82. Hamid Ibrahim: Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Bringing African Storytelling to Disney

Future of Film Podcast with Alex Stolz

"Africa and African stories could be the future of storytelling." Hamid Ibrahim This episode is a deep dive into entrepreneurship, creativity and storytelling with Hamid Ibrahim, the Co-Founder and CEO of Kugali Media. Kugali hit the headlines last year when they became the first company to collaborate with Walt Disney Animation on an African story. IWAJU, the futuristic animated series, was the result of that partnership premiered to acclaim in 2024 on Disney+. In the conversation, Hamid describes his inspirational career path that took him from working in visual effects on some of Hollywood's biggest titles to beginning his own enterprise, initially with innovative graphic novels and highly effective crowdfunding campaigns. We also explore the scope of African storytelling, the challenges associated with building a business, AR and why AI presents an unprecedented opportunity for original creative entrepreneurs and storytellers. This episode is presented in part of Future of Film Africa 2024, presented in partnership with Sèmè City, the Republic of Benin. More about Hamid Ibrahim Hamid Ibrahim is a multi award winning Artist who focuses on creative leadership and innovation. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kugali Media, a visual entertainment company that focuses on authentic African visual storytelling. Hamid has worked in the highest levels of visual entertainment in Hollywood blockbusters like Lion King (2019), Dumbo (2019), The Predator (2018), The Darkest Minds (2018), Dolittle (2020) and most recently a first of its kind collaboration with Disney Animation Studios, an African created series called Iwaju. Iwaju marks the first time in Walt Disney’s 100 year history to collaborate with an outside studio (Kugali) to create an original animation. Hamid was able to win the Alumnus of the year Award from University of Hertfordshire in 2021 and made it to the list of the MIPAD 100 most influential persons of African Descent list in 2024. www.futureoffilm.live