Recently, I was offered a deal that sounded… off. The more I listened, the more familiar it felt. And because I grew up reading Black history and listening to old Black folks talk plainly about how the world works, I recognized it immediately: Sharecropping. Just updated for Wi-Fi and metadata . What’s new is old. In the digital age, independent filmmakers—especially Black creators—are being handed contracts that mirror the same exploitative mechanics used on our ancestors af