Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

Codeblack Entertainment, an independent production company that was created to tell true-to-life stories about black America has released its first commercial film this weekend called Preaching to the Choir, which opened in 150 theatres.

The movie presents the story about a rap singer who was very successful but goes home and rediscovers his roots and finds love.

Jeff Clanagan, who started the company in 2005 said that "The studios are stuck in the mode of comedy or gangsta, there are other types of stories, and my objective is to find those movies and give those independent filmmakers an outlet and a voice."

Clanagan adds that his films will be low-budget, independent films that will show forth the true lives of African-Americans.

He used to promote hip-hop concerts for acts like Ice cube and LL Cool J. From there he entered the film and TV production world, where he eventually became the boss of a DVD and video distributor.

His desire, like other blacks in the business, is to move beyond the comedy and crime shows that have been the main domain of black actors in the past.
 
Gil Robertson, head of the African American Film Critics Association said "The embrace of these heavy urban scenarios and of them being the only viewpoint of black life, I find very disturbing."
 
Clanagan uses Tyler Perry's recent successes of Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion as examples of there being an underserved market.