Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. today announced a second season of the award-winning series Inside The Black Box will premiere December 1 exclusively on the Crackle streaming app. The series will be available to stream for free on a wide variety of devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TVs, and many others.
Inside the Black Box‘s 10-episode second season is hosted by Emmy® Award winner and NAACP Image Awards recipient Joe Morton (Scandal, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and celebrity acting coach, director, producer, and casting director, Tracey Moore. The hosts interact with celebrity guests facilitating discussions about the role race plays in the entertainment industry. Talent featured in the second season includes Debbie Allen (Grey’s Anatomy, Fame), Keith David (Nope, Armageddon), Jeffrey Wright (The Batman, Westworld), Malik Yoba (First Wives Club, Designated Survivor), Wendell Pierce (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Wire), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Billions, Castle), Rob Morgan (Stranger Things), and Naturi Naughton (Power, Queens).
“Inside the Black Box is a special series for so many reasons,” said co-host Joe Morton. “Black performers are often forced to speak words that are not in line with their experience. Our goal is to create a safe space where artists of color can speak their minds and tell their stories.”
“We are excited to continue our partnership with Crackle and The General on this entertaining and engaging program. The success of Inside the Black Box shows what can happen when quality programming finds the right partner or brand to add value for the audience,” said Kerry Bianchi, Global CEO of APX Exchange. “The fact that The General’s brand purpose is so aligned with the ethos of this series makes its involvement a valuable and seamless part of this great content.”
“Our team is proud to work with such a respected brand as The General to create important, socially-uplifting content like Inside the Black Box,” said Michele Fino, head of branded entertainment for Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. “This series is providing a unique outlet for black artists to voice their experiences in Hollywood in a way that reflects the principles of our brand and our client simultaneously.”
The series is produced by Landmark Studio Group, a division of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, and Strong Studios, with Morton and Moore serving as Executive Producers, along with David Ozer, Rachel Weintraub, and Dr. Dave Kolin. Andrew Lombardi and Scott Weinstock produced. Season one featured celebrity guests such as Phylicia Rashad and Raven-Symoné and recently received a Faxie Award from Cablefax in the Sponsored Content category. Inside the Black Box is distributed in North America by Screen Media, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company and the supplier of exclusive and original content to Crackle.
Crackle’s recent releases include the nuptials celebration series Wedding Talk, the second season of Crackle Original The Wall, the pet-centric lifestyle series Pet Caves, the award-winning BBC series Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as well as season three of the award-winning series Going From Broke.
The Crackle, Redbox, and Chicken Soup for the Soul streaming services are currently distributed through over 140 touch points in the U.S. on platforms including Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio), gaming consoles (PlayStation and Xbox ), Plex, iOS and Android mobile devices and on desktops at Crackle.com and Redbox.com.
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Alternate Side Production, and APX Content Ventures recently announced their collaboration on a new reality series starring comedian J.B. Smoove called Dirty Pool with J.B. Smoove, which will premiere on Crackle streaming platforms in late 2023. This is the latest program to receive funding through APX Content Ventures’ $25 million Inclusion Investment Fund, which is part of Publicis Media’s Once & For All Coalition initiative. It has funded over 20 content ideas with more than 10 diverse-owned, operated, and targeted companies.
