BPM’s executive director on PitchBLACK 2026, federal funding cuts, and protecting Black stories
For nearly 50 years, Black Public Media has funded and distributed Black stories that would otherwise go unseen. As executive director, Leslie Fields-Cruz steers the Harlem-based nonprofit through one of the most politically charged moments in public media history. After Congress clawed back $1.8 million in federal funding, Fields-Cruz is pushing forward through PitchBLACK, rebuilding BPM’s foundation and making the case that Black stories belong to the public.
Can you tell us about Black Public Media? What inspired it?
The organization is almost 50 years old. We were founded in 1979 by visionary filmmakers working at public media stations across the country who said we need to create a space to make sure that our stories are seen nationally. It was formerly known as the National Black Program Consortium. Back then, they focused on making sure the films and stories produced at their local public media stations were distributed to other stations around the country.
In the 90s, founding executive director Mable Haddock launched a film fund to support independent documentary makers about the Black experience. A lot of the filmmakers making documentaries used to work in public television, but when the administration at that time wanted to make cuts to public media, stations started cutting some of their producers and directors. We had a lot of independent makers out there who had stories to tell but needed funding.
A lot of people don’t know this because we fund mostly documentary stories, but Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust was one of the first projects funded through the Film Fund back in 1991. We’ve been funding documentary films and short films for 30 some odd years and started supporting immersive media work around 2018, 2019.
PitchBLACK is now in its ninth year and returns to Harlem. What makes this forum keep happening?
Several years ago, there was a group called Good Pitch that brought together folks from the industry and grassroots organizations to help independent filmmakers telling social justice stories. I attended and thought, we should do this for Black documentaries, because we need a space where not only our partners in public media know these projects, but we can get other funders and potential distributors and exhibitors interested. That’s how we launched PitchBLACK.
It started every other year, and then during the pandemic we went virtual and tried doing it every year. We got great support from Netflix at that point, and they’ve continued to be a core sponsor of our PitchBLACK Forum and Awards. This year, we have 5 projects on the documentary side and 5 on the immersive side. The documentary projects will compete for $150,000 and the immersive media projects for $50,000.
What are you looking for from this year’s competitors?
This year is a little bit different. Normally we would have an open call, but because of the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the funding they recalled that we were expecting, we couldn’t. We had to assess the makers we’re already invested in, because some of them lost funding from other federal sources. So we mined our current projects.
You’ve got three projects that pitched in earlier PitchBLACK forums and two others that received funding from our discretionary fund. All of these makers are talented. Some are very seasoned, like Yvonne Welbon, a producer working with director Luchina Fisher on Hiding in Plain Sight.
You also have Thomas Allen Harris and Don Perry working on My Mom, The Scientist, mid-career makers like Malkia Lydia working on What’s in a Name?, and Fiz working on No Longer Bobby. And then Reniqua, whose project Infertile Ground has to do with the environment and its impact on Black maternal health.
The jury for the documentary films is going to have a really difficult time making a decision because all of these projects are worthy of support. On the immersive side, this year we’ve got four projects that are games and one mixed media project. If there’s anybody who works at a museum, a cultural center, or for a gaming company who is interested, we want you to come to PitchBLACK and meet these makers.
The PitchBLACK Awards honor 2026 Trailblazers Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith. Why them?
Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith are powerhouses in the documentary field. I’ve known them for most of my career at Black Public Media. What I didn’t know when I started working here is that I had already seen some of Stanley’s films. He had Black history locked down with documentaries about the Black press and Madame C.J. Walker. These are projects coming out in the 90s.
One of the things that makes them trailblazers for us is that even though they are award-winning filmmakers, their commitment to supporting the next generation is clear. They have the Firelight Media Lab, launched about 20 some odd years ago, and they have been working with emerging media makers, all people of color, to help them with their documentaries.
A trailblazer can’t just be somebody who wins a whole bunch of awards. It has to be someone who is literally saying, we’re going to pass on what we know, our knowledge and our experience, and we’re going to help the next generation, because that is how the doors get opened wider and wider. It’s always nice to be recognized by your own.
How can people attend the PitchBLACK Forum or get tickets to the awards?
If you are interested in attending the forum, you can still register. The forum is free and it’s in New York. You can also stream it. If you go to www.blackpublicmedia.org and click on PitchBLACK, there is an area for credentials. You put them in, we’ll check it out, and send you a formal invite to register. The forum is on Wednesday, so if you’re going to do it, do it quick.
If you want to attend the awards ceremony, we’re at the Apollo Victoria Stages in Harlem. Go to Ticketmaster and type in PitchBLACK in Harlem, because somebody else has a PitchBLACK event. Then you can buy your tickets.
What message do you have for supporters who want to help BPM continue funding Black stories?
We launched a Black Stories Fund after losing $1.8 million following the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I talked to my team and my board and said, we need to make sure there is funding for independent media makers. It’s always difficult to secure, especially for emerging makers who just need someone to take a chance. So few organizations do that, but Black Public Media will.
We launched our $1.8 million donor campaign. If 1.8 million people give us just $5, that can go towards building a $9 million endowment, and then we can build from there. It’s also a way for the American public to let everyone know that they value these stories. They value Black history, stories about Black social justice, current affairs, and the Black diaspora.
We’re asking everyone to support Black Public Media by donating to our Black Stories Fund. You can go to our website and click on Donation, $5 or more. By making that commitment, you’re saying, I want to make sure that Black stories, especially those made by independent media makers, continue and are available to the public for free.