David Oyelowo and Nate Parker’s Mansa Studios has partnered with Charles D. King’s MACRO Television Studios to develop, finance, and produce original vertical entertainment content. Under the new agreement, Mansa will serve as the lead production company, bringing its mobile production experience and audience data tracking—while both studios will jointly market the projects and share ownership of the intellectual property.
MACRO Founder and CEO Charles D. King highlighted the strategic value of the collaboration, stating, “Mansa has developed real expertise in the emerging vertical format, and we see this as an exciting opportunity to pair that experience with MACRO Television Studios’ vast capabilities across genres. We are looking forward to learning from the collaboration, seeing how audiences respond, and exploring innovation opportunities for the format.”
Mansa co-founder David Oyelowo echoed those sentiments, noting, “Mansa was created to ensure that culturally rich stories can reach audiences wherever they are. As viewing habits evolve, we are embracing new storytellers, formats, and platforms that allow us to remain connected to our global audience while creating meaningful opportunities for a diverse array of talent.”
The partnership builds on an existing creative relationship between the companies, as MACRO previously teamed up with Oyelowo to produce Apple TV+’s 2025 comedy series ‘Government Cheese,’ which Oyelowo also starred in. Mansa has also expanded its short-form presence through its own app and a recent partnership with TikTok Minis to co-distribute original microdramas.
The announcement comes closely on the heels of MACRO acquiring the Black-focused streaming platform ALLBLK from AMC Networks. These moves signal a broader shift for Black-owned media, allowing MACRO and Mansa to assert greater control over the content pipeline through direct-to-consumer streaming distribution and innovative mobile-first vertical formats—ensuring culturally rich and diverse stories are greenlit, distributed, and monetized on their own terms.
–Dominique Young // @heyyydommm