Black on Purpose Atlanta-based BOPTV streaming network focused on people

By Collin Kelley

Unapologetically black. That’s how Black on Purpose on Television (BOPTV) founder/ CEO Michael Campbell describes his West End-based streaming network for people of color.

After 30 years working in the music industry, the New York native moved to Atlanta eight years ago after a stint in Las Vegas as the city’s movie and television industry boom began.

“I kept hearing it was ‘Black Hollywood,’” Campbell said, “but it’s really not. There is not equal representation.”

With the rise of YouTube and streaming content, Campbell conceived BOPTV as “a platform to show people of color in positive light with no negative stereotypes.”

BOPTV now has more than 5,000 pieces of content on 16 channels – including news, health, films, kids, food, shopping, sports, business and history – with 1.5 million viewers daily from around the world. The network is available if you have Roku, Amazon Fire or an internet-capable television, and will soon be available via Apple TV and Google Chromecast.

“You won’t find our programming on regular TV,” Campbell said. “We’re encouraging content creators of color to partner with us, as well as advertisers who are trying to reach a laser-beamed focus target market.”

BOPTV is currently based in West End. With the platform’s growing viewership, however, Campbell and his team are currently working on BOPTV’s next evolution – a full-fledged production studio not far from the Atlanta BeltLine’s soon-to-open Westside Trail.

Campbell and his investors purchased the former Rosalie Wright Elementary School building in the Florida Heights community, which borders historic Westview Cemetery, earlier this year with plans to convert it into studio and creator space. Campbell also hopes the adaptive re-use of the building will act as catalyst to jumpstart the neighborhood’s renaissance.

The 25,000-sqare-foot school building will get an additional 10,000-square-feet to include a café, game room and more office space for the growing network. With his musical background, Campbell also wants to reopen the school to kids for weekly musical instrument lessons in some of the former classroom space.

For more about BOPTV, visit blackonpurposetv.com.

By Jatika H. Patterson

The culture of southern fashion has been included in music videos, reality TV, movie sets and other entertainment in various forms. Nevertheless, the fashion industry has been elusive, even overlooked, in the South.

Sarah Collins, associate chair for the Savannah College of Art and Design fashion program, has high, but realistic hopes for the growth of the fashion industry in Atlanta. She recalls how, at one time, the South was home to thriving textile and clothing production industries. When the industry began outsourcing jobs and production to other countries, was a reduction in southern fashion.

“Trying to put together a collection was a lot harder because designers didn’t have any resources because of [lack of] fabrics and factories [markets] and those kinds of things,” she explained. “With the Internet, things are more accessible online. You have more designers able to start up.”

While creation of fashion in the South might have temporarily slowed, the buying of it continues to grow. Collins said the South is known for its buying power rather than the creation of fashion.

“Dillard’s, Belk and J.C. Penney all are headquartered in the South. It’s been less about design and what we are seeing is more about design and production,” she said.

Dejan Agatonovic, associate dean for the SCAD School of Fashion, echoed Collins’ sentiments about the South’s love of shopping.

“There’s big buying power,” he stated. “There are more people who can afford high fashion. I believe that’s the reason why the retail side of the fashion industry [in the South] is quickly growing.”

Although Agatonovic believes Atlanta will probably not become a global fashion hub, he does believe the city’s great connections – including the world’s busiest airport and lower living and office space costs – will create more opportunities for the fashion industry.

Atlanta fashion and beauty guru Christopher Macken, the global creative director for Oscar Blandi Haircare, holds a sweet spot for the South due to his roots in Milledgeville. When asked about the fashion industry coming to Atlanta to stay, he says that there is a culture of fashion in Atlanta that’s incomparable to any other city. “We have our own subset of people who are influenced locally, design locally and we are making our own statement.”

Macken’s confidence comes from the constant growth of movie and television production in Atlanta and the metro area.

“The rest of the world takes notice,” he said. “Some of the top celebrities call Atlanta their home some of the time, but even more than that … Atlanta is setting trends.”

A 10-acre site owned by Georgia Power near Historic Fourth Ward Park along the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail will be redeveloped into a mixeduse project. According to a report from Atlanta Business Chronicle, New City LLC and private equity partner LAMB Properties have the site at 760 Ralph McGill under contract. The property is the largest remaining contiguous site along the Eastside Trail in the Old Fourth Ward. Georgia Power has been using the site as an operations center and marshaling yard for its service trucks. New City is the same company that’s redeveloping the former “Murder Kroger,” just up the BeltLine, into 725 Ponce, an office tower with a new Kroger supermarket on the ground floor.

Selig Development has announced it will transform 40 old warehouse and office buildings on the city’s Westside into a mixed-use development called

The Works, according to Curbed Atlanta. The 80 acres adaptive-reuse project, situated along Chattahoochee Avenue, will be completed in phases over the next five to 10 years. Creative work spaces, retail and restaurants, residences, boutique hotels, entertainment, and gathering areas are all part of The Works project.

The Georgia World Congress Center Authority has unveiled its 2020 Vision plan, which includes renderings for a new hotel to rise next door to the nearly-complete Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Downtown. The four-star hotel with 800 to 1,000 rooms would sit on part of the space occupied by the Georgia Dome, which is set for implosion later this year. The hotel would be separated from the new stadium by the Home Depot Backyard, a planned park and tailgating spot.

Johnson Development Associates have announced plans to incorporate a five-story storage facility into the new Northside & 17th development in West

Midtown. Extra Space will feature 875 climate-controlled units and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2018. The storage facility will join a new Kroger Marketplace and Chipotle already announced for the mixed-use development located near Atlantic Station at 1299 Northside Drive.

The Fox Theatre has hired historic preservation and community development expert Leigh Burns to manage the Fox Theatre Institute’s (FTI) program. FTI is a programming, consulting and grant funding division of Fox Theatre, Inc. that has committed more than $1 million in grants for restoration and operation assistant of Georgia’s historic theaters. Burns brings 17 years of historic preservation planning and community development experience. She previously served as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Georgia Main Street

Program at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter has named Rhonda Briggins as the 2017 Catalyst Award recipient. Briggins serves as senior director of external affairs for MARTA. Each year during the Unsung Heroine Award Gala, the Catalyst Award is presented to an individual who brings about a positive change within the community.

Intown resident and entrepreneur Mitch Leff, founder of Leff & Associates Public Relations, has updated his suite of online services –Leff’s Atlanta Media (leffsatlantamedia. com) and Mitch’s Media Match (mitchsmediamatch.com). The online tools help local businesses connect with and market their products, services, events and issues by working with Atlanta media.