Arese Ugwu, a Nigerian author and filmmaker, shared her disappointment in Netflix for declining to collaborate with her on a larger scale.
Despite the success of her TV show, The Smart Money Woman, on Africa Magic and the platform, Ugwu was turned down by Netflix when she sought sponsorship to expand the show in 2021. The rejection left the 39-year-old writer feeling shattered.
Speaking in a recent interview with Afropolitan, Arese Ugwu said, “We were able to produce Season 1 of The Smart Money Woman and got a fantastic reception on Africa Magic and Netflix. We were in the top 10 for 13 weeks on Netflix. I then approached Netflix for sponsorship to make the project bigger and better, and shockingly, they turned me down. That rejection almost broke me.”
Arese Ugwu also spoke about her desire to become an established filmmaker and not just an author whose book was adapted for a film.
“I want to establish myself as a filmmaker. I feel like some people still see me as the girl who wrote a book and the book was turned into a TV series,” she said.