Amazon MGM Studios Signs Exclusive First-Look Deal With Director Nneka Onuorah

Rosy Cordero
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has signed an exclusive first-look series and film deal with Emmy-winning director Nneka Onuorah.

The Nigerian-American filmmaker, producer and activist is committed to telling narratively—and formally—daring stories that reexamine and lift up underrepresented communities.

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In 2022, she won the Primetime Emmy award for “Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program” for Prime Video’s Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls. This marked Onuorah’s first nomination and win, and a historic moment for queer, women of color directors at the Emmys.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the creative fabric of what Jen and her team are building at Amazon,” said Onuorah in a statement to Deadline. “I’m proud of the groundbreaking stories that we’re already telling together, and excited to continue my artistic journey into scripted series and films with Amazon as well.”

“Nneka has a track record of crafting stories that excite, intrigue, and inspire,” shared Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “This is a process we’ve been fortunate to experience firsthand, and we cannot wait to reignite our professional relationship under this formal deal.”

Onuorah’s recent directorial work has twice been nominated for “Outstanding Documentary” at the GLAAD Media Awards: in 2017, for The Same Difference, about internalized homophobia within the Black lesbian community; and in 2022, for The Legend of the Underground, which premiered at Tribeca before debuting on HBO in June 2021, produced by John Legend and focused on Nigerian youth challenging their country’s discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws.

Her other credits include Netflix’s prison-themed First and Last; Viceland’s Black-, queer-focused My House; and The G Word, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.

She is represented by UTA, Mosaic and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

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