OTV-Open Television

OTV is a non-profit mobile/TV platform for intersectional television, film, and video art. Based in Chicago, it incubates, distributes, and exhibits the work of artists marginalized by society and from full participation in the commercial television industry. This X-Grant supports OTV’s first #StudyHall Retreat, a full-day intensive designed to bridge a gap in OTV’s programmatic offerings and extend deeper artist development support to intersectional storytellers throughout Chicago and the United States.

OTV is a non-profit mobile/TV platform for intersectional television, film and video art. Based in Chicago, it incubates, distributes, and exhibits the work of artists marginalized by society and from full participation in the commercial television industry. It was launched in 2015 as a project of Northwestern University and became an independent nonprofit in 2020. Grant funds provide general operating support for OTV to produce and distribute original and live programming; conduct courses and trainings in film production, financing, and screenwriting; and provide fellowship, mentorship and artist development to help the artists it showcases find sustainable employment in the television industry. Its goal is to build community among film and video artists marginalized by society and the market, support them in developing independent programming based on their lived experiences, and create a pipeline of artists able to help diversify the television and film industries.

OTV is a non-profit mobile/TV platform for intersectional television, film and video art. Based in Chicago, it incubates, distributes, and exhibits the work of artists marginalized by society and from full participation in the commercial television industry. This grant supports the 2021 OTV Sundance Institute Mentorship Intensive, a two-day virtual workshop to enhance and advance the creative and professional development of Chicago-based creators, including OTV Fellows. It is part of a year-round, tailored mentorship program hosted by OTV that is designed to launch the careers of independent, Chicago-based writers, directors and producers so that films and TV series made about Chicago better represent the diversity and complexity of Chicagoans, both in front of and behind the camera.

OTV is a non-profit mobile/TV platform for intersectional television, film and video art. Based in Chicago, it incubates, distributes, and exhibits the work of artists marginalized by society and from full participation in the commercial television industry. It was launched five years ago as a project of Northwestern University and became an independent nonprofit in 2020. Grant funds provide general operating support for OTV to produce and distribute original and live programming; conduct courses and trainings in film production, financing, and screenwriting; and provide fellowship, mentorship and artist development to help the artists it showcases find sustainable employment in the television industry. Its goal is to build community among film and video artists marginalized by society and the market, support them in developing independent programming based on their lived experiences, and create a pipeline of artists able to help diversify the television and film industries.

OTV – Open Television is a web TV platform for intersectional pilots and series that supports emerging artists in producing and exhibiting indie video series. It was launched four years ago as a project of Northwestern University and became an independent nonprofit in 2019. OTV showcases the work and stories of artists who identify with multiple identities marginalized by the market and society. This grant provides support for OTV to transition its suite of media production supports to a virtual environment, and to test them with emerging artists in Atlanta, Brooklyn and Oakland as part of its Brave Futures project, an intersectional film competition, challenging Black and Brown women, queer, trans/non-binary, disabled  and undocumented artists to produce a short film in two days. It will enable OTV staff to provide supports to makers during quarantine and to expand its reach to meet the needs of intersectional artists across the country.