Amazon Prime Video and Germany’s ARD Acquire Cape Town-Set Dramedy ‘The Morning After’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Christopher Vourlias
·3 min read
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Amazon Prime Video and German broadcaster ARD have acquired the distribution rights to “The Morning After,” an eight-part dramedy series starring rising British actress Amara Okereke (“In the Lost Lands,” “Red Rose”), with principal photography now underway in Cape Town.

Created by Thierry Cassuto and Karen Jeynes (“Recipes for Love and Murder,” “Puppet Nation”) and set in Cape Town, the show stars Okereke as a young, aspiring singer from the U.K. who gets adopted by a group of local young misfits after she washes up one morning 6,000 miles from home, alone and naked on a Cape Town beach, with all of her things missing and a story that’s clearly got a few holes.

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The series will premiere in sub-Saharan Africa on Prime Video and in Germany on ARD’s SVOD service Mediatek, with international sales handled by Paradoxal.

“The Morning After” is produced by Paris-based Paradoxal and Cape Town-based Both Worlds Pictures, with the support of the South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), and in association with German broadcaster SWR through its FabFiction co-production initiative. The show marks the second collaboration between Paradoxal and Both Worlds, following on the heels of the 10-part series “Recipes for Love and Murder,” which was released in 2022 on Acorn, M-Net and Showmax and sold globally by Global Screen and AMC Networks.

“The Morning After” is directed by Cindy Lee (“Girls of St. Agnes,” “Desert Rose”) and Karen Jeynes (“Recipes for Love and Murder”), with executive producers Rémy Jacquelin for Paradoxal, and Thierry Cassuto, Karen Jeynes and Thato Cassuto for two-time International Emmy Award-nominated Both Worlds Pictures.

Along with Okereke as Nina Morgan, the series also stars Tarryn Wyngaard (“Devil’s Peak,” “The Watch”) as neurotic, emotionally messy lawyer Cleo; Gaosi Raditholo (“Warrior,” “The River”) as ballbreaker model Mandisa; Carmen Pretorius (“Lien se Lankstaanskoene,” “Table Manners”) as rich-kid-turned-artist Michaela; Danica Jones (“Asinamali,” “Aya”) as no-nonsense camerawoman Pauline; Richard Gau (“Prime,” “Aya”) as the Peter Pan-like, aspiring tech-bro Justin; and Khaya Dladla (“House of Zwide”) as nightclub impresario Tarquin.

Rémy Jacquelin, president of Paradoxal and executive producer, said: “This is a very special project whose time has finally come for Paradoxal and Both Worlds, the second in our slate which got disrupted by COVID. It’s a fun, sexy and bingeworthy comedy-drama set, with an amazing young cast, in stunningly beautiful Cape Town, and we can’t wait to share it with viewers from all around the world.”

Karen Jeynes, co-creator, writer and executive producer, added for Both Worlds: “It’s so rare that Cape Town gets to show off as itself on television; we’re so used to being a location for other shows. ‘The Morning After’ invites you into the lives of a cast of young and exciting characters, all trying to live the Cape Town dream — with a couple of hilarious disasters along the way.”

Brigitte Dithard of SWR added: “It’s an exciting experience for SWR to be making its first co-production with South Africa as part of the FabFiction initiative. We have great confidence in the concept and the creatives and are looking forward to launching the series in Germany.”

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