Hartbeat, Kevin Hart’s global media company, announced today (Nov. 4) that it has closed a deal with Black Sands Entertainment, a comic publisher focusing on ancient Black history and developing strong Black characters.

In a press release obtained exclusively by REVOLT, the publisher — founded by husband and wife Manuel and Geiszel Godoy — is known for popular graphic novels based on African history across the diaspora, including Black Sands, the Seven Kingdoms, and developing animated shorts. Hartbeat will offer strategic advisory services to help accelerate Black Sands’ storytelling efforts, especially in film and TV. The two companies are developing an animated feature and a series around the publishing company’s flagship franchise, “Black Sands.”

In a statement, Hart said: “The moment that Manuel, Geiszel, and the Black Sands Entertainment team walked into the Tank, I knew that this was a company that I wanted to bring into my eco-system. The Black Sands team was looking for a partner that has resources to grow their distribution, expand on their production, find new creative talent, and promote their current and future portfolio of content — these are all areas of Hartbeat’s core business. I’m very excited that our team will be able to help Black Sands grow and continue to share their unique stories with audiences all over the world.”

Manuel added, “I knew that when I saw Kevin Hart on stage, it was time to change the world. He understands the world of independent business and IP ownership. His expertise will help propel our brand into a household name and empower a new generation of young Black creators for years to come. Black Sands will be a top 10 anime in the world one day.”

Black Sands Entertainment launched a Kickstarter campaign that reached its goal of $10,000 in one minute and garnered $100,000 in one day. Aside from the success of the campaign and the investment from Hart and Mark Cuban on “Shark Tank,” the publishing company has also sold 200,000 print copies of its comic books, resulting in $2 million in sales since its beginning.