Movers & Shakers: Nerjyzed's Jacqueline Beauchamp

Instead of complaining about the depiction of negative stereotypes in Black culture, some Black-owned companies have decided to take action and provide positive cultural alternatives.

Jacqueline Beauchamp, President and CEO of Nerjyzed Entertainment Inc. is leading efforts in providing positive cultural images in digital media. Louisiana-based Nerjyzed is a privately held videogame, 3-D animation and publishing firm founded in 2003 by Ms. Beauchamp and three partners.

Nerjyzed’s founding members are all graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), in fact Ms. Beauchamp is a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA where Nerjyzed is located. So, it’s not ironic that Nerjyzed’s flagship videogame is the Black College Football Experience (BCFX).

BCFX was released this past November and features teams from historically black colleges. It even features an interactive half-time battle of the bands and combines original recordings with fight songs played by the actual school bands. Players can hear and download music from BCFX’s constantly updated track list.

Jacqueline Beauchamp and Nerjyzed Entertainment are also set this month to release Historically Black, a documentary on the evolution of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The documentary explores the politics, challenges, organizations, environment and the future of HBCUs. Historically Black also features interviews from some respected and prominent HBCU personalities including Debbie Allen, David Banner, Ed Bradley, Tom Joyner, Doug Williams, Jacqueline Beauchamp and Lt. Gen Russel Honore.

Other Important Notes:
• Jacqueline Beauchamp moved Nerjyzed from Dallas to Baton Rouge because Louisiana offers a digital-media tax credit of up to 20% against expenditures.
• Ms. Beauchamp currently employs 45 people and plans to hire another 35-40 employees.
• Nerjyzed’s music and content division, NERSOUND, is creating public/private partnerships with HBCU’s to provide business development opportunities for aspiring artists and audio professionals.