Emmy-winning TV Producer Makes Web Series, Makes Money Back

Andrew Thomas reports on the trail of corruption leading from Nigeria to laundered money in London: “The scale of the problem posed by corruption in Africa is vast. And nowhere more so than in Nigeria. It’s a country with enviable natural wealth – which should make it one of the richest countries in the world – but its population lives largely in poverty because that wealth is plundered. Some of Nigeria’s wealth is spent here in Britain – and recently the Government launched a new initiative to crack down on the worldwide assets of corrupt African leaders.”
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Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 28, 2011

Michael Ajakwe Jr. has written for public relations departments, newspapers, magazines, tv dramas, tv comedies, tv news shows, tv variety shows, awards shows, documentary programs, the stage and the movies. Two years ago, he added “web series” to his vast resume. Making my web series allowed me to get my voice out,” said the L.A. native who won an Emmy as one of the producers of E!’s first original hit show “Talk Soup”. “It’s like a play that never closes,” he added.

“Who…”, a politically-incorrect comedy about two Black beauties who meet every day to dine and dish about the rich, well-known and infamous, was made for about half of what it would cost to mount a four-weekend run of an Equity-waiver theater production. Or $ 10,000. Ajakwe made, wrote, directed and produced his 12 episode web series with a small crew over nine months, and used his former home in Sherman Oaks as the location. Not unusual for an indie-financed web series. What is unusual is that the NAACP Award-winning playwright and producer has managed to recoup his investment through micro payments that start at one dollar and end at four on his own web channel. I have never believed that to have a successful web series you have to give it away for free, he said. I come from the world of theater. In theater, if you do a play in a telephone booth, you charge for it, he stressed. He credits the theater fan base hes built over 18 years writing and directing 10 plays and producing 16– and includes a mailing list 6000 strong- as the key to making his money back, clarifying that the amount does not include marketing costs which he puts at a third of what he spent on his series. Im not saying Ive found the secret to making money on your web series, I just tried a different approach that’s worked for me.

Ajakwe is used to being different. The eldest son of a Nigerian aeronautics engineer and a registered nurse who immigrated to the U.S. in the early 60s, he grew up in a family that didnt have a clue about show business. My parents thought actors on TV and in the movies made up their own dialogue, he chuckled. At 17, he sold his first freelance tale to a college magazine for ten dollars then spent three years writing press releases for the University of Redlands and exposes for Redlands Magazine. That led to regular freelance writing gigs at local newspapers like the Redlands Daily Facts and Riverside Press Enterprise– all while still an undergrad. After graduation, he landed a job as a gofer at “Entertainment Tonight” and, within two years, was writing and producing segments for the iconic show at just 24. “I thought I was ancient,” he mused. “I had no thought how lucky I was to be a producer at the top entertainment news program in the world at such a young age.” When E! Entertainment Television launched in 1990, he and several other impatient 20-somethings from “E.T.” jumped ship. He spent four years as one of the producers of the comedic talk show review series “Talk Soup” hosted by a then-unknown Greg Kinear.

“Even though I was working on a hot show at E!, I wanted more,” he said. Ajakwe started writing plays in his spare time and, in 1993, got his parents and a few close friends to back his first production Reasons– a romantic comedy starring then-unknown actors Gary Sturgis, Niecy Nash and Hill Harper. The play helped him land an agent and, two years later, he was writing for the classic sitcom Martin which led to more comedy and drama writing work, four years writing the NAACP Theater Awards, a producing job on a Steve Harvey-hosted tv variety show, and a film assignment with Artisan Pictures.

He launched Who in the summer of 2009. In January 2010 he founded the Los Angeles Web Series Festivalthe first of its kind– showcasing web series from around the globe on a huge screen in front of live audiences. I started LAWEBFEST to force geeks like me out of our homes to come together and share our babies with each other and the public, said the University of Redlands English and Political Science double-major voted Most Outstanding Senior by his graduating class.

In October 2011, Ajakwe traveled to the south of France for four days where Who and 12 other web series from LAWEBFEST II were selected to screen before an international audience at the Marseille Webfest. Ajakwe was also honored by festival founder Jean-Michel Albert and Marseille Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin for his role in helping to start Europe’s first web series festival.

Despite the success hes loved with his web series and web series festival, Ajakwe hasnt given up his day job in traditional media. Hes a freelance writer on the Tatyana Ali cable sitcom Like That Girl and a producer on the award-winning music bio-doc series Unsung. He’s also adapting his web series, “Who…”, into a half-hour comedy that he hopes to bring to a television network near you in 2012.

Web series makers have to realize that our content is valuable because it’s malleable, capable of being monetized by cross-platforming into other media just like newspaper and magazine articles, books, games, songs, plays, films and tv shows have always done, he stressed. We can’t forget that.”

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