Netflix on Friday announced that it signed a deal with the movie producer, Mo Abudu.
The America streaming giant announced this via its verified Twitter handle.
The partnership with Netflix will see on-screen adaptations of literary works by two award-winning Nigerian authors, Wole Soyinka and Lola Shoneyin.
Lola Shoneyin’s debut novel, “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives,” will be developed into a series, and Soyinka’s play, “Death and the King’s Horseman,” will be adapted into a film.
According to Netflix, MoAbudu, who owns a movie production company, EbonyLife TV, will work with the team at Netflix to produce the two new Nigerian originals plus licensed films and a series.
Mo Abudu wrote on Instagram, “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.
“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, Lola Shoneyin and “Death and the King’s Horseman” by Africa’s first Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has congratulated media entrepreneur and filmmaker Mo Abudu over her partnership with Netflix.
Minister of Information/and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, that the partnership, for on-screen adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s ‘Death and The King’s Horseman’ and Lola Shoneyin’s ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’, has added another feather to Mo Abudu’s already well-adorned creative cap.
Mohammed also described the deal as a big boost for the country’s Creative Industry, at a time the industry is reeling from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘’Coming after Netflix’s first Nigeria original film, Lionheart, this is a great recognition of the immense creative talents that abound in Nigeria and the provision of a global platform for Nigeria storytelling,’’ he said.
He expressed hope that this partnership will signal the beginning of a bigger, mutually beneficial working relationship between the streaming service and Nigeria’s Creatives.
