"William Foster released the first black-produced film, The Railroad Porter, in 1913. The film was produced by Foster's own company, the Foster Photoplay Company, which he had established in 1910 with intentions of ameliorating both African American portrayals on screen and their reputation for filmmaking ability off screen."
This information was found in the African American Experience database. Find this database listed alphabetically on LAPL’s Research & Homework page (https://lapl.org/collections-resources/research-and-homework)