From 2020-2022 the global anime demand rose by 118% and the African American community knows exactly why.
"Shades of Otaku" is a look into the black anime community, a feature documentary that chronicles the rise of popularity in anime and its resonance with the African American community told through the eyes of 4 black pioneers. How art, storytelling and emotion can transcend culture, time and ethnicity.
Hey everyone! My name is Justin and I'm an independent filmmaker born and raised in NYC. I've been watching anime all my life and it was not until adulthood that I realized there were many people like myself within the black community that were beyond passionate about this form of media.
The mission of this film is to showcase our love for anime with the audience and make legitimate mental and emotional connections to why this medium resonates with us. The story will follow me as I travel around the country to visit our 4 main characters to showcase what attracts us to anime, the process of cosplaying and how anime rose to western popularity.
We Need Your support! And we want to give you back for supporting!
We have already started filming and everyone has been working out of their belief in this project and each other without any compensation!
So moving forward with the rest of filming we are trying to raise $26,000!
From traveling across the country for interviews, conventions and post-production we want our friends and everyone who is working hard on this project to get their respective pay as well as be able to afford the equipment necessary!
These funds will specifically go towards traveling, our multiple camera operators, our interviewees across the country, our main cast, space rentals for the interviews, food and nourishment for both cast and crew, a full time editor, coloring the film, audio mixing, an original musical score, and the taxes that are taken out via Indiegogo.
We would appreciate any donation that you give because we know that everyone is going through their own journey and that the only way we can reach this goal is together building off of each other!
The Impact
We believe that it is important to give underrepresented voices visual representation on the small and silver screen respectively. To watch something that you can see people that look like you and enjoy the things you love can not be undervalued. This film will show you that as long as you stay true to what you love, you will always find a community out there where you will find companions.
We strive to bring all genres of storytelling within the black and Latinx communities with roles that viewers can see accurate representation in not only dramas and comedies but also horror, sci-fi, action, fantasy and yes the nerd-dom genre as well!
We truly can't wait to show you what we have created so far AND what more we have planned for the future because we met a lot of new friends ready to join us on this journey.
Pioneer 1 Tasha aka "DragonbabyT"
Tasha is a host and content creator within the pop culture and anime community and one of the co-founders of the Anime Geek Retreat. Her story in this documentary centers around her mission to create a safe space for black nerds to meet and converse out side of your standard conventions.
Pioneer 2 Greg aka "Ohitsgweg"
Greg is an entrepreneur and one of the founders of LAN Party Studios, an NYC based content group focused on gaming, anime and other nerd culture. His story in this documentary centers around his multiple events he produces throughout the year leading up to one big event at AnimeNYC.
Pioneer 3 Manny aka "Moonkiller"
Marissa Moon is a cosplayer, content creator, gamer, and artist within the anime community. Moonkiller has made a name within the community due to some amazing cosplays and overall passionate unique content creation and resonance with fans. Manny's story in the documentary is centered around conventions and a goal to attend school in LA to become a filmmaker.
Risks & Challenges
One of the main challenges with the project is how large in scope it is and our dedication to involve so many people across the country. There are many people to interview and who have already put so much love into this project and while we all love doing this project we have financial responsibilities and time constraints that we have sacrificed to get the first 20% done that we cannot afford to more without funding.
Many of our cast and crew have lives and obligations outside of the filming space. With our goal met we CAN afford to help each other out and budget transportation, babysitters, use our weekends after work to film, so that we can film to our fullest and be present without added stress of not being able to make ends.
I know we can overcome these hurdles simply because our love for this source material and to go even further, anime taught us to never give up!
Other Ways You Can Help
We know donating might not always be a possibility and times are tough, but sharing this can help just as much!
PLEASE SHARE with anyone and everyone, use the Indiegogo sharing tools to share via social media links, email our campaign to friends, family and lovers of anime! We appreciate everytime we are mentioned.
Finally WE WANT YOUR INPUT! If you're a lover of anime in any degree what's your favorite anime? We might see you at your nearest convention getting interviews so feel free to say hi!