John Boyega’s Upperroom to develop non-English language films with Netflix

John Boyega’s UpperRoom Productions, an independent production company founded by the British-Nigerian actor, have created a partnership with Netflix to develop non-English language films.

Boyega’s production company will develop film projects based on stories, cast, characters, crew, literary properties, mythology, screenplays and/or other elements in or around African countries, with a focus on West and East Africa. 

This further strengthens Netflix’s commitment to invest in African content creators and to tell stories that are made in Africa and watched by the world. “Africa has a rich history in storytelling and for Netflix, this partnership with John and UpperRoom presents an opportunity to further our investment in the continent while bringing unique African stories to our members both in Africa and around the world,” said David Kosse, Vice President of International Film at Netflix.

UpperRoom, the independent TV & film production company founded by Boyega in 2016 was set up to facilitate his debut producing role on the hit film Pacific: Uprising, which he co-produced and starred in with Legendary Entertainment and was distributed via Universal. Since then, the team at UpperRoom have been developing a slate of projects, across film and TV, including some unscripted content with the day to day operations overseen by Yara Shaikh, VP of Productions.

“I am thrilled to partner with Netflix to develop a slate of non-English language feature films focused on African stories and my team and I are excited to develop original material. We are proud to grow this arm of our business with a company that shares our vision,” said John about the deal with Netflix.

Netflix recently signalled its intent to increase its investment in Africa’s creative community with the production of its first original scripted series from Nigeria, the yet to be titled “Akin Omotoso Project” as well as other African Originals – Blood & Water and Mama K’s Team 4 – that will premiere later this year and join Netflix’s first Africa Original, Queen Sono that debuted on February 28.