Orlando's UrbanFest 360 is entering its fourth year with a lineup that pairs a heartfelt tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman with free public panels aimed at building up Central Florida's film industry. The festival runs September 18-20 at AFRO TV Studios on International Drive, and organizers say Boseman's brothers, Kevin and Derek Boseman, are expected to attend as the event honors his legacy. A Chadwick Boseman Legacy Award is planned for Sunday's awards show, with Kevin and Derek Boseman expected to accept it on his behalf.
Founder Timothy Starks, who launched the event and has run it under the UrbanFest 360 name for two years, said the festival aims to be broader than a traditional film festival, according to WFTV. UrbanFest 360 combines independent film, fashion, music and community programming, and organizers are working to include Boseman's family in festival panels and a question-and-answer session, with his brothers reportedly expressing interest in participating in more than just accepting an award. Boseman's stunt performer from Marvel's Black Panther is also expected to take part in presenting the legacy award, and the tribute is planned to include stories from his Howard University collegiate alumni, according to details listed on FilmFreeway.
A Festival Built Around Free Public Access
Several UrbanFest 360 panels are free and open to the public, and the festival is designed for general audiences rather than just industry insiders. Programming will center at AFRO TV Studios, a 30,000-square-foot digital television complex that opened in November 2020 featuring a 220-seat auditorium, two television studios and a music recording studio, per reporting from Business Wire on the venue's parent company. That parent company, Afrotainment, broadcasts Black television content nationally on Comcast Xfinity Channel 1623 and expanded its programming through a March 2024 partnership with BET Her.
Saturday is expected to be the festival's largest day of programming, with events starting around 11 a.m. Panels this year cover independent film production, distribution, acting, casting, SAG-AFTRA membership and Black women in film, alongside a SAG-AFTRA 101 session that will walk attendees through contracts, stunts and other aspects of working within the performers' union. Organizers also point to a notably local flavor this year, saying UrbanFest 360 selected more Orlando films and received more submissions from Florida and the Orlando area than in prior years.
Film Incentives Take Center Stage
Among the festival's business-focused sessions is a film incentives panel featuring Jen Pennypacker, Orange County's film incentives administrator. Orange County launched a five-year, $25 million Film Incentive Program in March 2026 offering a 20% cash rebate capped at $1 million for feature films and television series that spend at least $400,000 locally, according to Realscreen. The program arrives more than a decade after Florida eliminated its statewide film incentive in 2016, leaving it as one of 13 states without a state-level film tax credit and pushing counties to build their own rebate programs, as reported by Orlando Weekly.
That gap has real stakes for the region's workforce. Orange County officials reported this year that Central Florida produces roughly 3,000 film and media graduates annually from schools like UCF and Full Sail University, but nearly half leave the state because there isn't enough local production work to keep them, per the same Orlando Weekly report. Panels connected to Full Sail University programming, including one featuring Emmy-nominated Simpsons director and animator Michael Polcino, are part of the festival's effort to link students and young professionals to those job pipelines.
Music, Fashion and a Grammy Winner's Return
Beyond film, UrbanFest 360 will feature music-focused documentaries, food and live entertainment, along with the Fashion 360 showcase. Seven-time Grammy winner Marvin “Smitty” Smith will be honored at the festival and is scheduled to perform Friday night at Timucua, with a drum clinic and an octet performance rounding out his appearance, according to Orlando Shine. A documentary about fashion designer Patrick Kelly is also on the schedule.
Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings will receive a legacy award recognizing his leadership and service to the community. Freeway Ricky Ross is scheduled to take part in conversations about entrepreneurship, transformation and perseverance, while Lucky Johnson is expected to participate in panels on independent filmmaking and casting.
From Fellowship Grants to a Netflix Premiere
Director David Fortune is expected Friday for a screening and question-and-answer session tied to his feature directorial debut, Color Book, which won the Audience Choice Award at the Chicago International Film Festival before its global Netflix release in June. Fortune developed the drama, which follows a widowed father taking his son with Down syndrome on a journey across Atlanta to a baseball game, through the Netflix-backed Film Independent Amplifier Fellowship and funded production with a $1 million grant he won at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival AT&T Untold Stories competition, according to SAGindie. He was subsequently named one of Variety's Directors to Watch for 2025.
Not everyone on the original guest list will make it. Actor James Pickens Jr. withdrew from attending because of his production schedule, though members of his production team are still expected to attend in his place. Actor Keith David remained unconfirmed as of Starks's interview.
A Youth Program Built on Mentorship
UrbanFest 360 will also host Creative Futures, a youth program bringing more than 100 young people from underserved communities into the festival with a focus on mentorship and opportunity. A related Compton Cowboys Youth Engagement Experience uses film and discussion to focus on culture, mentorship, creativity, inspiration and alternatives to violence.
Starks noted that roughly 75 percent of the films selected for this year's UrbanFest 360 received festival award nominations, underscoring the caliber of independent work the festival brings to Orlando audiences. Organizers describe the goal as showing independent productions that audiences may not otherwise see in theaters or on major streaming platforms, with the festival's fourth year continuing to lean on partnerships built through Global Peace 360, the nonprofit behind the 24-year-old Global Peace Film Festival that backs UrbanFest 360 as a signature initiative.
