Mo Abudu makes history as first African to chair Emmy awards gala

Media mogul, Mo Abudu, has become the first African to chair the International Emmy Awards Gala.

Abudu performed the role at the recently concluded 47th International Emmy Awards in New York City.

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In June, the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences appointed her chair of the gala.

This followed her appointment as the first African director of the Academy in December 2018.

Sharing the history-making moments on Instagram on Wednesday, Abudu said: “Chairing the International Emmys Gala was such an incredible opportunity for me personally, for EBONYLIFE and for Nigerian TV Producers. Now we have our foot in the door which will gradually open wider. Let’s get going with our global stories.”

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to be the Gala Chair of the International Emmy Awards. It was equally an honour to stand on stage and talk about the great strides we have made in Nigeria and at EbonyLife Media in just 6 years of our existence. With a mission to change the narrative about our continent, we launched EbonyLife TV in 2013, a journey that has produced some of the best TV programmes on the continent today. In 2014, we went on to launch EbonyLife Films and over the last 5 years, we have created the highest-grossing films in the history of Nollywood. But I have said time and time again, that it is truly about forming international relationships and partnerships and about telling our stories on a global scale. So it gave the utmost pleasure to talk about our three-scripted deal with Sony Pictures Television. We also signed an agreement with another major American TV studio and channel on an African sci-fi TV series. Also in the works are 2 other projects which include an original IP adaptation as well as a millennial-driven drama. So truly, "if you can think it, you can do it". SIX INTERNATIONAL CO-PRODUCTION DEALS 💃💃💃. GOD IS SIMPLY AWESOME!!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽 THE BIGGEST THANK YOU TO THE EBONYLIFE TEAM FOR ALL THE LOVE, SUPPORT, COMMITMENT AND HARD WORK. Pictures loading soon 💃💃💃 #iemmys #internationalemmyawards #emmys2019

A post shared by Mo Abudu (@moabudu) on Nov 26, 2019 at 9:56am PST

Speaking at the gala, she said: “These partnerships are the first of their kind between Hollywood studios and a Nigerian television company.

“We are happy to be at the forefront of forging these new partnerships because it is truly about sharing our local stories with a global audience – stories that are historical, authentic and progressive.”

Abudu hosted and produced Moments with Mo, the first pan-African talk show, before she went on to found EbonyLife TV in 2012, which has grown into a media group.

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In October 2018, she was included in The Powerlist’s top 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean heritage in the UK, alongside Meghan Markle, Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton.

In April, Abudu became the first African to be honoured with the MIPTV Médailles d’Honneur in France.