In Her Perfect Life, Onajite Johnson-Ibrahim (played by Pearl Thusi) appears to have it all. She’s a 39-year-old entrepreneur with the perfect Instagram profile — a fantastic career, a loving husband (played by Ahmed Ibrahim), and two bright and beautiful children — but Onajite is secretly suffering from depression. She’s contemplating suicide.
Iyawo Mi (My Wife) follows the story of Eniola (Bolaji Ogunmola). Economically, she’s on the other end of the scale to Onajite, living in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Lagos. Her husband, Kunle (Lateef Adedimeji) works as a driver. One night he returns home to find his wife in the throes of madness, hallucinating, screaming at their children and threatening to kill them. With little understanding of mental illness and no access to a support system, he decides to take matters into his own hands, with tragic results.
These are two stories of women on the edge.
Iyawo Mi (My Wife) follows the story of Eniola (Bolaji Ogunmola). Economically, she’s on the other end of the scale to Onajite, living in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Lagos. Her husband, Kunle (Lateef Adedimeji) works as a driver. One night he returns home to find his wife in the throes of madness, hallucinating, screaming at their children and threatening to kill them. With little understanding of mental illness and no access to a support system, he decides to take matters into his own hands, with tragic results.
These are two stories of women on the edge.
- 12/16/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nigerian Media Mogul Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife Media, will present a keynote on diversity and inclusion in the global film and television industry at the MIPCOM Cannes confab next month.
Abudu, a regular on The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual list of the Most Powerful Women in Global Entertainment list, will present the keynote at MIPCOM on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at the Grand Auditorium in Cannes. The event directly proceeds the 7th edition of Mipcom’s Diversify TV Awards, the only global honor recognizing the promotion of diversity and inclusion at international media organizations.
In her 20 years in the media industry, Abudu has built up EbonyLife Media into one of Africa’s leading production companies, with a slate of local theatrical blockbusters — Fifty, The Wedding Party, Your Excellency, Òlòtūré — and television series, including Blood Sisters, Netflix’s first original Nigerian series, which was a global top ten hit on the streamer,...
Abudu, a regular on The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual list of the Most Powerful Women in Global Entertainment list, will present the keynote at MIPCOM on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at the Grand Auditorium in Cannes. The event directly proceeds the 7th edition of Mipcom’s Diversify TV Awards, the only global honor recognizing the promotion of diversity and inclusion at international media organizations.
In her 20 years in the media industry, Abudu has built up EbonyLife Media into one of Africa’s leading production companies, with a slate of local theatrical blockbusters — Fifty, The Wedding Party, Your Excellency, Òlòtūré — and television series, including Blood Sisters, Netflix’s first original Nigerian series, which was a global top ten hit on the streamer,...
- 9/29/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
You could call the 40 executives on THR‘s inaugural International Women in Entertainment — Film list “the survivors.” As seismic disruptions rocked the indie world, from Covid shutdowns to the decimation of the special cinema market, these women have found a way to secure the money and the partners to keep making the stories they care about — often told by filmmakers from ignored or underrepresented groups — and get them out to the audiences that love them, worldwide. In a business that lionizes ego, these bosses — some who run pan-national mini-studios, others who oversee boutique operations with a handful of employees — have made an art out of collaboration, understanding that only by pooling their resources, by co-producing, co-financing or distributing one another’s movies, and by mentoring and encouraging young (often female) filmmakers, can the polyglot world of international indie cinema survive.
Mo Abudu
CEO, EbonyLife Media (Nigeria)
Mo Abudu
Abudu got...
Mo Abudu
CEO, EbonyLife Media (Nigeria)
Mo Abudu
Abudu got...
- 5/15/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski, Alex Ritman, Scott Roxborough and Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In a bid to expand Prime Video in key African markets, Amazon Studios is recruiting a London-based head of Nigerian originals, Variety has learned.
In a recent job posting, the streaming platform has said it’s looking for an experienced senior creative executive to work with its Nigeria originals team, and oversee both scripted and non-scripted content. The role will report directly into Ned Mitchell, the Los Angeles-based head of originals for Africa and the Middle East for Amazon Studios.
“You will create a welcoming ‘Home for Talent’ to include creators and artists who represent the best of Nigeria,” reads an ad for the role. “You will cultivate talent of all levels and backgrounds and elevate Nigerian voices and stories for the enjoyment of audiences in Nigeria, Africa and the world. You will ensure that Originals, and the teams working on them, include and reflect Nigeria’s diversity across gender,...
In a recent job posting, the streaming platform has said it’s looking for an experienced senior creative executive to work with its Nigeria originals team, and oversee both scripted and non-scripted content. The role will report directly into Ned Mitchell, the Los Angeles-based head of originals for Africa and the Middle East for Amazon Studios.
“You will create a welcoming ‘Home for Talent’ to include creators and artists who represent the best of Nigeria,” reads an ad for the role. “You will cultivate talent of all levels and backgrounds and elevate Nigerian voices and stories for the enjoyment of audiences in Nigeria, Africa and the world. You will ensure that Originals, and the teams working on them, include and reflect Nigeria’s diversity across gender,...
- 4/8/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has released the trailer for its first original TV show out of Nigeria, “Blood Sisters.”
Produced by leading Nigerian production company EbonyLife Studios, founded by Mo Abudu, the four-part crime thriller directed by Biyi Bandele and Kenneth Gyang will launch globally on the streaming service on May 5. The show is Abudu’s latest project for Netflix as part of her multi-title deal with the platform.
Set in Lagos, “Blood Sisters” follows a Nigerian wedding where the bride — who is fed up of being beaten up by her partner — accidentally kills the groom the night before their big day. The show tackles themes of intra-family relationships, physical and substance abuse, love, commitment and relationships.
An official description bills “Blood Sisters” as “an ode to life in the city [of Lagos] as it brilliantly juxtaposes the various socio-economic divides in Africa’s most famous commercial and social hub.”
EbonyLife Studios CEO Abudu said:...
Produced by leading Nigerian production company EbonyLife Studios, founded by Mo Abudu, the four-part crime thriller directed by Biyi Bandele and Kenneth Gyang will launch globally on the streaming service on May 5. The show is Abudu’s latest project for Netflix as part of her multi-title deal with the platform.
Set in Lagos, “Blood Sisters” follows a Nigerian wedding where the bride — who is fed up of being beaten up by her partner — accidentally kills the groom the night before their big day. The show tackles themes of intra-family relationships, physical and substance abuse, love, commitment and relationships.
An official description bills “Blood Sisters” as “an ode to life in the city [of Lagos] as it brilliantly juxtaposes the various socio-economic divides in Africa’s most famous commercial and social hub.”
EbonyLife Studios CEO Abudu said:...
- 4/7/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
An action-adventure series written by Rowan Athale is in development.
BBC Studios Drama Productions has signed a development deal with Nigerian television pioneer Mosunmola ‘Mo’ Abudu, a producer and CEO of global entertainment network EbonyLife Media.
The deal, which was brokered by CAA, will see BBC Studios Drama Productions develop a new action-adventure series with EbonyLife Media.
The drama, titled Reclaim, is written by 2011 Screen Star of Tomorrow Rowan Athale. It is based on an original idea by Abudu, Heidi Uys and Bode Asiyanbi.
The six-part thriller follows the story of a team of art thieves looking to return artworks...
BBC Studios Drama Productions has signed a development deal with Nigerian television pioneer Mosunmola ‘Mo’ Abudu, a producer and CEO of global entertainment network EbonyLife Media.
The deal, which was brokered by CAA, will see BBC Studios Drama Productions develop a new action-adventure series with EbonyLife Media.
The drama, titled Reclaim, is written by 2011 Screen Star of Tomorrow Rowan Athale. It is based on an original idea by Abudu, Heidi Uys and Bode Asiyanbi.
The six-part thriller follows the story of a team of art thieves looking to return artworks...
- 11/29/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The sheer number of films streaming on Netflix on any given day can make finding and deciding on what films to watch an arduous journey through an overabundance of content, navigating with an interface that’s not exactly the most ideal. To assist, IndieWire already runs a monthly series that highlights movies and television series worth streaming on every major platform in the U.S.
As an extension of that popular ongoing series, IndieWire will also publish monthly lists of films and television series that specifically tell Black stories and are streaming on those same major streaming platforms. The list will be updated regularly as new titles become available, and existing titles are replaced. It’s a move partly inspired by what has been referred to as a nationwide racial reckoning, as well as recent reports by the Motion Picture Association and other organizations revealing that so-called ethnic minority groups generally watch more movies,...
As an extension of that popular ongoing series, IndieWire will also publish monthly lists of films and television series that specifically tell Black stories and are streaming on those same major streaming platforms. The list will be updated regularly as new titles become available, and existing titles are replaced. It’s a move partly inspired by what has been referred to as a nationwide racial reckoning, as well as recent reports by the Motion Picture Association and other organizations revealing that so-called ethnic minority groups generally watch more movies,...
- 2/13/2021
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
When Nigerian cinemas reopened in September after a months-long lockdown, Moses Babatope, co-founder of the distributor and production company FilmOne Entertainment, began looking ahead to a busy fall season that could get the local industry back on track.
“We were just beginning to see a recovery,” Babatope says, with “Fate of Alakada” — the third installment in Toyin Abraham’s blockbuster Nollywood franchise, directed by Kayode Kasum — bursting out of the gate after an Oct. 1 Nigerian Independence Day release. A slew of highly anticipated Nigerian titles were to follow. “Local films started driving our recovery. Whereas everybody was concerned about Hollywood films, we started seeing local films driving the return of cinemas,” he adds.
But days later, Nigeria erupted in nationwide protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a notorious police unit with a long record of brutality, eventually leading to wider demonstrations against corruption and police violence. Security forces turned on peaceful protesters,...
“We were just beginning to see a recovery,” Babatope says, with “Fate of Alakada” — the third installment in Toyin Abraham’s blockbuster Nollywood franchise, directed by Kayode Kasum — bursting out of the gate after an Oct. 1 Nigerian Independence Day release. A slew of highly anticipated Nigerian titles were to follow. “Local films started driving our recovery. Whereas everybody was concerned about Hollywood films, we started seeing local films driving the return of cinemas,” he adds.
But days later, Nigeria erupted in nationwide protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a notorious police unit with a long record of brutality, eventually leading to wider demonstrations against corruption and police violence. Security forces turned on peaceful protesters,...
- 11/8/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
International media reports have painted many dire pictures of African struggles in recent years: Nigerian women and girls trafficked for exploitation, African migrants caught in slavery-like conditions in Libya, and others dying as they cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe in search of better lives. As these situations continue, African filmmakers have started to take note. Mati Diop’s Cannes-prize winning “Atlantics” provided one high-profile recent example, but it’s hardly alone. In Nigerian filmmaker Kenneth Gyang’s Netflix film ‘Òlòtūré’ (“Endurance”) tackles the same troubling subject matter in unflinching detail.
Set in Lagos, “Òlòturé” is the story of a naïve young journalist (Sharon Ooja) who goes undercover to expose the brutal underworld of human trafficking. She’s caught off-guard by the dangerous environment she finds, a place teeming with cruel traffickers, pimps, madames and unscrupulous politicians. She ultimately bonds with a group of prostitutes and becomes deeply buried in their world.
Set in Lagos, “Òlòturé” is the story of a naïve young journalist (Sharon Ooja) who goes undercover to expose the brutal underworld of human trafficking. She’s caught off-guard by the dangerous environment she finds, a place teeming with cruel traffickers, pimps, madames and unscrupulous politicians. She ultimately bonds with a group of prostitutes and becomes deeply buried in their world.
- 10/7/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
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