Vertical Entertainment has secured the U.S. distribution rights to Nigerian Prince, a film from first-time director Faraday Okoro, which was selected as the first winning project of AT&T Presents: Untold Stories created by AT&T and Tribeca. The film, which had its world premiere at this year’s Tribeca fest, will get a limited theatrical release in the fall as well as a VOD roll-out.
Written by Okoro and Andrew Long, the plot follows a Nigerian-American teenager who is sent to Nigeria against his will and joins forces with an internet scammer in order to return to the United States.
The Untold Stories initiative is a multi-tier alliance between AT&T, Tribeca and the Tribeca Film Institute that supports underrepresented filmmakers. Okoro was awarded $1 million to produce his feature film with mentorship from the Tribeca Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Institute.
Oscar Hernandez, Bose Oshin, and Okoro produced the project while Spike Lee and Biyi Bandele served as exec producers. Long co-produced.
The deal was negotiated by Rich Goldberg and Peter Jarowey at Vertical and Janice Keane on behalf of AT&T.
Must Read Stories
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.