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Six years ago, Manuel Godoy and Geiszel Godoy wanted nothing more than to meet the needs of their daughter and children like her. But they ended up exceeding those expectations.
The Godoys, owners of Delaware-based Black Sands Entertainment, couldn’t find children’s books and comics that represented their family and its black heritage.
They realize that representation is still something the entertainment industry struggles with. While there are some examples — such as “Black Panther” — black characters, directors and content creators remain a minority in the entertainment industry and face more difficulty trying to break into the field.
So the Godoys started their business by introducing black characters and storylines in their comic books as a way to diversify the field.
“We saw the need to make stories about African history before slavery. We wanted to connect with that aspect because it hadn’t really been told before. So we also looked at all the different countries in Africa and other indigenous groups,” Lady Godoy said her company’s books also extend to Inca and Malay cultures.
They started Black Sand to tell the stories of powerful Black characters in early pre-colonial history. Founded in 2016, their empire has grown to 25 titles. The most popular series is “Black Sand”, which tells the story of the important black pharaohs and their families in ancient Egypt and the surrounding area.
To further tell these stories in full, vivid form, the couple, both military veterans, were awarded $500,000 for their appearance on the ABC show “Shark Tank,” hosted by actors/comedians Kevin Hart and Mark Cuban. revenue, the show is airing in January.
Mr. Hart’s global media company, Hartbeat, recently formalized its deal with Black Sands Entertainment.
As part of the partnership, Hartbeat will provide consulting services to accelerate Black Sands’ efforts, particularly in film and television. Hartbeat and Black Sands are already developing an animated series and a series of films around the flagship “Black Sands” franchise.
“From the moment Manuel, Geiszel and the Black Sands Entertainment team walked into ‘Tank’, I knew this was a company I wanted to be part of my ecosystem,” Mr. Hart said in a statement.
“The Black Sands team was looking for a partner with the resources to expand their distribution, expand their production, source new creative talent and promote their current and future content portfolio – all areas of Hartbeat’s core business. I’m excited Excited for our team to help Black Sands grow and continue to share their unique story with audiences around the world.”
The deal follows the Godoys’ successful Kickstarter campaign, which hit their $10,000 goal in a minute and raised $100,000 in a day. Black Sands has sold 200,000 comic books and $2 million in sales since its inception.
Aside from their military backgrounds — Mr. Godoy is a radar technician, Mrs. Godoy works in human resources — they both have an interest in the arts.
“I went to fashion design school in California and got a bachelor’s degree in fashion design. I designed for them with Calvin Klein. …My husband went to college for video game design. So he’s an artist too,” Mrs. Godoy Say.
In addition, both have co-authored numerous books.
Mrs Godoy, who serves as the company’s chief financial officer, said she was surprised by the company’s success.
“I thought I was going to keep doing fashion forever,” she said.
But, thinking back to the early days of Black Sands, she says going the independent route was the right move.
“Usually, when you write something like a novel, you have to go to the big guys, who want to change everything,” said Mr. Godoy, the chief executive of Black Sands.
“I remember trying to pitch this really beautiful book and they wanted to change the character’s name from Godoy to Jefferson just because they did a market research. I thought, ‘That’s some kind of stupid thing.'”
Mrs. Godot agreed.
“My last name is Godoy. It’s about my son and my daughter. I wrote about them in the book and they asked me to change my name. My kids love that I incorporate them into our stories,” she said.
In “Tanks”
The decision to continue Shark Tank was made for several reasons.
“We wanted exposure, we wanted to grow and scale our company, take our company to the next level because there was so much red tape involved,” Mrs Godoy said.
However, appearing on the show is a tall order.
“They don’t play the game. They want to know your entire history. They do due diligence. They want to know your company’s credit report, the health of your company. They want to see all the documents that have to do with your company. It’s a very, very , a very difficult process. They told us that a lot of people were made redundant during that process, but they didn’t make it,” Mrs Godoy said.
Together with studio head Teunis De Raat, they appear on Shark Tank recorded in summer 2021 and aired on January 7th.
They offered $500,000 for 5 percent of the company, but Mr. Hart and Mr. Cuban offered $500,000 for 30 percent. The actors handle the entertainment, and Mr. Cuban handles the technical aspects.
Mr. Godoy shared his excitement for the future of Black Sands with new investors.
“They’re making their names public with us. Now that’s happening, we can actually start making some real commercial games on the animation side. We’ve got it in there. It’s all public. Everything’s ready. One would allow us to track the main voice actors, track the animation studios and things like that, which we couldn’t do before,” he said.
expansion
In addition to hoping to grow into animation, Black Sands has launched an app to help black creators reach a wider audience and a podcast to share tips for independent publishing success.
Godoys said they would also be happy to bring their books to more schools. They have some southern states but intend to expand further, Delaware is the leader of these areas.
“That’s one of the big things we’re focusing on right now. We’re currently trying to get into the New York and Washington area (schools) to get very broad distribution in those places. We’re really doing a lot of work to make sure we have books in those areas,” Mr Godoy said.
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