Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: CSSE), a provider of premium content to value-conscious consumers, and Publicis Media’s APX Content Ventures, a global offering dedicated to investing in quality and mission-driven programming, today announced a second season of the award-winning series Inside The Black Box will premiere December 1 exclusively on the Crackle streaming app. The series will be available to stream for free on a wide variety of devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TVs, and many others.

Inside the Black Box’s 10-episode second season is hosted by Emmy® Award winner and NAACP Image Awards recipient Joe Morton (Scandal, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and celebrity acting coach, director, producer, and casting director, Tracey Moore. The hosts interact with celebrity guests facilitating discussions about the role race plays in the entertainment industry. Talent featured in the second season includes Debbie Allen (Grey’s Anatomy, Fame), Keith David (Nope, Armageddon), Jeffrey Wright (The Batman, Westworld), Malik Yoba (First Wives Club, Designated Survivor), Wendell Pierce (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Wire), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Billions, Castle), Rob Morgan (Stranger Things), and Naturi Naughton (Power, Queens).

“Inside the Black Box is a special series for so many reasons,” said co-host Joe Morton. “Black performers are often forced to speak words that are not in line with their experience. Our goal is to create a safe space where artists of color can speak their minds and tell their stories.”

Publicis Media’s APX Content Ventures is a next-generation unit within Publicis Media that seeks to find, fund, and elevate partners and properties that amplify diverse voices, empower women and build community, connection, and trust. APX and Publicis clients have the exclusive opportunity to be featured prominently in the series via deep brand integrations, custom content, sponsorships, and other show-adjacent segments. 

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Crackle and The General on this entertaining and engaging program. The success of Inside the Black Box shows what can happen when quality programming finds the right partner or brand to add value for the audience,” said Kerry Bianchi, Global CEO of APX Exchange. “The fact that The General’s brand purpose is so aligned with the ethos of this series makes its involvement a valuable and seamless part of this great content.”

“Our team is proud to work with such a respected brand as The General to create important, socially-uplifting content like Inside the Black Box,” said Michele Fino, head of branded entertainment for Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. “This series is providing a unique outlet for black artists to voice their experiences in Hollywood in a way that reflects the principles of our brand and our client simultaneously.”

Inside the Black Box is sponsored by The General® for the second season. The General will continue to have unique brand placement across various layers of the programming – both in and out of the show. This includes pre-roll ads, QR code placements, brand integration within the content and “The General Audience” branded theater section featured in the show, allowing VIP attendees to get a better view of the action. 

The series is produced by Landmark Studio Group, a division of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, and Strong Studios, with Morton and Moore serving as Executive Producers, along with David Ozer, Rachel Weintraub and Dr. Dave Kolin. Andrew Lombardi and Scott Weinstock produced. Season one featured celebrity guests such as Phylicia Rashad and Raven-Symoné and recently received a Faxie Award from Cablefax in the Sponsored Content category. Inside the Black Boxis distributed in North America by Screen Media, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company and the supplier of exclusive and original content to Crackle.

Crackle’s recent releases include the nuptials celebration series Wedding Talk, the second season of Crackle Original The Wall, the pet-centric lifestyle series Pet Caves, the award-winning BBC series Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as well as season three of the award-winning series Going From Broke.

The Crackle, Redbox, and Chicken Soup for the Soul streaming services are currently distributed through over 140 touch points in the U.S. on platforms including Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio), gaming consoles (PlayStation and Xbox ), Plex, iOS and Android mobile devices and on desktops at Crackle.com and Redbox.com.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Alternate Side Production and APX Content Ventures recently announced their collaboration on a new reality series starring comedian J.B. Smoove called Dirty Pool with J.B. Smoove, which will premiere on Crackle streaming platforms in late 2023. This is the latest program to receive funding through APX Content Ventures’ $25 million Inclusion Investment Fund, which is part of Publicis Media’s Once & For All Coalition initiative. It has funded over 20 content ideas with more than 10 diverse owned, operated, and targeted companies.

About Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (Nasdaq: CSSE) provides premium content to value-conscious consumers. The company is one of the largest advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) companies in the US, with three flagship AVOD streaming services: Redbox, Crackle and Chicken Soup for the Soul. In addition, the company operates Redbox Free Live TV, a free ad-supported streaming television service (FAST), with over 150 channels as well as a transaction video on demand (TVOD) service, and a network of approximately 36,000 kiosks across the US for DVD rentals. To provide original and exclusive content to its viewers, the company creates, acquires and distributes films and TV series through its Screen Media and Chicken Soup for the Soul TV Group subsidiaries. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is a subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, which publishes the famous books series and produces super-premium pet food under the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand name.

About The General® Insurance

The General Automobile Insurance Services, Inc. (The General®) is a licensed insurance agency and subsidiary of PGC Holdings Corp. (PGC), which is wholly owned by American Family Mutual Insurance Company. Through its insurance company subsidiaries and their predecessors, PGC has been writing automobile insurance since 1963, serving customers who may find it difficult to obtain insurance from other carriers at a reasonable rate. Visit www.thegeneral.com or follow The General on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

About APX Content Ventures 

APX Content Ventures is a global unit dedicated to investing in quality, and mission-driven programming. Part of Publicis Media, its purpose is to find, fund and elevate partners and properties that amplify diverse voices, empower women and build community, connection and trust. Live in the UK, US, Germany and Italy, it has generated hundreds of programs across all genres, from ground-breaking documentaries to global entertainment formats and world-class scripted series. 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

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