The Black Actors Guild and WeAreDenver are two organizations that specialize in community outreach and engagement. Unfortunately, the recent coronavirus stay-at-home orders and closures of events and public spaces put their usual efforts on hold — WeAreDenver’s DIY recording studio, The Podspace, is indefinitely closed, and the Black Actors Guild can’t exactly teach at public schools when they’re shuttered.
But these two organizations aren’t letting such obstacles stand in the way of their mission to encourage and enrich the city’s creative spirit. Instead, they came together to adapt.
The Black Actors Guild and WeAreDenver plan to launch a live-streaming network that will run on Facebook. (The organizers also hope to stream the network on YouTube and Twitch in the future.) The goal of the live stream, according to its application form, is to provide a centralized space for local creatives to share their content while they can’t gig like normal. The organizers also aim to help artists make some money through this platform, and resolve to list each creatives’ digital donation link (whether it be a Venmo, Cashapp, Paypal or other links) at the bottom of the stream.
More broadly, the 24/7 live stream is, “a way for artists to share an optimistic message, check in with how they’re doing, and to be reciprocated for sharing some of their dopeness online,” said the Black Actors Guild’s Director of Operations, Ryan Foo.
Practitioners of ostensibly all forms of creative expression are invited to submit a 10- to 30-minute video. In particular, organizers welcome submissions of any performance art like music and poetry, fictitious commercial skits, enticing demonstrations of craftsmanship, behind-the-scenes footage of art-making and more. Denver’s own cinematic songstress, Kayla Marque, is also publicly boosting this project.
The live stream hasn’t gone, well, live yet. It will officially launch after the organization receives a few hundred submissions. At present, the amount of submissions is nearing 100. After it has amassed this ample library of content, it will work to officially broadcast in early April.