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Netflix to spend $5m on women in entertainment

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Nigerian filmmaker and music video director, Kemi Adetiba, has expressed support for Netflix after the online streaming company announced on Monday it will spend $5m to develop and uplift women in the entertainment industry globally.

Netflix Head of Global TV, Bela Bajaria, the $5 million was part of a recently announced $100m annual Creative Equity Fund. The fund dedicates $20m annually over the next five years to setting underrepresented communities up for success in the TV and film industries, as well as bespoke Netflix programs that will help us to identify, train and provide job placement for up-and-coming talent globally, especially Africa.

Sharing her thoughts on the announcement, Kemi Adetiba said, “When I first started off in the industry years ago, I was constantly asked about the obstacles I face as a woman in a “man’s industry.” First, I always took the time to correct this notion. The filmmaking industry is not a “man’s industry.” It might be ‘male dominated for now, but certainly not an industry for only men. This is also why I never answer even the revised question. I don’t want another potential “Kemi” or a 12-year-old Chioma watching the interview on TV, only to see only my highlighted obstacles and limitations in the piece, simply because I am a woman. They would not be encouraged to explore positions of interest within the industry, thinking they don’t stand a chance. I’d rather speak on and highlight that they do. While it could be better, they have solid representation within the industry. I want them to see that I am HERE, I have a VOICE, and I’m doing my ‘darn thang’ without needing to engage in anything outside my principles, This is why this investment by Netflix couldn’t come at a better time.”

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For a young woman growing up in Nigeria, watching a film at home meant trying to put yourself into a character’s shoes that probably wasn’t relatable and left you wondering why roles played by women truly didn’t depict the woman’s point of view. More often Women were typecast into roles that put them in a box as either a wife, a secretary or a damsel in distress, the statement said.

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Today, thanks to the efforts of incredibly talented women like Mo Abudu, Genevieve Nnaji, Kemi Adetiba, and others, local stories are being told with female voices at the core of its production. The Nigerian film industry has experienced many “female firsts”: “First Netflix original film ever produced in Nigeria”, and “first time Nigeria had submitted a film to the Oscars” and Netflix, has been that springboard to developing and showcasing Nigerian talent and stories to global audiences, it added.

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