Exclusive: Piney Woods School Teams With Big Picture World on New Film & TV Studio in Mississippi

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In a rather groundbreaking strategic partnership timed to its 115-year Founders’ Celebration, the Piney Woods School, which is the last remaining Black boarding school in America, is teaming with Big Picture World, producers William Clevinger (RZA’s Cut Throat City) and Sidney Elle Brocious, and dozens of their partners on an educationally-minded film and television studio in rural Mississippi.

Piney Woods will allow Big Picture World and its partners to build a backlot on its campus where students will be able to get hands-on experience working on the kinds of projects that align with the school’s core values. 

Will Crossley, the president of Piney Woods and just the fifth to hold that position during the school’s rich 115-year history, will be involved in the production of each project. The first film that will be produced at Piney Woods under its Big Picture World partnership will be announced on Nov. 20.

Clevinger’s partners in the ambitious endeavor include Larry Franco, David Womark, fashion icon/actress Jaime King, Grammy-winning poet J Ivy, Robert Rusler, Todd Seligman, former ICM/CAA agent Joey Stanton, Hash Agency’s Josh Berman, Jim Steele, Adam C. Stone, Rasta Phil, Bheki Dladla, and the late TV producer Troy DeVolld, plus Dean Hadley, who introduced Piney Woods to Big Picture World. 

Additional partners include architects Marlow LaFountaine, Whitney Sanders, Archer Stephenson, and Glenn Williams, as well as Melony Feliciano and members of Compton’s Alondra Church of Christ, which will be involved on the educational side.

Piney Woods has been educating Black children since the height of the Jim Crow era, and the school has a rich history of investing in statistically and historically “undervalued” youth. Those investments can yield extraordinary results, as 100 percent of Piney Woods graduates are offered admission to at least one college or university.

Of course, once Piney Woods students work on indie projects that wish to film on its lush campus, there’s the question of where that work will be seen, as distribution is still a tough nut to crack.

As part of the announcement, Clevinger is teaming up with Sidney Elle Brocious, David Womark, Bassem Sa, and the Piney Woods School on a new streaming platform called Lucell3 with the goal of creating a sustainable revenue stream for the school.

The platform will feature both licensed and original content, curated news, and even music videos, and there will also be a social engagement initiative via the Reinbow app.

The Lucell3 board and leadership team includes Eric Binns, Barry Bogovich, Paul Bunch, Bruce Cheng, Brett Claywell, Tonya Cornelisse, Colin Costello, Brandon Cox, Kimeyo Daniels, Gardy Darbouze, Todd Denkin, Billy Frank, Joshua Frazin, Jordan Frost, Michael Gold, Olive Power Grant, Danny Hamilton, Sean Harner, Reverend Sam Harris, Joel Hebner, Zeke Hindle, Griffin Johnson, Barsun “YDB” Jones, Jeremy Jordan Jones, Mike Kallio, Graham Kaye, Noah Lydiard, Sean Lydiard, Brandon Magee, Joshua Matrisciana, William McClelland, Cyrus Mcginnis, Chris Montgomery, Craig Nobles, Lin Oeding, Dana Offenbach, Jim Phillips, McLaine Pleasants, Phil Powell, Deon Provitt, Bryan Rasmussen & Pedro Garcia, Carl Reed, R Scott Reid, Daniel Roebuck, Gina Ruiz, Christine Sclafani, Michelle Seanez, Jeff Shiffman, Elliott Michael Smith, Lidiya Stimson, Michael Von, Kari Von Slobom, Chase Tuten, John Tracy, Mimi Vengoechea, Tom Voris & Brian Drinkwine, and Eric Michael Woods, plus Berman, King, Rusler, Seligman, Stanton, Steele, Stone, Womark, and J Ivy.

Lucell3 will launch on Feb. 13, 2025, with a five-day global impact benefit concert and telethon event called Big Picture World LOVE that will broadcast live from Clevinger’s hometown of Ocala, Florida, and conclude on Presidents Day. 

The initial lineup of musical acts, comedians, athletes, entertainers, influencers, and humanitarians will be announced on Thanksgiving Day when venue details are unveiled and tickets go on sale. 

Proceeds will support veterans, victims of domestic abuse, those who have been affected by human trafficking, those experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities working in entertainment, medical treatment for children with infections diseases, victims of this year’s hurricanes, and the children and families affected by ongoing conflicts throughout the world. 

Key members of the Big Picture World x Piney Woods launch team include Moses Gross and CJ O’Connor of Malka Investment Trust; MMA superstar Tyron Woodley; comedians Deray Davis and Mike Marino; NFL superstar DeSean Jackson and Ahkello Witherspoon; actors Jonny Weston, Tim Daly, Denzel Whitaker, and Demetrius Shipp Jr.; influencer/entrepreneur Andrew Bachelor; reality star Tamaris Sepulveda; directors Darren Lynn Bousman and Steven C. Miller; SNL alum Chris Redd; manager/producer Adam Goldworm; and Andrew Cutrow and Marquel Martin of 3.0 Labs, among dozens of others.

There are also dozens of well-known individuals who support Big Picture World and backed its efforts to acquire Paramount via the special purpose vehicle Project Rise Partners, which reportedly submitted a cash bid worth $13.5 billion for the legacy studio. Those individuals include Jim Steele, Jerry Easter Sr., directors Nick Cassavetes and Michael Haussman, producer John Schneider (The Hot Chick); and NBA legends Jermaine O’Neal and Metta World Peace, among many others. 

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