‘Be a Little Bit Less Risk-Averse’

Abudu, who was born in London and has deep family roots in Nigeria, has been called “the most powerful woman in global media” by Forbes and landed on the publication’s World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Having built EbonyLife Media from the ground up, she told TheWrap she is on a mission to empower Africans to tell stories that go beyond slavery and the legacy of that horrific period in history.

“As a continent, we have remained silent for centuries,” Abudu said. “The only part of our history that ever gets broadcast or made into features or documentaries is that era of slave trade. Now, I know that it was an era that is very important to the world, but it’s not the only thing that defines who we are. I’m happy to be in this industry… I can look forward and say, what are those Afrofuturism stories you want to tell?”

That’s why Abudu pivoted from a business career in the oil and gas sector, including a leadership post in human resources for ExxonMobil, to her own human resources consultancy and finally into media. She hosted her own talk show and then went on to found EbonyLife Media in 2012. The operation has expanded to include EbonyLife Films, EbonyLife Studios, a filmmaking school and Nigeria’s first luxury entertainment resort EbonyLife Place.

TheWrap chatted with Abudu about her career transitions, as well as her desire to move past a limited period in history in storytelling to global stories of today and beyond.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is Afrofuturism?
We’ve seen “Black Panther,” we’ve seen Wakanda, but it’s coming from the United States of America, it’s owned by Marvel. I want to thank them for telling an African story and a Black story. I mean, it’s great to see and we enjoyed it, and it tells you that it can be done, with a Black cast and director and producers, I’m very proud of the projects.

But I’m saying we can do that on the [African] continent, and we are ready for that. And I believe that it’s really going to be through a collaborative effort of many people coming together, from Africa and from the rest of the world.

EbonyLife is keen on global partnerships, including a recently announced relationship with Idris Elba’s Green Door Productions to promote African stories. Why?
There are 1.4 billion people on the continent. I have served the local market extremely well for a number of years. And I will continue to serve a local market because I love telling local stories for local audience. But I also want to tell local stories for global audience, which is why my partnership with Idris Elba is extremely important to me.

And where else is the world going to go? They have explored every avenue except Africa. There’s so much more to us that the world doesn’t know about. And this new generation, they don’t care where the content comes from. They just want exciting stories to be told to them, which is why Korea has had such a successful run with their content.

You mention that people thought you were having a midlife crisis when you left ExxonMobil to start your own HR practice, then subsequent meltdowns when you launched your own talk show, “Moments With Mo,” and then again when you launched EbonyLife, which began as a linear television channel on the Africa-wide direct broadcast satellite service DStv.
We had to start from absolute scratch. We want to start a television channel everyone could tap into to get a piece of what’s happening on the continent, but targeted at Millennials ages 18 to 34. We started from ground zero in an environment where it can sometimes be difficult, but we don’t let difficulties stand in our way.

Eventually, the days [of the channel] were numbered. We started talking to international studios about collaborating with them and taking African stories to a global stage. We have more co-production deals in the world that anyone else does in the continent right now.

Do you have any advice for Hollywood?
I think I’d like to say to the global gatekeepers in the major studios, I know that everyone’s trying to save their job and maybe not take any risks. But we know in life that we’ve seen some of the biggest successes come from risk. They should be a little bit less risk-averse and decide to invest a little bit more time in our stories from the continent, and work with us from the continent. We can start to bring a freshness and a uniqueness and a newness to what’s already out there.

Some of the biggest projects that have come out of Hollywood, including “Squid Game,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” they were passed on by people that said, “No, the show isn’t going to work.” They become some of the biggest shows in America today. So, gatekeepers, keep your minds open.