OTV - Open Television

The Elevate Prize is one of the few platforms that celebrates people who are unapologetically passionate about manifesting a world that is radically just and rooted in liberation. As a persitant dreamer, I’m drawn to opportunities that empower me to center my fierce commitment to equitable solutions. Funding and the support would provide myself and OTV | Open Television with a much needed signal boost. OTV is a platform and non-profit for intersectional television, with artists and their creative visions at the center. 

Since 2015, we’ve operated as a distribution platform that supports artists and communities marginalized by their race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, disability or nationality began as part of an ongoing research project at Northwestern University. I am the Co-Founder and Executive Director (or self-proclaimed Executive Diva) and our core mission to amplify and sustain intersectional arts and artistry. In addition to providing a network of care to foster the entire trajectory of a creative Film/TV or media project from inception to release, OTV also offers connectivity, financing and consultation to communities that often do not have access to institutional support — to bring the stories of our time that are often missing from Film/TV, to the public. 

I am Elijah McKinnon; a Black, queer and non-binary millennial and sometimes human living life as an entrepreneur, artist and visionary. When I'm not dreaming I spend my time helping communities, initiatives and organizations mobilize ideas. I see the world through a liberatory lens and believe that problems are pleasant opportunities waiting to be discovered. My curiosity encourages me to seek challenges. As the ED (Executive Diva/Director) of OTV, it is my responsibility to dismantle the nonprofit industrial complex by creating equitable pipelines to the Film/TV industries for intersectional identified storytellers. At OTV, we’re cultivating the next generation of storytellers and audiences for their stories. To date, OTV has released over 100 original pilots, shorts, and series. 

Over the next 3-5 years, our goal is to deepen our relationship with our core funders (MacArthur Foundation and Surdna Foundation) to ensure the expansion of our capacity to serve intersectional artists around the world looking to pursue a sustainable and equitable future within the Film/TV industries. Additionally, we hope to strengthen our relationships with networks such as Netflix and Hulu who are learning in real-time from OTV how to intentionally support the development and nourishment of media-makers from marginalized communities. 

OTV is a platform for intersectional television, supporting artists and communities marginalized by their race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, disability or nationality: think community-based Netflix. To date OTV has released over 100 projects, attracting thousands through public screenings and over 1 million streams. OTV artists have received numerous accolades including, Emmy, Webby, Streamy wins and nominations and work at Netflix, HBO, Hulu and more.

We are leading where Hollywood tends to follow. Most of our stories have been shaped by corporations who do not come from our communities, limiting the depth of our humanity. As we struggle to build equality, we are cultivating an alternative ecosystem. OTV has a unique advantage as our platform is an ongoing research project housed at Northwestern University. Over the past few years we have amassed an extensive amount of knowledge about the artists we serve and the communities we entertain. As an intersectional non-profit and platform committed to accurate representation, authentic storytelling and accessibility it is imperative that our programs are reflective of the moments that relate to our social, political and cultural climate and that is impossible to do without inviting our community to the table. 

Historically, there’s never been a platform, non-profit or network that has been solely dedicated to the development of intersectional media-makers. OTV is an incubator for those who are ready to share their bravery with the world. We not only support amplifying the stories of intersectional artists and creators, we experiment with alternative ways to develop, produce exhibit art and Film/TV. 

Since our inception we have prided ourselves on being artist-centric; our artists are an integral part of shaping our organization and platform. Film/TV play a huge role in sharing a wide range of identities, cultures, viewpoints and more. This content allows us to reach across time and space — all to learn better ways for coexisting. 

There’s so much beauty and possibility in seeing one's humanity reflected on the screen and we are committed to ensuring that intersectional representation is accurately portrayed in all stages of production. OTV is consciously aware that represenstion does not often lead to acceptance which is why we’ve designed an educational pipeline and ecosystem that nourishes artists and their professional goals. All of our programs are designed to engage artists at every stage of their careers to ensure a sustainable future in Film/TV.  

OTV addresses inequalities in who gets to tell stories in America and globally, through Film/TV, using an innovative, local, community-based model.  Publicly it functions like a TV channel for independent series, shorts, pilots and video art by storytellers who identify with multiple communities that have been historically marginalized. Behind the platform, we provide essential tools and resources. 

In the short-term, OTV is laying the necessary foundation to support a generation of storytellers who are unafraid to embrace cultural difference and empowered to navigate complex systems to ensure their stories are told authentically. In long-term, OTV's slowly correcting decades of inequality in media, where people of color, disabled people and LGBTQ+ communities in particular are so often unable to profit from their labor because they enter systems unaware of its complexity and without demonstrating they deserve contractual and creative ownership. At the same time, OTV's developing a world where media is a tool for building empathy over division. The long-term theory of change posits that only when those who have been historically oppressed feel empowered to speak their truth, uncensored, do they feel empowered enough to do so with everyone in their life. Media is a powerful tool for such change. 

We view our core constituency as emerging artists, followed by our community (or audience). In 2020 OTV served approximately 150 writers, directors and other artists in addition to our roughly 500 subscribers (acquired with less than a year of starting our subscription service) and the several hundred people we gather for online and offline events in Chicago and around the world. OTV serves artists primarily by offering low-cost education and professional development through virtual classes (OTV Study Hall) and one-on-one consultation (meetings with our Head of Artist Development to those who pitch us), but our marquee artist programs is OTV Fellows. Now in its third year, OTV Fellows receive $10,000 to support production, one-on-one mentorship with writers and directors with Hollywood credits, access to OTV Study Hall and a two-day professional development intensive produced in partnership with the Sundance Institute. In terms of community engagement, we produce live or live-streamed programming at least bimonthly, each of which draws thousands of community members from around the globe, in addition to releasing original programming to our subscribers. However, because our distribution agreements are non-exclusive, our shows reach more individuals on other platforms (e.g. our series Code-Switched which has 150,000+ plays on YouTube). 

Our focus is on reducing inequality in Hollywood by offering opportunities to secure quality work for women and people of color, especially. We track our success by looking at overall industry numbers and the success of the artists who have engaged our programs. We follow our artists after they release work on OTV to see if they have secured employment at the leading institutions in television and film that provide sustainable employment. Our goal is not to replace the likes of Netflix or Disney but rather to do the hard work of developing talent so they are prepared to work with these companies. To date, we've trained writers and directors to staff on shows for Netflix, NBC, Showtime, Hulu and others. Our artists have sold their shows directly to HBO, Lionsgate and Hulu. They are represented by leading agencies and managers like 3Arts and CAA. This year the Writers Guild reported great strides in diversity and representation, with 50% of staff writers are people of color and a majority being women. OTV has played a small role in that growth, as producing indie work has been proven to help artists secure employment. With more resoruces we can create deeper impact. 

Our barriers are primarily in the arena of funding, specifically for production and marketing. We have accomplished a lot on a shoestring budget and with never more than $10,000 to fund production and much less for building our audience. Industry standard in Illinois is $100,000 for each hour of storytelling, and our artists have consistently produced brilliant work on much less. This results in inconsistent production value, which inhibits our ability to grow our audience and the artists’ ability to leverage their work to gain access to bigger platforms with bigger audiences. Not having enough funding for marketing -- paying people in our community who have larger audiences to amplify our work or taking our ads -- inhibits our ability to grow our reach amid increasingly aggressive algorithms that silence or "shadow-ban" content from diverse creatives on social media platforms. All of this decreases our potential social impact, both through our platform and in our work as a pipeline to platforms with millions of followers. Additionally, lack of resources create a barrier for us to serving more younger, intersectional artists that are interested in uprising a future in media, Film and TV. We aim to change this in the future. 

As an organization that has been rooted in intersectionality it is imperative that we continue to educate ourselves and our communities of the rich, nuanced experiences that we live. In addition to the monetary support that will provide much needed sustainability and strengthened capacity, utilizing the larger Elevate platform to amplify our approach to developing intersectional arts and artistry will allow us to develop deeper connections to audiences and organizations that are interested in creating more equitable solutions in the film, TV and media industries. Media plays such a transformative role in actualizing our humanity and this award will help us continue intentionally building pipelines for artists, creatives and filmmakers that are armed with resources, bravery and skills to share authentic stories that change the world. Having the ability to utilize platforms of this scale will support OTV’s footprint and also contribute to our expansion into markets that do not have fully resourced or established structures for intersectionality identified media-makers. Through the Elevate Prize’s larger platform we will be able to reach more artist that are hungry to develop stories and audiences that provide them with an opportunity to create a sustainable future in the Film, TV and media industries. 

At the time of this manifestation, I am deeply committed to practices rooted in transformational and affiliative leadership that creates alternative models of decision making and consensus building. OTV’s entire leadership is comprised of Black, queer and TGNC (Trans and Gender Nonconforming) people that are deeply connected to abolition, anti-oppression, intersectional feminism, anti-capitlism, and the movement for Black lives. These values are intrinsically connected to the way we govern our organization as well as support and hold space for the communities we serve. We use a liberatory approach towards building and sustaining a continuum of care for our staff through a variety competitive and comprehensive benefits including but not limited to unlimited vacation and PTO; A Mind, Body, and Soul Fund for alternative and holistic care; and staff fellowships for continued learning and resource-sharing. We believe that our commitment to equitable solutions begins with us building out an infrastructure that can truly provide us with grace, support and care to better provide impact. Over the next year, the OTV Leadership Team has collectively decided to continue developing a restorative justice and harm reduction road-map model that can be shared throughout the film, TV and media industries.  

As a Black, non-binary, queer entrepreneur, I have had to rely on my ambition and fierce commitment to liberation. There have been extensive bumps, hills and mountains that I have had to climb to arrive at this particular stage of my life where I truly feel like I am able to lead from a place of compassion, benevolance and discernment. Media, Film and TV have played such a huge role in helping me not only seek my humanity but feel brave enough to share and learn that the experiences I have overcome do not have to define me or my journey. As an artist that has directly benefited from the OTV platform, I can testify to the power of reclaiming moments in life that have held you back by allowing them to serve as blueprint for others to heal, seek justice and transform the world around them. The entire team behind OTV are practicing artists that bring a rich texture to the way storytelling has provided intentional space for reflection and growth — all which is deeply connected to how we move as unit, make decisions and develop intentional,  equitable solutions in an industry dominated by capitalism and exploitation.

Choosing to pursue a sober lifestyle after a decade of substance abuse, depression and anxiety is hands down my most proud achievement and challenging obstacle to date. It’s been a choice that has changed my life and opened so many pathways to liberation, clarity and purpose. I believe that this decision has led me to a more holistic approach to work and life. A particularly challenging moment took place in late 2020 when I was a pressured by my board and funders to hire full-time staff without the proper resources or infrastructure that aligned with a truly liberated continuum of care. After weeks of deliberation, I advocated for time to meditate on the best approach that would benefit the organization and align with my values; not their personal agenda of what success or increased capacity looked like. Through this time I was able to complete our strategic planning process, create a truly competitive and liberatory compensation/benefits package, and develop two critical roles that were filled at the top of 2021. So much of my leadership style is committed to creating intentional, equitable solutions which require me to be deeply present and aware of my visions, actions and principles.  

How a Chicago Nonprofit is Working to Promote Diversity Within TV via WTT Chicago / PBS 

Creative Mornings: Elijah McKinnon on Equality via Creative Mornings 

OTV Leadership: Making Inclusive Content via 4theQulture and Stremeo by Vimeo 

Elijah McKinnon, Ashley O'Shay & Morgan Elise Johnson - Representation in Film/TV via We Real Chicago

OTV is at a critical time of growth as more and more resources are opening up to diverse creatives and organizations doing the work to change the media, Film and TV landscape. As a Black, nonbinary and queer millennial it has been incredibly difficult to build equitable relationships with funders that truly believe in my vision, leadership,  pursuit of equitable selections and liberatory practices. Funding from the Elevate Prize will kickstart the seed funding we need to truly actualize a much larger fundraising goal to ensure that we can continue to provide critical development resources to intersectional artists over the next five years. This prize will allow us to hire more staff, elicit the attention of impact investment initiatives, build our community of artists and subscribers and ultimately become a more self-sustaining organization that is not reliant on the support of foundations by 2026. Additionally, this funding will allow us to invest in deeper continuum of  restorative justice, anti-oppressive and harm reductive practices and models that we hope to share with the larger media, Film and TV industries that are being challenged to diversify their approach to seeking and retaining the talent of intersectional artists, writers, directors, producers and filmmakers. 

Over the past six years we have built deep and intentional relationships with a range of partners including by not limited to community-based and grassroots initiatives; film and media organizations and art institutions. 

Community-based and grassroots initiatives: Since our inception we have remained committed to supporting the work of communities providing critical resources to the communities we serve which is why we have built strong relationships with local advocacy groups Let Us Breathe Collective, Brave Space Alliance, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Howard Brown. 

Film and Media Organizations: Additionally, we also remained committed to building alliances with with organizations that provide resources that strengthen intersectional artists skills and increase their professional development. These partnerships include Mezcla Media Collective, Sundance Institute, Full Spectrum Features, Periscope Post and Audio and Eleven04. These partnerships manifest in a variety of ways such a intensives, workshops and discounted services.

Art Institutions: Finally, we are deeply committed to supporting the various ways our artists choose to exhibit their work which is why we have formed deep relationships with internationally acclaimed art institutions that are interested in creating space for media-focused arts. Partners include the Museum one Contemporary Art - Chicago and The Art Institute of Chicago.