“MAMA K’s TEAM 4”; BECOMES FIRST AFRICAN ORIGINAL ANIMATED SERIES BOUGHT BY NETFLIX

April 16, 2019

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Joseph Omoniyi

Produced by South Africa’s award-winning Tiggerfish Animation Studios and British kids’ and family entertainment production company CAKE, “Mama K’s Team 4” became the first african animanated series on Netflix.

The series follows four teenage girls living in a futuristic version of Lusaka, Zambia, who are recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world. It was created by Zambian writer Malenga Mulendema, who in 2015 was one of eight winners of the Triggerfish Story Lab, a pan-African talent search backed by the Cape Town-based animation studio and The Walt Disney Co. The series is designed by the Cameroonian artist Malcolm Wope.

Triggerfish has become a powerhouse in South Africa’s burgeoning animation industry in the past decade. Its first two animated features, “Adventures in Zambezia” (2012) and “Khumba” (2013), are two of the five top-grossing South African movies of all time.

Mama K’s Team 4” is the latest African original for Netflix, which recently announced its first two dramatic series on the continent. The streamer is now collaborating with Triggerfish and CAKE on a pan-African search for local female writing talent to join the creative team on the series.