Mo Abudu Shines as the Only African on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Most Powerful Women in International Television” 2024 List

Nigerian media mogul Mo Abudu has once again been recognized as one of the Most Powerful Women in International Television, as curated by The Hollywood Reporter. The CEO of EbonyLife Media shared her excitement on Instagram, proudly noting that she is the only African woman on the prestigious 2024 list.

In her post, she expressed hope for a future where more African women are celebrated for their contributions to global storytelling. She emphasized the need to move beyond the “tokenism” surrounding Black content, highlighting that shows with Black characters often receive limited opportunities compared to their white counterparts.

This year’s list comes during significant changes in the global television industry, making the leadership of women like Mo Abudu essential. Other notable women featured alongside her include:

• Zeinab Abu Alsamh, GM, MBC Studios (Saudi Arabia)
• Maria Pia Ammirati, Director, Rai Fiction (Italy)
• Javiera Balmaceda, Head of Originals Latin America, Canada and Australia, Amazon Studios (Latin America)
• Rola Bauer, Head of Pan-English scripted SVOD TV, development and series, Amazon (Germany)
• Renata Brandão, CEO, Conspiração Filmes (Brazil)
• Carol Choi, Managing Director Japan, exec VP APAC int’l market/local original productions, Disney (Japan)
• Jane Featherstone, Co-founder/chief creative officer, Sister (U.K.)
• Verónica Fernández, Director content originals series and films, Spain & Portugal, Netflix (Spain)
• Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO, The Mediapro Studio (Spain)
• Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, Sky Studios /chief content officer, Sky (U.K.)
• Helen Gregory, Joint Managing Director, See-Saw Films (U.K.)
• Jay Hunt, (Industry Leader) Creative director of worldwide video, Europe, Apple (U.K.)
• Emiko Iijima, VP anime production, Crunchyroll (Japan)
• Minyoung Kim, VP content for Asia Pacific (ex-India), Netflix (South Korea/Japan/Taiwan/Southeast Asia/Australia/New Zealand)
• Miky Lee, Vice-chair, CJ Group (South Korea)
• Marie Leguizamo, Managing director, Banijay Mexico & U.S. Hispanic (Latin America)
• Anna Marsh, CEO, StudioCanal; Deputy CEO, Canal+ Group (France)
• Carolyn McCall, CEO, ITV (U.K.)
• Anne Mensah, VP U.K. content, Netflix (U.K.)
• Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer, BBC (U.K.)
• Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights (U.K.)
• Gabriela Rodríguez, Head of company, Esperanto Filmoj (U.K.)
• Julie Roy, CEO, Telefilm Canada (Canada)
• Monika Shergill, VP of content, Netflix India (India)
• Prerna Singh, CEO, Bhansali Productions (India)
• Julia Stuart, Director, Sky Original Film (U.K.)
• Karen Thorne-Stone, President/CEO, Ontario Creates (Canada)
• Jane Tranter, Co-founder/CEO, Bad Wolf (U.K.)
• Jane Turton, CEO, All3Media (U.K.)
• Yang Xiaopei, Founder/CEO, Xixi Pictures (China)