Awkward Is the New Black

Awkward Is the New Black is a short documentary film about the highly popular comedy web series 'The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl' and its creator and star, Issa Rae. 'Awkward Black Girl,' as it is more commonly known, was a huge hit on Youtube and catapulted Rae from being an unknown film graduate to being one of the most important independent filmmakers of her generation. The project will aim to explore not only Rae’s creative process and means of gathering an audience, but will also explore the partially uncharted terrain of using new media and online platforms to ‘kickstart’ a career in filmmaking. The film will explore the avenues that new media is opening up for Black filmmakers and writers who might have not had a platform for their work otherwise. Rae herself is in the middle of a shift from being an online content producer to doing traditional film and television work. ❧ We are in the middle of a shift in media consumption. With the democratization of media creation and distribution through inexpensive high definition cameras and platforms like Youtube, filmmakers are changing the way they create work. Issa Rae was able to turn an idea with no funding into a landmark series. She cultivated a small niche audience into a loyal fan base and used ‘crowd funding’ platforms such as Kickstarter to fund two seasons of 'Awkward Black Girl.' ❧ Rae also used social media for feedback and refined the show based on constructive criticism and suggestions that were provided by fans of the show. This is a departure from the traditional one‐directional flow of content creation, and points to a future where media consumption could be more of a conversation between the creators and the audience. 'Awkward Black Girl' struck a chord with a middle class Black audience (amongst others) in America who had felt that they were underrepresented on television. This is the power of new media: the possibility of creating a channel for your work where previously there was none.