Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: CSSE), a provider of premium content to value-conscious consumers, and Publicis Media’s APX Content Ventures, a global offering dedicated to investing in quality and mission-driven programming, 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.”
Publicis Media’s APX Content Ventures is a next-generation unit within Publicis Media that seeks to find, fund, and elevate partners and properties that amplify diverse voices, empower women and build community, connection, and trust. APX and Publicis clients have the exclusive opportunity to be featured prominently in the series via deep brand integrations, custom content, sponsorships, and other show-adjacent segments.
“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.”
Inside the Black Box is sponsored by The General® for the second season. The General will continue to have unique brand placement across various layers of the programming – both in and out of the show. This includes pre-roll ads, QR code placements, brand integration within the content and “The General Audience” branded theater section featured in the show, allowing VIP attendees to get a better view of the action.
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.
