Netflix has taken the first step towards its commitment to investing in the African content market with an announcement made on Monday about the production of the platform’s first made in Africa original series.
South African actress, Pearl Thusi, who stars in the movie Queen Sono – a Netflix original – took to her twitter account to share her excitement about it. Her tweet was corroborating by a Netflix South Africa repost and reply:
That’s right! A Netflix first for Africa. Pearl Thusi as #QueenSono coming to your screens in 2019 https://t.co/pojP7Y0cLX
— NetflixSA (@NetflixSA) December 10, 2018
According to Netflix’s reports to South African news site Independent Online, local actor and director Kagiso Legida, director of “Catching Feelings”, the South African movie sensation also starring Thusi and available on Netflix will be directing the project.
With Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaji making her directorial debut with Lion Heart, a Netflix production, Netflix’s vice president of international originals Erik Barmack isn’t all lip telling news site that the platform plans on investing in more original productions on the African continent.
“Over time our roots will get deeper in Africa and South Africa, and we’re moving pretty quickly to that now, and plan to invest more in local content,” he said.
“Netflix also wants to be a place where local content creators can tell their stories to a global audience.”
As the streaming service continues to expand as an open marketplace for the best content from around the world, African content creatives can get ready to compete with the rest of the world in a manner that traditional cinema release would not have allowed.
Thusi, who is also a star of US FBI thriller series “Quantico”, said in a video tweet that “it’s going to change the game for every artist on this continent”.
It is indeed an interesting time for content makers. This is surely one space you certainly want to keep an eye on.