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Mo Abudu likes to joke that when she decided, in her mid-40, to change careers, from being an executive at oil giant ExxonMobil to launching her own media empire, “most people thought it was a mid-life crisis.” Nearly two decades later, the oft-styled “Queen of African media” has proven the doubters wrong. At 60, Abudu’s influence continues to grow.

Her conglomerate EbonyLife has teamed up with African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) to finance and produce African content for international distribution. Its first project, the family drama, Dust to Dreams, will see Idris Elba direct singer Seal and Nigerian stars Nse Ikpe-Etim, Eku Edewor, Atlanta Bridget Johnson, and Constance Olatunde. On the distribution side, EbonyLife just signed a deal with new Nigerian studio Nile Media Entertainment Group to launch a series of “luxury cinema experiences,” called The Pods, across West Africa, a region with a chronically underserved theatrical market.

Back in Legos,...

Exclusive: Luther and Hijack star Idris Elba is set to direct singer Seal, Nollywood stars Nse Ikpe-Etim (Shanty Town), Eku Edewor (Breath Of Life) and Atlanta Bridget Johnson (Man Of God), and former Nigerian Idol contestant Constance Olatunde in short film Dust To Dreams.

The film is a collaboration between Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Films and African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) through its Creative Africa Nexus (Canex).

Set against the backdrop of Lagos, Nigeria, the film follows the relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter as she meets her father for the first time.

Created by the Mo Abudu, and written and directed by Elba, Mo Abudu will serve as both executive producer and producer, with Heidi Uys as supervising producer. Alongside Abudu and Uys on the project are producers Temidayo Makanjuola, Inem King, and Vanessa Demme.

Multi-Grammy winner and former American’s Got Talent judge Seal, whose mother is Nigerian,...

“Cinnamon” and “A Song From the Dark” were two of the big winners at the Best of the ABFF Awards presented Saturday during the American Black Film Festival.

Following its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival, “Cinnamon” continued its festival run at ABFF in Miami Beach, Fla., where it was awarded the prize for best narrative feature and best director for writer-director Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr.

The Tubi original film stars Hailey Kilgore, Damon Wayans, Pam Grier, David Iacono and Jeremie Harris. Kilgore plays Jodi, a struggling small-town gas station attendant with “killer pipes and big dreams,” who falls hopelessly in love with a hustler (Iacono) and falls foul of a local crime lord (Grier) and her murderous family. The noir thriller serves as the inaugural project filmed under Village Roadshow Pictures’ Black Noir Cinema banner, with Fox Entertainment Studios, co-founded by NBA all-star Kevin Garnett. Veteran producer Oz Scott oversees the content slate,...

A Sunday Affair is a Nigerian romantic comedy movie directed by Walter Taylaur starring Dakore Egbuson, Nse Ikpe-Etim and Oris Erhuero.

A Sunday Affair is a classic romantic comedy that if you are trying to seek solace in the comfort of familiarity… this might do the trick. If you are looking for something a little more novel… carry on searching.

Sentimental, not much comedy and lots of sentiment in dialogues more than in situations, which don´t have much rhythm making the thing bog down before it has even started.

About the Movie

Netflix is an international company and this is what we like about it. We have in recent times, had the chance to see plenty of movies from Nigeria and there are better and worse ones and this one, unfortunately, is not one of the good ones.

This romantic comedy which was created to please, slips a little...

“A Sunday Affair,” a feature film from Nigeria’s EbonyLife Media, will bow on Netflix on Feb. 14.

Set against the backdrop of Lagos, two best friends, Uche and Toyin, fall in love with Sunday, a charming, yet flawed eligible bachelor. A love triangle ensues with the women unaware that they are dating the same man.

Acclaimed Nigerian actor Nse Ikpe-Etim (“Fifty”) plays Uche, Dakore Egbuson-Akande (“Fifty”) Toyin and award winning Oris Erhuero (“Road to Yesterday”) Sunday. The cast also includes Alexx Ekubo (“Weekend Getaway”), Uzor Osimpkpa (“Fifty”), Chris Iheuwa (“Rattlesnake”) and Hilda Dokubo (“Accidental Affair”).

“A Sunday Affair” is written by Darrel Bristow-Bovey (“Inside Story”) and directed by Walter Taylaur (“Jolly Roger”).

Netflix has an ongoing multi-title deal with EbonyLife, whose “Blood Sisters” was a smash hit for the streamer with 11 million hours viewed since it debuted in May, 2022.

Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife Media and executive producer, said: “ ‘A...

Photo: ‘Glamour Girls’ Overview ‘Glamour Girls’ tells the story of a young woman named Emmanuella (portrayed by Sharon Ooja) who must enter the world of sex work in order to provide for her siblings. Within her journey to become a luxury escort, she makes acquaintance with the notorious Donna (portrayed by Nse Ikpe-Etim) – a woman operating the most reputable sex work group in Africa. At first, getting rejected, Emmanuella confronts Donna and reveals her past struggles of homelessness and inability to provide for her sibling’s needs as she raised them from a very young age. Donna acknowledges Emmanuella for this and gives her a number to contact, telling her to start going by Emma. Shortly, Emma returns to the agency where Donna instructs her assistant to take Emma on a makeover journey. Related video: Full Commentary - Cast & Crew Spills Secrets on Making of ‘Elvis’ | In-Depth Scoop | Austin Butler...

Exclusive: Brendan Moriarty (Road to Freedom) is gearing up to direct In the Night, a human trafficking thriller starring Gary Cairns, Jay Giannone, Vincent De Paul, Clayton T. Smith and Aizhan Lighg, which is inspired by real accounts from CIA agents.

The film will dive into the dubious life of CIA agent Ian Boyd (Gary), who is tasked with taking down the leader of the largest human trafficking organization in China, in his last black-ops mission before retiring.

Cairns and Smith penned the screenplay, based on a story by J. Loren. Moriarty’s Franklin Square Pictures banner will finance and produce, with Moriarty producing alongside Cairns and Willie Barela, Henry Bronson and Doug Deluca exec producing, and Stephen L. Harvey and Angelika Jaroslawska Sapieha serving as co-executive producers.

Moriarty is represented by Acclaim Artists in London; Cairns by Linda McAlister Talent; Giannone by Authentic Talent and Literary Management; De Paul by Alvarado Rey Agency,...

Producers Marie Lora-Mungai and Tendeka Matatu are merging their assets to create Restless Global, a development, finance, production, distribution and exhibition studio for African content both within and outside Africa.

Restless Global will unite Matatu’s and Lora-Mungai’s existing companies Restless Talent Management, Ten10 Films, Buni Media and Buni.tv under one umbrella.

Restless Talent Management represents actors, screenwriters and directors such as Oc Ukeje from Nigeria, Nse Ikpe-Etim from Nigeria, Nana Mensah (Us-Ghana) and Tosh Gitonga from Kenya.

Restless Global’s film and television production arm, Restless Productions, is developing a slate of eight film projects and 13 scripted and non-scripted TV shows. The projects will be focused on the Nigerian market while also being offered to a global audience.

Restless Global will handle distribution of its own titles as well as a select number of acquisitions through its distribution arm Restless Distribution.

“Africa is the next big media frontier,” said Lora-Mungai...

Rehashing Emmanuel's March 23rd post on the project, when it was announced that it would be seeing theatrical releases in Nigeria and Ghana... Director Kunle Afolayan's romantic-comedy Phone Swap, stars Nigerian-British stage/film vet Wale Ojo (Meet The Adebanjos) and the very lovely Nse Ikpe-Etim (Guilty Pleasures) in the lead roles. The synopsis for Phone Swap reads: Akin and Mary meet for the first time at an airport where they accidentally bump into each other and mistakenly swap their identical Blackberry phones. This leads to a destination mix up after they receive one another’s text regarding a travel destination. Consequently, Akin...