BBC Studios Drama Productions has formed a partnership with Nigerian TV pioneer Mosunmola “Mo”Abudu is the founder and CEO of entertainment platform EbonyLife Media. CAA brokered the deal.
The deal will see BBC Studios Drama Productions develop a new action-adventure series with Abudu’s EbonyLife. The drama will be calledReclaim,This article was written by BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Rowan AthaleThe RiseIt is based on a original idea by Mo Abudu and Heidi Uys, and Bode Asiyanbi. EbonyLife describes it as its “first big-budget, global series”.
This six-part heist thriller series will explore themes of colonialism as well as race and cultural ownership. It follows a team made up of art thieves, who are trying to return artworks taken by the British Empire 125 year ago from the Kingdom in Benin to their rightful place in Nigeria.
On his death bed, billionaire art collector, Chief Inneh, hands his life’s mission over to his daughter Idia Nicole Inneh: she must reclaim four looted ivory masks depicting Queen Idia, the first Queen Mother of the 16th century Benin Empire. These masks are displayed in museums in Britain and Germany, but they must be returned back to Nigeria to restore national pride. Idia, a woman of action who has nothing to lose, assembles a kick-ass crew of talented, but morally questionable individuals from all over the world, including Matthew Jones, Xena Kanene and Hector Mawusi, yahoo-boy Hector Mawusi, and Lindiwe Radebe, logistics genius.
Abudu, a recipient of MIPTV’s Médailles d’Honneur, was described by Forbes as “Africa’s Most Successful Woman”.
Priscilla Parish, Head of Drama, BBC Studios said: “I am thrilled to announce this collaboration with EbonyLife. Mo Abudu has a remarkable track record of bringing previously unknown stories to a broad audience. Reclaim’s breathtaking action-adventure is underpinned by thoughtful and timely themes and declares our shared intention to create stories which have both local and international resonance. Rowan Athale has been a writer for both commercial and arthouse hits so he is the perfect person to bring this story to life. I cannot wait to start production on this event series’
Rowan Athale (writer) commented: “It is a great pleasure to be working with Mo Abudu and BBC Studios on Reclaim. The moment I heard Ebonylife’s pitch, I knew I had to join the team. I am excited and honoured be writing Reclaim, and I look forward to sharing our ground-breaking series with a global audience.”
Abudu also added: “Reclaim is our first big-budget, global series, set partly in the UK. It is a dream come true for two reasons – first, it is a partnership with BBC Studios; second, the project will debut under EbonyLife Productions UK. We set up EbonyLife in London because our global strategy includes expansion to the UK and the United States. As Nigerians and Africans, we should see ourselves as world citizens and our storytelling, locations and networks should extend to every corner of the globe. I am delighted with this opportunity to extend our reach into the UK with a great story and a formidable partner.”