The founder and owner of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu has just confirmed that her entertainment outlet has just signed multiple movie production deals with an American media-services provider and production company, Netflix.
This great news makes her and her company the first African and first Nigerian to sign such a deal with the outfit to create two original series. Multiple branded films and a series have also been licensed to the streaming service.
Also, one of the films will be the adaptation of “Death and the King’s Horseman,” a play by Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, and a series based on Lola Shoneyin’s best-selling debut novel, “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives.”
One of the unnamed projects will premiere on the platform in 2020. Further details about the rest of the EbonyLife slate will be revealed at a later date.
Mo Abudu taking to her Instagram on Friday 12th June 2020, shared the good news with the fans, where she said:
“Good morning beautiful People ❤️💕💖💝 .
Such great news to share with you today 😊😁🙂💃💃💃 .
EBONYLIFE today has made history as the first African and first Nigerian production company to sign multiple deals with Netflix.
The deal signed by EbonyLife with Netflix is unprecedented and groundbreaking on our continent.
We will over the next few years produce two major IP titles – “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” by the super talented writer, @LolaShoneyin and “Death and the King’s Horseman” by Africa’s first Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
In addition to these two IP titles, we will also be producing a slate of original shows created by EbonyLife exclusively under license to Netflix. .
I am thrilled and grateful to #MyAwesomeGod, The Netflix team @DGhettuba #BenAmadasun and of course the incredible EBONYLIFE team.
It truly is time to tell our stories and I am super pleased that we have an opportunity to do this now in partnership with the world’s leading internet entertainment service with 183 million paid members in over 190 countries. We really are truly changing the narrative and I am so grateful. 🙏🙏🙏 ,” she said.
This will also not be the first time Mo Abudu will be going into a partnership deal with multinational production companies, as in 2018, EbonyLife struck a three-series deal with Sony Pictures Television, with the first project set to tell the story of the female warriors of the ancient West African kingdom of Dahomey.
“As a Nigerian storyteller, my biggest motivator has always been to tell authentic and untold stories that resonate with every person, regardless of where they’re from in the world while showcasing our culture, heritage and creativity,” says Abudu.
“This unprecedented partnership is testament to Netflix’s investment in African storytelling.”