Filming has started on Amazon Studios' first South African drama series, The Morning After, in which a British singer and party girl wakes up naked on a Cape Town beach after she broke out and escaped rehab and is then taken in by a group of young people.
The Morning After as the first original South African drama series for Amazon Prime Video comes after the disappointing and little-publicised Gangs of Lagos which finally made its debut earlier this year with very little fanfare or media traction as the first Amazon Original film from Africa.
Amazon Studios also announced that it is doing a format version of LOL: Last One Laughing South Africa with Trevor Noah as host, as well as a Nigerian version, LOL: Last One Laughing Naija.
Then the streamer also commissioned a new Nigerian travelogue reality show Ebuka Turns Up Africa, with all of these shows which will make their debut in 2024 when Amazon's localised retail presence and portal also launches in South Africa.
The Morning After with eight episodes is produced by Both Worlds Pictures and Paradoxal for Amazon Prime Video, with British actress Amara Okereke in the main role as Nina who makes friends with a group of twentysomething beach cottage mates Michaela, Mandisa, Cleo and Justin after she bails on the upmarket rehab centre New Life in Cape Town.
The Morning After, created by Thierry Cassuto and Karen Jeynes also responsible for M-Net's Recipes for Love and Murder, also stars Carmen Pretorius as rich kid turned artist Michaela, Danica Jones as camerawoman Pauline, Richard Gau as aspiring techbro Justin and Khaya Dladla as nightclub impresario Tarquin.
Tarryn Wyngaard plays lawyer Cleo and Gaosi Raditholo is model Mandisa.
The drama series is directed by Cindy Lee and Karen Jeynes with Rémy Jacquelin at Paradoxal and Thierry Cassuto, Karen Jeynes and Thato
Cassuto at Both Worlds Pictures as co-executive producers.
Nina is "determined not to give her stepfather the satisfaction of seeing her
fail and takes on a series of hustles to earn enough for rent, food and weed,
putting her singing talents to good use, and relishing the world-renowned
carefree sunkissed Cape Town lifestyle".
Rémy Jacquelin says The Morning After "is a very special project whose time has finally come for Paradoxal and Both Worlds, the second in our slate which got disrupted by Covid. It's a fun, sexy and bingeworthy comedy-drama set, with an amazing young cast, in stunningly beautiful Cape Town and we can't wait to share it with viewers from all around the world".
