American actor, Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures and Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Media have announced a new partnership to launch a film and TV joint venture that aims to support emerging talent from Africa and the African diaspora.
The joint venture plans to empower these creatives by providing industry education, mentorship, and production opportunities for a development slate of film and TV projects.
The goal is to promote authentic representation in the international industry and give stories from Africa and its diaspora the same level of attention and respect as other cultures and communities.
The production slate will focus on “authentic, Afro-centric stories” that resonate with audiences worldwide, ranging from feature films to television series or streaming partnerships.
Co-produced by Green Door Pictures and EbonyLife Media, the joint venture will prioritize stories that accurately represent African and Black experiences. Additionally, the partnership will offer education and mentorship to up-and-coming creatives using EbonyLife’s creative academy in Lagos as a model that they plan to roll out across the continent.
Idris Elba, known for acting in films such as “Beasts of No Nation,” “The Suicide Squad,” and “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” expressed his passion for using his platform to make a positive impact. He aims to create a more inclusive and diverse media landscape by partnering with Mo Abudu to offer free, world-class industry education to the next generation of storytellers.
Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Media is one of Africa’s most successful production companies, responsible for producing series such as “Blood Sisters” on Netflix and “Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman” — a feature adaptation of the play “Death and the King’s Horseman” by Nigerian Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year.
The company also has high-profile projects in the works, including “Queen Nzinga,” a series on a 17th century African warrior queen, and a feature film on the life of Nigerian Instagram influencer and notorious scam artist Ramon Abbas, also known as Ray Hushpuppi.
The partnership between Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures and Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Media represents an exciting development for the promotion of diverse voices in the entertainment industry.
