The fifth season of comedy series Visa on Arrival debuts on Accelerate TV today.
Written and exec produced by Bovi Ugboma, the series focuses on corrupt immigration officers using various tactics to deny citizens their visa applications.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Visa on Arrival
Lagos-based digital entertainment company Accelerate TV has started a YouTube channel called Accelerate Movies.
Produced by Accelerate Studios, the new channel will display movies from a wide range of genres, from drama to comedy. According to the company, viewers should “get ready for show-stopping dramas, side-splitting comedies and so much more.”
Colette Otusheso, CEO of Accelerate, said: “Accelerate Movies is an exciting venture that allows us to further engage our YouTube and online audience with compelling narratives in a feature-length format. We are committed to delivering high-quality, original content that resonates with our viewers.
“Our team at Accelerate Studios, headed by Esse Akwawa, head of production, has poured creativity and passion into crafting these films and we can’t wait for our audience to embark on this cinematic journey with us.”
tagged in: Accelerate Studios, Accelerate TV
African digital lifestyle and entertainment platform Accelerate TV is set to debut a web series titled Clinically Speaking this month.
The medical dramedy follows a smart, young and beautiful doctor whose struggles are synonymous with those of every Nigerian doctor. It follows her as she wades through the waters of her one-year compulsory internship at a government hospital.
Produced by Temilola Balogun and Esse Akwawa and executive produced by Collette Otusheso, the show’s cast includes Eso Dike, Gbemi Akinlade, Eniola Adeoluwa, Shalewa Ashafa and Paul Utomi.
Akwawa said: “We have been cooking up this new series for some time now, and it’s finally here! Well, in few days! Produced by yours truly, this series features some of your favourite stars and we are sure that you are going to be glued to your screen longer than usual, because this series is more than amazing.”
Clinically Speaking will debut on Accelerate TV’s YouTube channel on September 22. The show will sit alongside other Accelerate series such as The Big Tech Show, Just Friends, The Whole Truth and Visa on Arrival.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Clinically Speaking, YouTube
Digital lifestyle and entertainment platform Accelerate TV has told Content Nigeria that its Afro-centric subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service Accelerate Plus has chalked up 6,000 subscribers since launching in April.
The app can be accessed in all African countries and some parts of Europe and the US, and curates content from Africa in various categories including drama, films, music, talkshows, lifestyle and entertainment.
Subscribers to the Lagos-based streaming platform can watch shows such as Visa on Arrival, The Olive, The Cover, Third Avenue, Pay Day, Lovers & Sinners, Far From Yesterday and period drama The Herbert Macaulay Affair.
The service recently launched a romantic comedy series called Just Friends. The show tells the story of two lovebirds in Lagos, Nigeria. It was created by Victor Aghahowa and produced by Nne Nlemadim with associate producer Betty Nicholas. It stars Chy Nwakanma, Charles Etubiebi, Martha Ehinome, Toluwa Wumi and Lucy Ameh.
“Accelerate Plus aims to be a forerunner in shifting the dominant narrative about Africa, a key reason that led to the creation of the platform as a space to highlight only the continent’s finest creative works,” said the company.
The subscriber announcement comes in the same week UK analysis firm Digital TV Research forecast the number of SVoD subscriptions in Africa will triple by 2027.
There were 4.9 million SVoD subscriptions in Africa at the end of 2021, and Digital TV Research predicts this figure will increase to 13.64 million by 2027. This means 6.6% of TV households will pay for at least one subscription by 2027, up from 3.9% at the end of 2021.
Netflix is expected to remain the market leader, with 6.41 million subs by 2027, up from 2.72 million at the end of 2021. This represents 48% of the region’s total SVoD subscriptions.
tagged in: Accelerate Plus, Accelerate TV, Netflix, SVoD
African digital lifestyle and entertainment platform Accelerate TV has launched a romantic comedy series called Just Friends.
The show tells the story of two lovebirds in Lagos, Nigeria. It was created by Victor Aghahowa, produced by Nne Nlemadim with associate producer Betty Nicholas. It stars Chy Nwakanma, Charles Etubiebi, Martha Ehinome, Toluwa Wumi and Lucy Ameh.
“Just Friends is a romance-comedy sitcom for everyone who likes a good laugh. One week from now, Accelerate Plus will premiere the first episode of Just Friends,” said the platform on Instagram.
Just Friends is exclusive to the recently launched Accelerate Plus app and debuted on the streaming platform this week.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Just Friends
Digital lifestyle and entertainment platform Accelerate TV and award-winning Nigerian director Yemi ‘Film Boy’ Morafa are working on a new drama series scheduled to debut in the next couple of months.
The as-yet untitled series is written by Cheta Chukwu and Dami Elebe and directed by Morafa and stars Mawuli Gavor, Joke Silva, Ibrahim Suleiman and Theresa Edem.
Although there is little information about the series, Nigerian streamer Accelerate TV said on Instagram: “Accelerate Drama Series… Coming soon.”
Moraya is best known for his work on original film Africa Magic’s Battleground and Something Wicked, a feature released in 2017. In 2018, his short film ENO was screened at the Africa International Film Festival and he directed thriller City of Bastards in 2019.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Africa Magic, Cheta Chukwu, Dami Elebe, Yemi Morafa
Nigerian-British actor and writer Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has discussed his directorial debut, Farming, in an interview with Accelerate TV.
Having worked on the movie for over 15 years, Adewale shared how the journey to writing and directing the film, saying it was a therapeutic one for him and a major part of discovering self-love.
Adewale, who was brought up by a white family at six weeks’ old, already experienced ‘farming’ from a tender age and so the movie is a reflection of the emotional, physical and mental trauma he went through being a black man in a foreign environment.
The drama centres on Enitan, a child whose Yorubá parents give him to a white working-class family in London in the 1960s, and who grows up to join a white skinhead gang led by a white supremacists.
Along with Adewale, the cast includes Nigeria’s Genevieve Nnaji plus Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), John Dagleish, Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Black Mirror) and Jaime Winstone.
According to him, the movie is a deep and personal one that gives him an identity as a filmmaker. “It speaks to the core of who I am as a human being,” he said.
To him, the term ‘farming’ was used by British social workers to describe the practice of Nigerians coming over to Britain in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, whereby they fostered or farmed the children off to working-class families.
He grew up hating his black skin and having a negative impression of who he really was because the society he lived in always reminded him he did not belong there.
Self-realisation began when his Nigerian parents took him to Nigeria at age eight and he started seeing things differently.
This practice of farming by Nigerian parents made him wonder if “what they were searching for was worth what they were giving up. Was it ambition, education, strata over love?” Adewale asked.
Adewale also uses the movie to honour those people who have experienced forms of farming in their life time.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Farming, Genevieve Nnaji
A cooking show fronted by celebrity chef Soliat Bada will premiere on youth-focused social interaction platform Accelerate TV this week.
Weekly show Off the Menu debuts at 17.00 on Friday January 25 and will feature Nigerian celebrities displaying their culinary skills.
The meals will range from African to intercontinental dishes and the celebrities taking part will include music artists Omawumi, Lynxxx, Seyi Shay, Toolz and Spech.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Culinary, Off the Menu, Soliat Bada
Accelerate TV has launched a new music show, titled Audio Candy. It is hosted by movie producer and rapper Ikon, who will interview other guest artistes.
Other Nigerian artistes that feature on the show are Waje, Seyi Shay, Tomi Thomas, Terry Apala, Funbi and Nonso.
The Audio Candy show is a mix of RnB as well as hip-hop, with Collete Otusheso, head Accelerate TV, asking: “What smells like RnB and tastes like hip-hop?”
The show, which debuted on the Nigerian channel yesterday, promises to be exciting as invited artistes will have the opportunity to perform their own song and also do a collaboration on a classical song on the show.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Audio Candy, Ikon
African youth lifestyle and entertainment portal Accelerate TV has launched new drama series Corper Shun.
The story revolves around five main characters, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who are constantly hassled by a troublesome coordinator, played by Damilola Olatunji, during their service year.
Corper Shun features Nollywood actors that also include Jide Kosoko, Ayo Mogaji, Lala Akindoju, Efa Iwara, Etinosa Idemudia, Emmanuel Mordi, Chiagoziem Nwankama and Oyepelumi Alawoki.
It will air on Accelerate TV on Thursdays at 12.00.
Accelerate TV is an online lifestyle channel backed by Access Bank Nigeria offering content targeted at young adults, from talkshows to drama series.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Access Bank Nigeria, Ayo Mogaji, Chiagoziem Nwankama, Corper Shun, Damilola Olatunji, Drama, Efa Iwara, Emmanuel Mordi, Entertainment, Etinosa Idemudia, Jide Kosoko, Lala Akindoju, Lifestyle, Oyepelumi Alawoki, Talkshow
The third edition of Nigerian training scheme the Accelerate Filmmaker Project (AFP) is underway.
The initiative, from Accelerate TV, is geared towards training and harnessing the filmmaking skills of Nigerian youths, while providing them with an opportunity to make their own films.
This year will see 25 participants receive training from Nigeria’s top film industry professionals for a week. Five winners will then be chosen to receive mentoring and funds to make their own short films, which will debut at Nigerian film festival AFRIFF 2019 and will also air on Accelerate TV.
Accelerate TV head Colette Otusheso said: “We are excited to be bringing back a third instalment of our award-winning capacity-building and mentoring project. This year we will be training and empowering more young people and throwing in some big surprises along the way. The AFP is all about training and empowering young people while giving them the skills, tools, access and a stepping stone to realise their dreams and bring their stories to life.”
The AFP is produced by Bolanle Olosunde-Jenrola and award-winning filmmaker Kemi Lala Akindoju.
tagged in: Accelerate Filmmaker Project, Accelerate TV, Colette Otusheso
A new documentary series focusing on male entrepreneurs has debuted on Accelerate TV in Nigeria, in partnership with YouTube.
Brotherhood: Ring of Fire, produced by Nigerian filmmaker Kemi Adetiba, showcases a group of men who reveal their stories of success, disappointment and failure, and explain how they overcame challenges.
According to a post on the channel’s Instagram page, those featuring in the series include business consultant Fela Durotoye, chef Fregz (aka Gbubemi Fregene), recording artist Lynx, fashion stylist Noble Igwe and producer Godfrey Ibeakanma.
Others include Real Livestock MD Shola Ladoja, Club Escape founder Richard Nnadi and the founder of Tech Advance, Edmund Olotu.
The series comes after Adetiba’s series about female entrepreneurs, King Woman, and can be seen on Thursdays on Accelerate TV.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Brotherhood: Ring of Fire, Kemi Adetiba, King Woman
African entertainment portal Accelerate TV has released a second episode of its animated show Shebi That’s How.
The show, which launched in November is hosted by comedian Ebiye Victor, reflects the daily experiences of people in the city of Lagos.
Its second episode, titled Two Can Play The Game, can be watched on Accelerate TV every Thursday at 4pm.
tagged in: Accelerate TV, Ebiye Victor, Shebi That’s How
The third edition of the Accelerate Filmmaker Project has selected its top five entries.
Twenty-five participants were trained by Nigeria’s top film industry professionals in production design and art direction; cinematography; editing; script writing and character development; and directing last week.
The initiative, set up by African entertainment portal Accelerate TV, aims to sharpen the skills of Nigeria’s young aspiring filmmakers and give them the opportunity to make their own short films. These will debut at Nigeria’s AFRIFF 2019 film festival and will also be made available on Accelerate TV.
A post on Accelerate TV’s Instagram page said: “The final five filmmakers emerging from the Accelerate Filmmaker Project 2019… which means five dope short films are coming to you this year!”
tagged in: Accelerate Filmmaker Project, Accelerate TV, AFP, AFRIFF 2019