A little known story of American history can be told for the first time by TV stations thanks to a new documentary, The Journey — 450 Years of the African-American Experience. The documentary reveals how free African Americans founded America’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Fla., long before Plymouth Rock and Jamestown. When filmmaker Michael Carr, a […]
A little known story of American history can be told for the first time by TV stations thanks to a new documentary, The Journey — 450 Years of the African-American Experience.
The documentary reveals how free African Americans founded America’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Fla., long before Plymouth Rock and Jamestown.
When filmmaker Michael Carr, a St. Augustine resident, was approached to make the documentary, he said he had no idea about the story.
Carr’s company, Mummycat Productions, created the documentary to commemorate the contributions of the early black settlers for the city’s 450-year anniversary celebration.
The documentary received national attention when exhibited at a St. Augustine museum.
Carr and his partner, Gordon Smith of Sam2, a division of Stephen Arnold Music, showed the documentary to local TV marketing executives at a conference in June.
“We’re meeting with our clients, talking about music and media plans, but the conversation kept shifting back to the documentary,” said Carr.
“The stations thought this would be great for syndication,” said Smith.
Smith said Stephen Arnold Music has already signed up 57 stations even though the project’s only been in the marketplace a week.
“I knew we had a good idea and product,” said Smith, “but I’m very surprised at its success so far.”
“We had a tiger by the tail,” said Carr. “We didn’t anticipate any of this.”
The Journey — 450 Years of the African-American Experience is 26 minutes long, but can be shortened to five two-minute segments for playing on local news, online or in schools.
The documentary combines interviews with experts using vivid imagery to explain how the first African Americans reached the new world and established a settlement at Fort Mose in St. Augustine, the first community of free blacks in the country.
Fort Mose would later become the first destination for those using the Underground Railroad and the whole story would become the tipping point that culminated in the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
“This enlightening documentary perfectly embodies the promise of Sam2,” said Chad Cook, VP-creative director of Stephen Arnold Music, “providing stations with a unique resource to engage viewers and communities in powerful new ways.”
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