Until the panther tells
his side of the story,
the tale of the hunt
will always glorify
the hunter.

Stories of
People
of Color

Panthertainment produces film and series content with a focus on POC stories for the global marketplace. Panthertainment consults in the field of D&I storytelling.

Diversity
as normality

Through stories in which diversity is shown to be the norm, Panthertainment showcases alternative perspectives to the prevailing eurocentric narrative in the media world in front of and behind the camera.

News and
press

  • Sam: A Saxon

  • First German original on Disney+

    First German original on Disney+

    The streaming service Disney+ has announced the start date for its first German original: The miniseries “Sam - A Saxon” will premiere on April 26th. The story is based on true events.

    More at DWDL

  • Netflix Writing Academy: PoC Writers Incubator

    Netflix Writing Academy: PoC Writers Incubator

    As part of Netflix Grow Creative activities, we are launching the Netflix Writing Academy: PoC Writers Incubator in November 2022 in collaboration with Netflix and DFFB.

    During a 13-week training program, we will mentor six writers and give them the tools to tell their stories in a way that will resonate with streaming audiences.

    German-speaking PoC writers with screenwriting experience can apply by October 27, 2022, inclusive, with a one- to two-page pitch for a series and a screenwriting sample.
    Learn more at DFFB
    Apply now

  • First collaboration for streaming service Disney+

    First collaboration for streaming service Disney+

    Big Window produces the first Disney+ Original German series “Sam – Ein Sachse” (Sam — A Saxon) in cooperation with with Panthertainment : Jörg Winger with Big Window Productions in cooperation with Tyron Ricketts' Panthertainment tell the extraordinary story of East Germany's first black police officer.
    Learn more

  • Disney+ Casts German Original “Sam — a Saxon”

    Disney+ Casts German Original “Sam — a Saxon”

    Disney+ casts original series “Sam – a Saxon” about first black police officer in East Germany.
    Hollywood Reporter

  • Getting reel on diversity in German cinema

    Getting reel on diversity in German cinema

    “Based on the real-life story of Samuel Meffire (born in Zwenkau near Leipzig to Cameroonian-German parents), this Sachse became the first Afro-Deutsch police officer and a symbol of post-reunification migrant assimilation. (…) The series is co-produced by 49-year-old Black actor, producer and musician Tyron Ricketts.” Read more on exberliner.com

  • Why German films and series need to become more diverse

    Why German films and series need to become more diverse

    Podcast: Netflix Talk of the Week
    Listen on spotify

  • The Timing has never been Better

    The Timing has never been Better

    Tyron Ricketts imagines German television and film to better represent the actual Germany: diverse. Read on qiio.de

  • Bridgerton: Color Conscious or Color Blind‽

    Bridgerton: Color Conscious or Color Blind‽

  • Actor Tyron Ricketts fights against stereotypes

    Actor Tyron Ricketts fights against stereotypes

    zibb rbb

  • Tyron Ricketts about diversity on television

    Tyron Ricketts about diversity on television

  • Cover story of Berliner Zeitung Magazin

    Cover story of Berliner Zeitung Magazin

  • Diversity at UFA

    Diversity at UFA

  • Interview with Tyron Ricketts

    Interview with Tyron Ricketts

  • Hochkultur Podcast

    Hochkultur Podcast

  • What is it about George Floyd and racism in German film‽

    What is it about George Floyd and racism in German film‽

  • Interview with Tyron Ricketts

    Interview with Tyron Ricketts

    A real chance for change!
    Read more on gala.de

  • Is German cinema rascist?

    Is German cinema rascist?

  • UFA and Panthertainment dare to achieve greater diversity

    UFA and Panthertainment dare to achieve greater diversity

Changing the world,
one story at a time

  • Sam: A Saxon

    »The city is black and- like deadtired birds people are falling out of heavens …«

    Sam: A Saxon

    Series

    Black Saxon is the unbelievable yet true story of the first black policeman in East Germany, whose career took a turn from dedicated citizen to wanted felon. When Sam ends up behind bars, for the first time in his life, he can no longer run away from his demons. Neither from those who try to assert their agendas upon him, nor from his lifelong inner conflict with himself and his relationship with the society he strived, often in vain, to be a part of. Did his short-lived notoriety as the figurehead of German coexistence give rise to him becoming enemy of the state or was this fall inevitable?

  • Netflix PoC Writers Incubator

    Netflix PoC Writers Incubator

    Netflix PoC Writers Incubator

    Consulting

    The program is explicitly aimed at People of Color in order to incorporate their perspectives into stories and make them accessible to a wide audience. Our goal is to train the next generation of confident Writers of Color to provide material in which the audience can see themselves represented and which also contributes to raising awareness.

  • Kitz

    Kitz

    Consulting on diversity

    Panthertainment contributed consulting on diversity for the show “Kitz” (Netflix) and adjusted the characters to be more realistic. Learn more on netflixwoche.de

  • Moooment!

    Moooment!

    Consulting on diversity

    From pitching to script editing, actor and producer Tyron Ricketts advised the Kika editorial team on the development of the project. Learn more at kika.de

  • Der Park

    Der Park

    Series

    Markus Meier, an aspiring politician within the left-wing party unwittingly kills a young African drug dealer in self-defense. This secret crime fuels the flames of an already blazing political fire in both Berlin and greater Germany. Nevertheless, Markus’ career grows in the shadow of this volatile and torturous situation, as his conscience drives him deeper and deeper into a mental swamp of darkness.

  • The Break

    “Life is like surfing…wait for the moment, paddle hard, stand up if you can and ride the wave of your life”

    The Break

    Series

    The Break is the story of a young German woman on the run through Central America. In order to ride the wave of life, she must empower herself through self-love and face the demons of her past. Through contact with the various people she meets on her journey, she learns of life from different perspectives.

  • Rip Tide

    Rip Tide

    Feature Film

    Rip Tide is the story of an Afro-German doctor who is saved at sea by an African refugee ship after a surf accident. After the ship is picked up by the Spanish Coast Guard, the doctor is considered one of the refugees and ultimately left at sea in a less-than-sea-worthy boat that capsizes. Along with the only other survivor, he washes up on the shores of Morocco to begin a deadly journey back to Europe.

  • Landless

    “Let's just say that history dealt us a bad hand -
    Should we just accept it?
    Or should we take back what was once ours?!”

    Landless

    Feature Film

    At a 'get-away' film shoot in Namibia, an Afro-German lead actor befriends a local crew member and gets an insider view into the racist tenets of those who continue to hold power over the country. After he himself becomes the victim of a racist assault, it unintentionally triggers a revolution that will turn the film's shooting location into the epicenter of action.

    Let the upheaval begin.

Tyron
Ricketts

Tyron Ricketts is the Founder and Managing Director of Panthertainment.

With more than 70 entries at IMDb, Tyron is the most successful black actor and producer in Germany. After producing and hosted the hip-hop programme “Word Cup” on Viva TV from 1995 to 2000, he began to combine entertainment and political messaging with short film projects such as “Afrodeutsch” (Sundance) and the transnational anti-racism music project Brothers Keepers. With the group Mellowbag, Tyron achieved chart-topping success as a musician with the album “Weltenreiter”. He continued his career as an actor with movies like “Bunte Hunde” and “Kanack Attack”.

He also acted in numerous TV series, including “Soko Leipzig”, “Dogs of Berlin”, and “Sunshine Eyes”. As creator, executive producer, writer, and actor he realized the first German Disney+ original “Sam: A Saxon”.

For the German government, he implemented integration programmes such as Respekt 2010 and Heimat Almanya. Tyron moved to New York in 2015 and conceived social media strategies against racism for Harry Belafonte. Tyron returned to Germany in 2017. Based in Berlin, he produces films and series with a focus on People of Color for the global market.

Iriedaily ⤫ Panthertainment

Stay different

IRIEDAILY and PANTHERTAINMENT are joining forces.
Together, the Berlin Streetwear label and we are launching a shirt and hoodie collection that combines both companies’ philosophies.

Creativity, individuality and an alternative point of view has been connecting us for the last 25 years.

Check it out

Advisory
backbone

  • Patrick Mushatsi-Kareba

    Patrick Mushatsi-Kareba

    After working in different important positions for T- Online International, Napster, Apple and Universal Music Patrick, who holds a degree in Political Science from Frankfurt's Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University, was named CEO of Sony Music Entertainment in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Patrick Mushatsi-Kareba lives in Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich.

  • Gina Belafonte

    Gina Belafonte

    Gina was the lead producer on the internationally acclaimed documentary film, “SING YOUR SONG”, exploring the extraordinary life and legacy of her father Harry Belafonte. Further, she runs link: http://sankofa.org/ text: Sankofa.org target:_blank), an organization that bridges entertainment with activism to promote cultural and civic engagement in the 21st century. Born and raised in New York City, Gina Belafonte has spent her life in the arenas of entertainment and activism in front and behind the camera, on the podium and on the streets.

  • Alexander Markowetz

    Alexander Markowetz

    As a philosopher for digitalization, Alexander is one of the most sought-after pioneers within his field in the German-speaking world. From 2009 to 2016 Alexander Markowetz was a junior professor in Computer Science at the University of Bonn, where he presented his findings as both media and computer scientist in his highly acclaimed book “Digitaler Burnout”.

  • Araba Pilic

    Araba Pilic

    After finishing her studies in London, Araba continues to work on national and international acting projects. She was a founding member and 2. board leader of SFD-Black Filmmakers in Germany, the first association of People of Color in film and tv in Germany. Since 2015 Araba is responsible for the cooperation department for "Stiftung Menschen für Menschen", a Munich and Addis Abeba based non-profit that is successfully pushing development cooperation in Ethiopia for the last 37 years.

  • Tahir Della

    Tahir Della

    Tahir is crucial part of the new black movement in Germany since 1986. Actively involved at ISD Munich, focusing on community work, film festivals, talks and panel sessions, Tahir became a chairman when the ISD society (ISD Bund e.V.) became national in 2001. Since then, among other tasks, Tahirs focus lies on the annual National ISD Meeting, the campaign “Stop Racial Profiling”, “No Blackfacing” and the exhibition “Homestory Germany”. Tahir was born in Munich and lives in Berlin.

  • Christoph Silber

    Christoph Silber

    Christoph is a bilingual author and filmmaker with a German-British background. Referred to as, "one of Europe's hottest screenwriters" by Screen International, Silber has won an International Emmy and worked on numerous successful films including "Goodbye Lenin", "Nordwand" and "My Last Day Without You", for which he was also a producer. He has resided in the U.S.A. since 2008.

  • Dawa Tarchin Phillips

    Dawa Tarchin Phillips

    Dawa Tarchin Phillips is Founder/CEO of Empowerment Holdings, a multi-national leadership development company. He is founder of The Mindful Leadership Tribe, an online community of mindful leaders. He is a mindfulness and meditation expert, author, entrepreneur, spiritual leader, researcher and educator. He is President of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association, a global professional organization for Mindfulness teaching professionals from 27 countries. Dawa completed two 3-year meditation retreats and is a leading voice in the global mindfulness movement. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Men’s Fitness, Forbes and Fast Company. He lives with his family in Santa Barbara, California.

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