Kugali worked with Walt Disney Animation to bring an original television series to Disney+.
By City Press Office (City Press Office), Published (Updated )
City, University of London alumnus Ziki Nelson’s animated series “Iwájú" was launched on Disney + in partnership with his entertainment company Kugali Media in late February 2024.
Ziki is an MA Creative Writing alumnus (2015) and co-founded Kugali Media with the support of City’s entrepreneurship arm CityVentures.
His company has been a member of CityVentures since 2016, having gone through its incubator programme at the University’s Islington-based coworking space, called the Launch Lab.
Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, Ziki co-founded his company because he noticed the need for an entertainment platform where African writers could tell African stories using comics, art, animation and virtual reality (VR).
The partnership between Kugali Media and Disney marks a first-of-its-kind collaboration. Walt Disney Animation brought Kugali’s original series to streaming service Disney + in 2024.
The six-episode series is titled “Iwájú”, which in the West-African Yoruba language, roughly translates to “The Future”. The story is set in a futuristic Lagos and explores deep themes of class, innocence and challenge the status quo.
“As a Lagosian, I always wanted to tell a story about my home, so this felt like the best opportunity to do so,” Ziki told the BBC in an interview.
Discussing the collaboration with Disney, he added: “It’s our authenticity that make our stories special. People want to watch it Iwájú because it’s different.”
In the most recent HE-BCI survey from 2021/22 City Launch Lab businesses have generated £20.6m in investment and £28m in revenue.
The Launch Lab ranks second in London and fourth in the UK for startups reaching £1 million in investment.
“This project represents Kugali's biggest achievement thus far and I'm just happy that all the hard work my teammates and I have put into this company has amounted to something so huge,” said Ziki.
“We came onto Disney Animation's radar after being featured on BBC stories, my co-founder, Hamid Ibrahim directly called them out saying we were ‘going to kick Disney’s ass.’
“They say opportunity is where luck meets preparation and my time at the Launch Lab has been key in making sure my team and I always do our best to be prepared,” he concluded.
Speaking to City in 2019, Ziki said he wanted to tell the stories of superheroes from his own culture:
“What is interesting about the world of comic books is our ability to see ourselves in that story or see what we could become.
“You have all these superheroes and there are no superheroes from Africa. The idea that they couldn’t have a hero who represented their own local culture struck me as off.”
Walt Disney Animation Studios' chief creative officer Jennifer Lee said she was “intrigued by Kuagli’s ass-kicking comment.”
"Here were three talented comic book artists. Their dream was to bring African stories created by African artist to the world, highlighting the diversity of cultures, histories and voices across the continent. Their talents as storytellers blew us away," she is quoted as saying in entrainment website Deadline.
Watch the series on Disney+ or learn more about Kugali Media. To find out more about the Launch Lab, please visit CityVenture's page.