Catching Up With Black&Sexy.TV
What began as a documentary celebrating the everyday importance and interactions of African-Americans in 2011, eventually transformed into a television network with an audience of over 70,000 subscribers.
Black&Sexy.TV is a YouTube channel created by Dennis Dortch, Numa Perrier, Jeanine Daniels and Brian Harding. The quartet set out to create a brand with independent television that would fill a void felt by black entertainment audiences. The idea for the channel came from the success and demand that stemmed from the release of A Good Day to be Black and Sexy, a fictional narrative written and directed by Dortch in 2008.
“A Good Day to be Black and Sexy came from my imagination,” Dortch says. “We wanted to update ‘black is beautiful’ and provide another way to say it.” This early work, much like the YouTube channel, depicts various black couples in unique situations. Perrier describes their channel as a place for people to find true reflections of African-Americans in ways that make them relatable. She emphasizes that their content is without the sensationalism often found on mainstream television.
The channel has a variety of web series that depict African-Americans in relationships, daily interactions and comedic scenarios. They also offer talk shows and live shows where fans can interact with cast members. Black&Sexy.TV currently has seven shows, half of which are in their second season.
One of the shows, “The Couple,” was recently picked up by HBO. It was a monumental moment for the independent television network, currently housed in a Los Angeles a studio apartment. Many employees double as actors, and their youngest cast member is Dortch’s 9-year-old son, Tangier. Dortch’s partner, Perrier, stars in “The Couple” series while also writing, directing and producing several of the other shows on the network.
With their newly-signed HBO contract, Black & Sexy.TV has made long strides in their two years of operation, in spite of their humble resources (much of which they’ve achieved through crowd sourcing).
Their Methodology
A large part of Black & Sexy.TV’s success comes from their YouTube platform. As an independent channel, they have complete creative control and they deliver their content directly to their fans without going through any gatekeepers.
“There’s no other channel that we have to go through and that’s the most important thing really,” Perrier says. “We’re the channel and it’s great. There’s a real audience for that and it’s growing so rapidly.”
The channel has a very loyal fan base, and they give in-depth feedback on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Whenever an episode is late—even by a minute— fans are quick to impatiently demand the content. There’s a hunger for what Black & Sexy.TV provides.
“It blows my mind how they’re able to have so much substance within their episodes due to the fact that web series are usually a lot shorter than shows on a regular television network,” said longtime fan, Brittany Green. “If they can keep you coming back for ten minute episodes every week then they’re doing something pretty awesome.”