BET Original Movie "BEING MARY JANE" To Open 16th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival

NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The 16^th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival (www.urbanworld.org) presented by BET Networks announced today that the BET Premiere Cinema film "BEING MARY JANE" – an original made for television movie and pilot from the powerhouse couple behind "Sparkle" and "The Game" – will serve as the festival's Opening Night film on Thursday, September 20.  Created and written by Mara Brock Akil and directed by Salim Akil, "BEING MARY JANE" stars Gabrielle Union, Lisa Vidal, Margaret Avery, Richard Brooks, B.J. Britt, Raven Goodwin, Aaron D. Spears, Richard Roundtree, Omari Hardwick, Robin Lee, Latarsha Rose, Tika Sumpter and Stephen Bishop. 

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070716/BETNETWORKSLOGO)

Mary Jane Paul happens to be part of a growing American statistic – the single, black female. Although this successful television news anchor does not have a family to call her own, she does have parents, brothers, nieces and close friends to keep her well-balanced as she manages her life as a mature single woman.  Mary Jane may report on everyone else's lives every night on the evening news, but now we will pull the curtain back and see how it feels "BEING MARY JANE."

Urbanworld Founding Sponsor HBO^® returns to host the 3^rd Annual Urbanworld Digital, a one-day digital track on September 19 at the HBO Theater (1100 6^th Ave @ 42^nd St, 15^th floor) featuring seasoned industry players who will discuss topics including crowdfunding content and new opportunities for distributing content. The sessions will be followed by a reception.

"HBO is excited to take part in addressing new opportunities emerging from the digital explosion in our industry," said Lucinda Martinez, vice president, Domestic Network Distribution & Multicultural Marketing. "We are pleased to be hosting the 3^rd Annual Urbanworld Digital panels that will examine the growing demand for personalized entertainment in this ever-changing environment."

An expanded program overview is available on the Urbanworld website with advance online RSVP required.  Session highlights include the following, with a networking reception whereby attendees will connect with industry thought leaders, executives, and content creators.

URBANWORLD DIGITAL PANEL 1
"Kickstarting Creativity, Community & Possibility: Crowdfunding Your Content"
September 19/ 4:00pm – 5:30pm

• A discussion of the crowdfunding campaign phenomenon and its benefits/realities for content creators, featuring participation by a few filmmakers who have executed successful campaigns, including Christine Giorgio (Four); Ryan Koo (Man Child); Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty); Bill Warrell (Maker of Saints); moderated by Ty Ahmad-Taylor (CEO, FanFeedr)

URBANWORLD DIGITAL PANEL 2
"The New Now: Rewriting Opportunity in Content Distribution"
September 19/ 6:00pm – 7:30pm

• An exploration of innovative platforms for filmmakers to showcase their content, featuring executive participation by Nick Hall (Vice President, HBO Entertainment), Alvin Bowles (CEO Grab Media), et. al.

Urbanworld takes place September 19-23, 2012 at midtown Manhattan's AMC 34th Street. For the complete slate of films or ticket information, visit www.urbanworld.org. For media inquiries, email [email protected].

2012 URBANWORLD SPONSORS

• BET: Presenting Sponsor, Sponsor of Screenplay/Teleplay Competitions ($5k prize to each category winner); BET will sponsor live screenplay readings.
• HBO: Founding Sponsor, Sponsor of Urbanworld Digital, Sponsor of the Narrative Shorts Competition ($5k prize to winner).
• Principal Sponsors: MoviePass
• Media Sponsors:  Vibe, Uptown, BET.com, TheUrbanDaily, HelloBeautiful, Essence and Rolling Out, and Hot 97.
• Benefactor Sponsors: AMC Theatres, Directors Guild of America - East, Warner Bros. Entertainment.

ABOUT URBANWORLD

The Urbanworld® Film Festival, founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes, is the largest internationally competitive festival of its kind. The five-day festival includes narrative features, documentaries, and short films, as well as panel discussions, live staged screenplay readings, and the Urbanworld® Digital track focused on digital and social media.  Over the last fifteen years, Hollywood studios, indie film distributors, and established and emerging filmmakers have consistently chosen Urbanworld® to premiere box office and award-winning hits.  Urbanworld® has also provided a platform for some of today's leading brands seeking to reach key influencers across the industry and within the consumer marketplace.  The Urbanworld® Film Festival is an initiative of the Urbanworld® Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization that endeavors to consistently manifest its mission of redefining and advancing the roles of multicultural constituents in contemporary filmed entertainment.  By implementing initiatives that actively support and develop content creators of color, Urbanworld significantly contributes to the evolution of the media and entertainment landscape and the diversity that it reflects.  Gabrielle Glore serves as Executive Producer & Head of Programming for the Urbanworld Film Festival.  The festival website is www.urbanworld.org.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

ABOUT HBO

Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. and the world's most successful pay-TV service, providing the two television services – HBO® and Cinemax® – to approximately 93 million subscribers worldwide.  The services offer the most popular subscription video-on-demand products, HBO On Demand^® and Cinemax On Demand^® as well as HBO GO^® and MAX GO^®, HD feeds and multiplex channels.  Internationally, HBO branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand and HBO GO, bring HBO services to over 60 countries.  HBO programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.

SOURCE BET Networks