If you think about it, there’s no better place to premiere “Black Twitter: A People’s History” than South by Southwest.
Hulu and Onyx’s three-part documentary series, based on Jason Parham’s Wired story of the same name, exists at the perfect intersection of entertainment, the internet and culture—much like SXSW itself.
“When I read this, not only was it something that I loved and I was involved in, but I saw the power of it,” showrunner Prentice Penny told IndieWire during the conference. “It’s kind of like the way my mother talked about the civil rights movement. That’s what I feel like is happening on Black Twitter.”
In addition to being an active user of the platform (formerly known as Twitter), Penny (whose profile welcomes users with the subtitle “FUX YO BLUE CHECK”) was itching to do something different after “Insecure” — and it scared him.
“When Sarah Amos and the team at Condé Nast brought me this piece, I was very intimidated to approach a documentary because I’d never done it before,” Penny said. “But then I remembered that’s how I like to feel. Filmmakers that I like, like Spike Lee, who can make ‘Malcolm X’ and all these great movies, but also make ‘Dykes’ When the Levees Broke’ and ‘Four Little Girls’ — I knew I needed to expand that energy and my abilities. That kind of career.”
Parham’s article was published in 2021; this three-part oral history concludes with the January 6 uprising. By the end of the year, Penny was attached as director, and documentary maker Joie Jacoby joined the board.
“It’s definitely something I’m super interested in,” she said while reading Parham’s article. “It’s basically an opportunity to tell history – our history over the past 20 years and Black people in digital spaces, but actually us. Another way of telling who we are. “
Black Twitter: A People’s History features interviews with an impressive array of writers, academics, activists and entertainers, the full list of which was released on March 7, including W. Kamau Bell, Rembert Browne, Roxane Gay, Jemele Hill, Dr. Meredith Clark, Ella Madison III, Raquel Willis, April Wren, and many more. Many of them spoke with Parham about his original story, but expanding the scope of Black Twitter history means adding more voices. Parham and Penny had extensive discussions about how to bring words to life and what framework to use for the series.
“Usually, when you’re making a documentary, the subject you’re talking about is in the past — over, over,” Penny said. “Jason was very prophetic in documenting this story at this time. We sit in the dark, in the digital space or the internet, and a lot of things are here today and gone tomorrow, and you have to seize these moments.”
Sometimes that means having to add content after you finish editing, whether it’s a new hashtag, a viral moment, or a key event like Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. It also means that when Black Twitter: A People’s History airs on Hulu, the internet will continue to evolve, but Penny says the overarching narrative never changes.
“That’s also the beauty of the platform and the Black Twitter ecosystem,” Parham added. “You can’t quite define it because it’s always moving, reshaping, adapting and remixing — that’s inherent to black culture.”
Parham still works for Wired, and this is his fourth year at SXSW—first as a reporter and editor, and now he’s launching a series that’s not only produced by him, but entirely produced by He triggers.
“[It’s] It’s really meaningful to me,” he said. “Especially at South by Southwest, it’s the intersection of all these different industries and cultures and identities, and I think that’s what this documentary is about and about. . To me, it’s the perfect combination of both, and I’m honestly over the moon. “
“That’s true,” Jacoby added. “It improves the craft and integrity of the filmmaking, but the technical part of our story is so relatable that I just feel like audiences here are going to understand it in a way that they can’t get elsewhere.”
“Black Twitter: A People’s History” will premiere at SXSW on Friday, March 8, and on Hulu on Thursday, May 9.