Abby Ajayi

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Wikipedia

Abby Ajayi is a British television screenwriter.

Early life

Ajayi was born in London to Nigerian parents.[1][2] She studied law at Wadham College, Oxford and was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to study screenwriting in New York.[3][4]

Career

Ajayi began her career in the UK writing on television shows including EastEnders, Hollyoaks, and Casualty.[5] In the US, Ajayi has worked as a writer-producer on Four Weddings and a Funeral, The First Lady,[6] Inventing Anna, and How to Get Away With Murder.[7] She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on Inventing Anna.[8]

In 2020, she was selected by Drama Quarterly as one of its "Writers to Watch".[9] In March 2023, Ajayi was featured in Variety's "International Women of Impact Report".[10]

Ajayi also writes fiction and she has been published in the literary magazine Callaloo.[11]

In 2021, Ajayi wrote and directed the drama series Riches for ITV and Amazon which began filming in 2021. The series was broadcast in late 2022.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ "The 'Succession' effect: how TV dramas got angrier about the rich". Financial Times. 21 November 2022. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Abby Ajayi | Authors | The Soho Agency". www.thesohoagency.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  3. ↑ Tonelli, Adriana. "Abby Ajayi". NYFA. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  4. ↑ Maxwell, Dominic. "Abby Ajayi on Riches: 'You can't outrun racism if you've got a big bank account'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Scriptworks, BBC Studios. "Writers' Academy graduate creates new ITV drama Riches". bbcstudios.com. BBC Studios. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  6. ↑ Latif, Leila (16 December 2022). "'The first time I've seen Black people represented like this': ITV's glam, groundbreaking new drama". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "For Abby Ajayi, 'Riches' Is More Than Just a Family Drama". Shondaland. 6 December 2022. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "Abby Ajayi". Television Academy. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ones to Watch: Writers". DramaQuarterly.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  10. ↑ Vourlias, Alexis; Benveniste, Alexis; Clement, Nick; Fuente, Anna Marie de la; Dore, Shalini; Drury, Sharareh; Flam, Charna; Garrett, Diane; Hopewell, John (1 March 2023). "From Abby Ajayi to Rosalía: Meet Variety's Impactful International Women of 2023". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  11. ↑ Ajayi, Abby (2015). "How to Lose Yourself". Callaloo. 38 (2): 341–344. doi:10.1353/cal.2015.0054. ISSN 0161-2492. JSTOR 24738266. S2CID 162161026. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  12. ↑ "New frothy TV drama series 'Riches' mixes money and blood". AP NEWS. 30 November 2022. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  13. ↑ Dray, Kayleigh (3 November 2022). "Riches: exclusive first look at ITV's major new drama". Stylist. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.