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Will Smith And Jada Pinkett Smith Partners With Mo Abudu

By Michael Bamidele
17 February 2021   |   3:20 pm
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s film production company, Westbrook Studios is teaming up with Mo Abudu's EbonyLife Studios to co-produce a slate of film and television projects each connected to the African continent. According to Deadline, the deal is the first of its kind for Westbrook in Africa. Under the partnership, the companies will…

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett | Image: Essence

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s film production company, Westbrook Studios is teaming up with Mo Abudu‘s EbonyLife Studios to co-produce a slate of film and television projects each connected to the African continent.

According to Deadline, the deal is the first of its kind for Westbrook in Africa. Under the partnership, the companies will produce at least two series and one film, including the below projects:

“Dada Safaris” is an ‘Afropolitan’ dramedy series. It follows four best friends who, after finding themselves at personal and career dead ends, take a leap to the wild side when one of them inherits her late husband’s long-forgotten family-owned safari lodge and invites her friends to join her newfound purpose- renovating and relaunching the business.

In “The Gods”, a pair of married Cambridge professors set out to find answers to a surge of natural disasters, but find seven long-forgotten African gods instead. Enlisting the help of two divine African children who can communicate with the immortals, the unlikely team must find the secret behind the awakening of the gods before the world as they know it is forever changed.

“Are We Getting Married?” is a comedy feature set in the U.S. and tells the story of the daughter of an embarrassingly wealthy Nigerian family who falls in love with a nerdy but charming African American from Atlanta and their decision to get married. While the couple hopes for an intimate ceremony, their parents have other ideas, and they are faced with the option of either standing their ground or agreeing to have the big Yoruba by way of Atlanta wedding they never wanted.

Mo Abudu

This is coming two weeks after EbonyLife Media’s two-year exclusive first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television, and eight months after signing a major deal to produce two new Nigerian originals plus licensed films and a series for Netflix.

Westbrook Studios SVP, Head of International TV & Film, Eli Shibley, said: “As we set out to focus our initial slate of international content for the studio business across a diversified set of key territories and regions, the creative energy and world-class artistry coming out of Africa is absolutely undeniable.

“We are thrilled to be working with a best-in-class producer like Mo and her EbonyLife team to tell stories that uniquely celebrate African characters and perspectives and resonate with fans of great film and television around the world.”

Mo Abudu in a statement said: “We all dream of lofty goals becoming a reality, then one day those dreams come true. I’m proud to announce that our vision of EbonyLife Studios being in partnership with Will and Jada’s Westbrook Studios is now real. Westbrook‘s goal is to create and curate powerful and inclusive content. This is completely in line with our vision at EbonyLife – to tell global African stories from our perspective. Together, we will be developing a slate of projects that reflect our shared goals. We are beyond excited!

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