also completing a documentary entitled “Why We Laugh, “which features black comedians on black comedy. I’m most excited about our online ecommerce site which in house we call the Black.amazon. This is my passion.

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