Creators and Filmmakers: Welcome to a New Type of Social Video Platform
Update: July 27, 2020
Back in 2016, I founded a company called The Knell.
Given recent events, and how the national conversation has shifted on Black Lives Matter after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery — I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.
I recently revisited the original launch statement (dated February 9, 2018) and was struck by how much it still sounded like it could have been written today.
But alas, The Knell did not succeed.
Sure, there were successes along the way…
- The Knell’s success at a pitch competition led to a mentorship opportunity with an original engineer of one of the earliest consumer SVOD services.
- The Knell participated in two incubation programs.
- The Knell was a finalist in a prestigious social startup accelerator program.
- The Knell got serious meetings with investors.
While these victories along the way felt great, there is one critical thing we never received.
MONEY.
This is not unusual for founders of color.
All of the tech books and incubator/accelerator programs tell you that the “friends and family” round is critical to your company’s success.
What is the “friends and family” round?
It is essentially as it sounds — you ask your friends and family for money. This idea at its core comes with an extraordinary bias. A bias towards people with access to generational wealth. A concept that is mostly unavailable to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in the United States for historical reasons too numerous to delve into for this post.
That is to say for most BIPOC — this is a pipe dream. It means that we start at a significant disadvantage. With limited resources, I had no choice but to bootstrap The Knell entirely on my own.
Addressing Systemic Inequality
I have seen many statements by large corporations about pledges to support Black Lives Matter and other social justice initiatives and charities. While commendable on one hand, there is one critical detail that seems to be misunderstood.
The “matter” part. I speak of the mundane. The idea of being “taken seriously.” The idea that what you say is believed. That you are heard. Being given the benefit of the doubt.
Because for many of us, the mundane is the struggle.
At a systemic level — if you are not intentional — this is, actively and purposefully funding and hiring people that don’t look like you and come from backgrounds different than your own — then you are contributing to the problem.
It is this system that keeps talented women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA people from being hired at your companies.
It is this system that keeps women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA people from being promoted at your companies.
It is this system that keeps banks, angel investors and venture capital firms from investing in women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA-owned businesses.
Companies: you are the system. Change happens when you begin being intentional about inclusivity at your organizations and form policies and metrics for success.
The central thesis of The Knell was that founding a company that valued diversity, equity and inclusion at its core was much easier than grafting this culture onto a pre-existing organization.
Sadly, I have yet to be proven wrong.
So please take a look at what might have been.
The proof of concept for the original platform — now over three-years old — can be seen here. (Note: It cannot actually create accounts and is for viewing only.)
If anything, the past few months have given me renewed hope that a new generation of entrepreneurs can emerge.
Below is the original statement in its entirety. Best of luck to you all.
Sincerely,
Terry Biddle
A New Way Forward
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Internet is not living up to its “inclusive promise.” The problem it seems, is that technology companies are often founded by people with the best of intentions who are not regularly targets of harassment or impeded professionally by unconscious bias.
While this is the same type of “damn the torpedoes” optimism that pushes entrepreneurs to “dream big,” it is also often a view that is blind to the adversity faced by others in their pursuit of “dreaming big.”
While we alone can’t solve all of these issues, understanding that they’re there and need solving is the approach we’re trying to take. It is much more difficult to shoehorn culture into a pre-existing company than it is to begin with the right values.
Simply put, we believe diversity and inclusion makes the human race stronger in every way.
While this company is founded by a cis, straight, African-American male, we believe we can only succeed by including, encouraging and celebrating our differences in backgrounds, viewpoints and gender. Quite frankly, the tech and entertainment industries should be far more female and our intention going forward is to create more parity in both industries.
This is what The Knell is all about.
What Is “The Knell”?
The Knell is a social video platform showcasing traditionally underrepresented voices* and creators that support diversity in front of and behind the camera.
“Diversity and inclusion” aren’t just buzzwords — they’re our mission — strengthening storytelling, and encouraging broader perspectives of creativity and collaboration.
*women, people of color, LGBTQIA creators
What Is a “Knell”?
It is pronounced “nell” (the “k” is silent). It means “to proclaim or summon by, or as if by, a bell.”
Why Did We Create It?
Wholly open platforms have benefitted many — but at this crucial juncture in our culture — they have unexpectedly encouraged harassment and the spread of disinformation.
Frankly, too few have too much control of the Internet.
There has to be a better way, and we’re determined to find a solution to social media where female, LGBTQIA, and creators of color can create communities online safely and without harassment.
With your help, we’re also hoping to become a solution to unconscious bias in the entertainment industry, and we think technology — if used correctly — can democratize opportunity.
How Does The Knell Work?
You create a “knell” — which is a short video, up-to-5 minutes in length — and then upload it to the site.
Content we’re looking for:
- All genres (drama, comedy, sci-fi, animation, documentary, music video, etc.).
- Think bite-sized, shareable videos.
The Knell Grade
Since diversity and inclusion are at the core of our company, The Knell incorporates a self-evaluation challenge for each video uploaded:
1) The Bechdel-Wallace Test: Does my video have at least two [named] women, who talk to each other about something other than a man?
2) The Biddle Test: Does my video have at least two people of color and/or LGBTQIA people who are not relegated to cultural stereotypes?
The Knell assigns a simple letter grade (on an A-F scale) called The Knell Grade based on our challenge criteria, with higher scoring videos receiving the most prominence.
The best videos will be featured on our site and also promoted on our other social media accounts.
The Knell Continuous Stream
High scoring “knells” may also be added to our 24/7 continuous stream to encourage discovery of the very best The Knell has to offer.
Why Does The Knell Have Ads?
We know folks don’t like ads, but they’re there for two reasons: to keep the lights on and to share ad-revenue with you, our content creators.
The Knell Is a “Comment-free” Zone.
No comments on a social media site? That’s BANANAS! How come?
- Unmonitored comments have become vitriolic and used for targeted harassment particularly directed towards women, LGBTQIA people and people of color.
- Frankly, we believe that unmonitored comments are destroying the “inclusive promise” of the Internet and making social media unsafe for underrepresented voices.
- Look no further than this story on how underrepresented voices are targeted online.
How Do I Join?
Our goal is to encourage the entertainment community to be intentionally inclusive with casting and crew decisions. So all creators regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation are welcome to request an invitation.
Each creator granted a Kneller Pro account will receive 5 invitations to give to creators of their choice.
The Washington, D.C.-based sketch comedy group Bad Medicine were kind enough to be the first creators out of the gate to give you a glimpse of The Knell of the future.
We also have accounts that let people view without upload capability, so if you just want to view or know someone who does, feel free to sign up for our standard Kneller account (available right now).
A Final Note
If you agree that social media and entertainment need a major overhaul, we hope you’ll join us on this journey.
With your help, we hope to make The Knell a safe place on the Internet for all people to create and thrive.
Become a Kneller Pro and sign-up for our waitlist today.
Welcome to the sound of a new type of network.
Sincerely,
Terry Biddle
Founder, CEO
