Imani Pullum To Star In Kagiso Lediga Coming-Of-Age Drama From Skybound Galactic At Freevee

10.11.2022 - 22:43 / deadline.com

EXCLUSIVE: Rising young actor Imani Pullum (Emancipation, The Orville: New Horizons) has been cast as the lead in Amazon Freevee’s coming-of-age drama Untitled Kagiso Lediga Project. The eight-episode series hails from Queen Sono creator Lediga, Skybound Galactic, a joint venture between Skybound Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television, and Johannesburg-based producer Diprente.

Pullum will play the lead role of Ella Gardner in the eight-episode series which will premiere in the U.S. on Amazon Freevee.

Created by Lediga, the coming-of-age drama follows 15-year-old Ella, a student at a public school in Oakland, California. Gifted with a flowing tongue, Ella is a weaver of yarns. A skateboarder with a skillful street style, she is a firebrand—defiant and rebellious in nature. Arrested at a protest and facing serious jail time, Ella avoids incarceration thanks to her stepmother, Dianne, who has connections in high places. As part of the deal, Ella must leave her home in California and spend the remainder of her secondary education with her father and Dianne in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ella’s world is turned upside down as she navigates a very different reality than the one she has known.

“It’s exciting to build this truly original story with such fresh and complex characters, and I’m blown away by the intelligence and vulnerability that Imani brings to Ella,” said Lediga. “We’re thrilled to go on this journey with her.”

The series will be available to audiences in Africa through Netflix, where Diprente previously created Queen Sono, the global streaming service’s first commissioned series from the continent. Skybound Galactic’s first greenlit international co-production, filming will begin in South Africa later this