Play Network Studios names Arafat Bello-Osagie as CEO

Play Network Africa has announced the appointment of Arafat Bello-Osagie as the Chief Executive Officer of Play Network Studios.

Play Network Africa’s management announced in a press statement, stating that Bello-Osagie’s appointment is effective April 8, 2024.

Arafat Bello-Osagie is a UK-trained Nigerian lawyer with an outstanding track record in corporate legal strategy, brand differentiation strategy, corporate negotiations, functional management and business operations.

She previously served as Head of Strategy and Operations at Play Network, where she played a key role in the company’s growth and success.

“She has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the Play Network’s objectives, utilising excellent decision-making skills, team mentorship, diligent project execution and delivery, and valuable advisory on key mergers and acquisitions at parent level till date,” said the Board of Directors in a statement.

The board stated that Bello-Osagie, as CEO, will be responsible for overseeing the executive and creative affairs of the company, noting that the board is confident that her “unorthodox, innovative, and audacious” approach will be a perfect fit for the company’s culture.

They added that Bello-Osagie has been granted prerogative by the board to lead the company’s efforts in harnessing new and emerging talent within Nigeria’s Nollywood, a key driving force which remains at the core of the studio’s ethos and brand DNA.

“Within the Play Network Studios, she has innovatively harnessed her creative skills through out-of-the-box thinking, conceptualizing from pre to postproduction – story development, production, and story editing, with a particularly exceptional talent in postproduction,” the Board added.

“She has successfully led both internal and external sub-teams across countries through various titles, from the record-breaking Glamour Girls, to the Skeleton Coast, a yet-to-be-released Pan-African title featuring Nigerian, South African, Namibian and Hollywood A-listers, to Hijack93, based on the true life story of the 1993 hijack of a Nigerian Airways flight, to the December 2023 release of Netflix Original Title Blood Vessel, currently streaming on the platform, standing as the first and only Nigerian title to be listed Number 1 in the world in the Netflix Non-English category for 2 weeks in a row, to mention but a few.”

Play Network Studios is a multi-award-winning Pan-African movie production powerhouse at the forefront of record investment, innovation, and storytelling in Nigeria’s Nollywood.

Since her inception in 2019, Play Network Studios has been at the forefront of leading the trail in producing blockbuster movies, with some of Nigeria’s most acclaimed Nollywood titles, including Living in Bondage – Breaking Free, Rattlesnake – The Ahanna Story, Glamour Girls, and Blood Vessel among others.