Nneka Onuourah, the Emmy-winning director of “Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls,” has signed an exclusive first-look series and film deal with Amazon Studios.
“Nneka has a track record of crafting stories that excite, intrigue, and inspire,” the studio’s head of television Vernon Sanders said in a statement Tuesday. “This is a process we’ve been fortunate to experience firsthand, and we cannot wait to reignite our professional relationship under this formal deal.”
In September, the Nigerian-American filmmaker, producer and activist won the Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program for the Prime Video series – her first nomination and win. Additionally, the series, which follows the singer’s hunt for women to join Lizzo’s world tour, won Outstanding Competition Program.
“It’s an honor to be a part of the creative fabric of what Jen and her team are building at Amazon,” Onuorah said in a statement. “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.”
Onuourah’s other recent directorial work includes “The Same Difference,” a documentary about internalized homophobia within the Black lesbian community and “The Legend of the Underground,” which premiered at Tribeca before debuting on HBO in June 2021. That project was produced by John Legend and focused on Nigerian youth challenging their country’s discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws.
Additional credits include Netflix’s “ First and Last;” Viceland’s Black-, queer-focused ”My House;” “Burn Down the House,” which premiered at NewFest; and The G Word, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.
Onuourah is represented by UTA, Mosaic, and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
