Created, Written, Co-Directed, and Produced by Bolu Essien who also plays the titular character Abi, Becoming Abi is inspired by true-life events, as it unravels the story of a young millennial who works her way through many daunting challenges while working in one of Nigeria's leading Advertising agencies. This intriguing 6-part Dramedy series shows how a young "Abi" navigates her new workplace - co-existing with her new boss, exploring friendship, career, love, and faith in a fun, quirky, and relatable way. Becoming Abi will be on Netflix (Globally) from October 28, 2022.

1. BECOMING ABI
A BOLU ESSIEN SERIES
An Evolving Light Studios Property
PRESS KIT

2. COMING TO NETFLIX, OCT 28

3. Becoming Abi is inspired by
true-life events, as it unravels
the story of a young millennial
who works her way through
many daunting challenges
while working in one of
Nigeria's leading Advertising
agencies.
This intriguing 6-part Dramedy
series shows how a seemingly
young "Abi" navigates her new
workplace - co-existing with
her new boss, exploring
friendship, love, faith, and
above all striving to strike a
balance in a fun, quirky, and
most relatable way.
ABOUT BECOMING ABI

5. I have always believed that there was an opportunity for me to exist
as both a Professional Actor and a Seasoned Marketing
professional, but I couldn’t find examples like me around. I also
didn’t fully see characters in the workplace being explored fully in
Nigeria and for a market that has over a 104million of its population
as youths; what a better time to tell this story so I decided to write
and share my story/experiences while working in an Ad agency and
showing all the challenges that come with growing through the
ranks but in a fun and quirky way. I spoke to my partner about the
Idea in June 2021, he bought in the idea, and we kicked off
preproduction when I was done writing, used our savings with some
support from friends and we shot in October 2021.
As humans, we are all Becoming. Our names might not be Abi, but
man’s true existence is to find purpose but through this growth
process, there will be challenges. – This is what Birthed Becoming
Abi. An Ad/Marketing agency is a madhouse, and this is what we
bring to bear in this intriguing series. Behind the making of this
series is a fantastic crew that has worked tirelessly across the
different production stages to bring my vision to life in the most
remarkable manner. - Bolu Essien (Actor (Abi), Show Creator,
Writer, Producer, and Co-Director)
WHAT WAS THE STARTING
POINT FOR THE FILM ?

7. With Becoming Abi, I wanted to really explore the realities of
people like me. I am currently a senior marketing professional
working with a multinational but getting to this level has not
been an easy one and I wanted to explore some of the
experiences I’ve had on screen. Initially, Abi starts out timid,
not sure of the capacity she carries as a creative, but she goes
and grows through it. I also wanted to explore themes and
realities like Office Complexities, Office Politics, and how the
actions of managers can make staff attempt to leave or
eventually resign. What does it look like if colleagues fall in
love and their relationship is tested by external parties?
I also wanted to explore Female Friendships and how two
people can build genuinely. It’s a condensed version of some
of my experiences but told in a fun way. Looking back now I
am smiling but some of those days were the hardest
experiences that I had to go through to get to where I am
today but none of it would I change for anything.
Bolu Essien -(Actor (Abi), Show Creator, Writer, Producer,
and Co-Director)
WHAT THEMES WHERE
EXPLORED?

9. The advertising world is one that I have been familiar with for over 9
years, and I served in as well. From the technical jargon to the client
expectations as well as the mad house that an agency is; I have
experienced all, so I decided to pour this into it.
Fortunately for me, I have a great relationship with my former CEO, and
he allowed me to use his office space (Terragon Group), the same place
where I started my career as the exact space for the shoot (The main
office in the series) so it was quite nostalgic for me.
I am also very big on Production Design. I had my deck where I showed
the team what I wanted each character to look like, their personalities
and how these affect their looks, their evolutions as their salaries
increase, and even how their workstations looked; so, we could see
growth when we look at their first year of work and a year after. To
achieve this, I worked closely with the costume design team and the art
design team to ensure it was exactly how it was when I worked there.
Damola (Costume) & Obiora (Art Dept) understood it and ran with it.
From the folders to the laptops, to even the sticky notes, how we dressed.
It was important for all of that to be done right so I can easily guide the
team to deliver on my vision.
For the characters, it was also important to explore humans in all their
forms. A nice person to you might be very nasty to someone else. It also
meant two people can be best of friends today and the quest for
supremacy can cause division among them. Today you might be in love
with someone and tomorrow you might have doubts, these are real
human complexities and that was important for me to show.
Bolu Essien (Actor (Abi), Show Creator, Writer, Producer,
and Co-Director)
HOW DID YOU BUILD THIS WORLD?

12. I wanted each episode to softly mirror an aspect of my experiences
(now Abi’s experiences) which is a journey of growth. From facing
pressure from her manager, seeing her work being credited to
someone else, finding love in the workplace, making mistakes as a
manager, and dealing with quiet internal issues with family and friends
whilst still ensuring there is a thin thread of ‘Becoming’ running across
all the episodes.
Whilst this is inspired by real-life experiences, I was also inspired by the
storytelling approaches of Issa Rae, and Michaela Coel who create very
relatable human stories and quirky characters, but I ensured it was all
crafted in a way that feels very Nigerian tonally. I also used the
conscience character to serve as the inner voice that speaks to her. No
one can, of course, see her but Abi does, and the conscience is there to
give her an honest opinion. We also broke the 4th wall a few times. In
all, we tried to tell the story as honestly and as genuinely possible. It
was also important for me when I was hiring a Co-director. I wanted
someone who understood that I was being venerable telling this story
and I wanted to tell it in a certain manner. I didn’t want the actors to feel
they were acting, I didn’t want it to feel serious, so we went for actors
that would body the characters beautifully. This project is a deep labor
of love.
Bolu Essien (Actor (Abi), Show Creator, Writer, Producer, and Co-
Director)
WHAT WAS YOUR APPROACH
TO TELLING THIS STORY?

13. An Evolving Light Studios Property
MORE FRAMES FROM THE SERIES

14. WHY THIS IS VERY UNIQUE, NEW & FRESH!
THE STORY & ITS DEPTH- This is based on true events and
so its depth into Marketing and Advertising is accurate. It also
accounts for how the lead character grew from being a Social Media
Manager to becoming the Media Manager (West Africa) for one of
the biggest FMCGs in the world. The story is authentic, entertaining,
and explores an unusual angle to storytelling which is rare in our
clime or Market. Apart from this, we explore different characters as
you will find in an office or corporate environment - the funny, the
tough, the nice, the self-aware, the overwhelming, and many more.
Not only did we explore these characters in their workplace, but we
also ventured into their private lives post work which includes their
love lives, their families, etc.
RELATABILITY– If there are anything consumers and the digital
populace crave, it is relatable content. With this series, we have made
conscious efforts to showcase the intrigues of Nigeria's advertising
industry, and corporate Nigeria as well as delivers on this critical
element and more. From dealing with tough bosses to office
politicking, undercover office romance/relationship... everything.
Becoming Abi does well to show what it is like when we all find
ourselves in a new environment and what it feels like when we must
prove that we are worthy of an opportunity.

15. An Evolving Light Studios Property
MORE FRAMES FROM THE SERIES

16. An Evolving Light Studios Property
SERIES DETAILS
Creator: Bolu Essien
Written By: Bolu Essien
Executive Producers: Emmanuel Essien, Bolu Essien
Producer: Bolu Essien
Co-Directed by: Terrel Ejem and Bolu Essien
Associate Producer: Victoria Ogar
Cinematography: MrMovies Oyedele
Editor: Olasunkanmi Kay-L Pedro
Art Director: Simon Obiora
Costume Designer: Adedamola Adeyemi
Production Company: Evolving Light Studios
Platform of Airing: Netflix (Exclusively)
Launch Date: Oct 28, 2022
Format- TV Series
Genre: Dramedy
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Running Time: 6 episodes, 30-40 minutes per episode
Languages: English. Yoruba is used sparingly
Year of release: 2022
Distributed By: FilmOne Entertainment

17. Bolu Essien (Things That Broke) Akah Nnani (Man of God) Netflix
Stan Nze ( Rattlesnake) Netflix Biodun Stephen (Pitch Perfect series) ROK
CAST
Seun Ajayi (The Lost Okoroshi) Netflix
Juliana Olayode (Jenifa’s Diary)

18. Ifeanyi Kalu (Cougars)
Iya Rainbow (Sugar Rush) Netflix
Benita A. Okojie
Opeyemi Akintunde

19. ABOUT THE SHOW CREATOR
Bolu Essien, who plays the role of Abi is a Professional Actor
& Seasoned Marketing and Storytelling Expert. Currently
Head of Media, West Africa at a Multinational FMCG
Company.
With the ability to Create, Write, Act, Direct, Produce and
deliver unique stories, she partnered with Emmanuel Essien
to birth Evolving Light Studios. Evolving Light Studios' short
film - "Things That Broke Us" airs on African Magic Urban to
over 7 million people. The most recent in their catalog is an
expository documentary on the Caesarean Section titled
"Scars of Honour“ which explores the stigmatization around
women who opt for CS as a birth option, and now "Becoming
Abi“ a workplace series that explores the life of a young
millennial working at an ad agency in Nigeria.
Bolu studied at Acting at The Identity School of Acting, UK‘

20. An Evolving Light Studios Property
MORE FRAMES FROM THE SERIES

21. CONTACT INFORMATION
EVOLVING LIGHT STUDIOS LIMITED.
Contact: BOLUWATIFE ESSIEN (Founder) , EMMANUEL ESSIEN (Co-Founder)
Email: bolue@evolvinglightstudios.com , emmae@evolvinglightstudios.com,
operations@evolvinglightstudios.com
IG: BoluEssien

22. THANK YOU!