Zinc Media Group plc (LON:ZIN), the award-winning television, brand and audio production group, has announced that it is partnering with Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures and Sabrina Elba’s Pink Towel to make PAID IN FULL: The Battle for Payback (working title) for public broadcasters CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and the BBC.
This multi-million-pound international co-production series is commissioned by CBC and the BBC, and funded and co-produced by a partnership between Abacus Media Rights (AMR) and Media Musketeers Studios, with AMR distributing internationally. The new series, produced in association with Catalyst, examines the systematic exploitation of black artists by the music industry and explores what it would look like for black artists to receive sonic reparations. It documents the extent of the historic injustice suffered by the music industry’s black artists, including the disparity of profits received by them, despite having created the records that have driven the fabric and culture of popular music.
Mark Browning, Chief Executive Officer, Zinc Media Group, says:
“We are extremely proud of our team’s hard work and dedication in securing this significant contract win, and that Idris and Sabrina are Executive Producers. It underlines Zinc’s global reputation for premium feature documentaries and our commitment to highlighting real-world issues, including those faced by black artists in the music industry today. We believe that our programmes such as this make a positive impact on society. It is another material contract that helps underpin our full year revenue projections.”
Idris Elba, CEO, Green Door adds: “This is a story that touches all of us. It’s about the people who created the soundtracks of our lives in popular music and the pain of their exploitation. It’s also about bringing the music industry to account for the injustice inflicted on generations of musical talents who have been deprived of their rightful rewards both financially and in terms of status and respect. At the heart of it is the need to make amends – granting acknowledgement and paying back what is due.”
