Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka enters the entertainment business and forms a media company in partnership with LeBron James and Maverick Carter SpringHill Company.
Osaka and her former agent and business partner Stuart Duguid are after a production track called Hannah Kuma. Osaka and Duguid also launched their own athlete representation banner in May.
“Hana Kuma (Hanna means ‘flower’ and Kuma means ‘bear’ in Japanese) produces stories that are culturally specific but universal to all audiences; a fun and bold approach to solving important community issues,” the company said in a statement.
“There was an explosion of color makers who were finally equipped with features and a great platform,” says Osaka. “In the age of streaming, content has a more global perspective. You can see it in the popularity of television in Asia, Europe and Latin America that the thing can also be universal. My story is proof of that. I’m really excited about what we’re building on Hannah Kuma. We will bring the stories to life with this goal in mind: making unique perspectives universal and inspiring people along the way.”
And it already has many projects, including the documentary series Epic, where Osaka, James and Carter are executive producers.
The first project will be under the banner of Hannah Kuma. Mink!The future New York Times Op-Dock on Principal Ben Pradfoot in Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to Congress, author and sponsor of Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in state-funded schools.
Chawon Lenoir, who recently directed without a script at Vice Media and previously worked at Disney and MGM, will serve as Hana Kuma’s development manager.
SpringHill will provide production, development and other strategic resources for Hannah Kuma, pursue a business model building strategy of being a “sports creation hub for athletes” and “act as an incubator for athletes who want to create and tell a bigger story.” ”. in addition to your sport. “Influential and thought-provoking ways,” the company said.
SpringHill attracted a new round of funding last year with a deal from Nike, RedBird Capital and Epic Games that valued Carter and James’ companies at $725 million. One of the main focuses of this funding was to provide the necessary funds to invest in new SpringHill creators.
Celebrity manufacturing companies have become an investment hotspot in recent years, led by the likes of SpringHill, Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Overbrook. Wanting to sell high-profile names on any streaming network or platform and projects tied to those projects, these media companies are often seen as less risky than many alternatives.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
