Since leaving BBC Studios Kids & Family in September 2024, Edward Barnieh has been busy laying the groundwork for his new creative agency, Oware. It’s a change of pace from the big media conglomerates where Barnieh has worked over the past 20 years, including Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Nickelodeon. But it’s also the kind of venture that many colleagues have encouraged him to pursue in order to fully flex his broad range of abilities and interests. “It’s leveraging every skill I’ve [cultivated], from strategy and creative, to marketing and acquisitions,” he says.

Oware will develop TV and film content originating from the “global majority”—the 85% of the world’s population living in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The agency will also have a branded content arm to build a presence in the advertising world. Barnieh says there’s white space for a company that focuses on all global majority regions—especially given the shared values and cultural overlap that shape the similar content preferences under-pinning these markets. The audience size is also encouraging, with the under-15 population estimated to be 1.08 billion in Asia, 592 million in Africa and 159 million in LatAm, according to Our World in Data.

Barnieh adds that the timing is also advantageous, as many of these countries now have distribution chains and platforms that didn’t exist 10 years ago. “There’s so much untapped talent who are often told to homogenize their show for Western audiences, which ends up being [detrimental] and can lead to a show that nobody likes.” Ultimately, Barnieh hopes to work on four to five projects per year, focusing mainly on 2D and CG animation (including anime). He’s currently in talks with investors in a bid to put together his financing—as a ballpark figure, he’s looking to raise around US$4 million for this new venture. Once the seed funding is locked down, he plans on hiring to fill two executive positions— one overseeing the film/TV division and the other managing branded content.

Some may be wondering, why make branded content a dual focus? Why not keep it simple? But it’s a diversification strategy that Barnieh has carefully developed as a funding model. “By doing branded content and making money there, I’m not beholden to make money from TV immediately,” he explains. This additional revenue stream will help minimize the risk of developing shows in a rush, or having to steer away from Oware’s core mission.

Barnieh is keen to ensure that any projects Oware takes on won’t be watered down or homogenized for broader appeal. In terms of pitches, he already has his wishlist mapped out for each demo. For the preschool audience, he’s looking for slice-of-life comedies; for the seven-plus crowd, he wants fantasy-based adventures; and for the teen/YA set, it’s all about action-comedies.

Barnieh will leverage his development expertise to give all of Oware’s projects a “slick and classy” feel. “You don’t always need to have a high budget to have high production values,” he says. He’s open to original ideas as well as concepts based on local folklore or public-domain IPs. But he has a preference for upbeat stories showing the positive side of life in these regions, as opposed to the kind of trauma-based content that was once quite typical for Africa. Traumatic storylines often paint a one-dimensional picture, he says. “But we can do lighthearted stuff. Characters can be funny or in love, and it will make sense to people in that region.”

This story was originally published in Kidscreen’s Q1 2025 magazine issue.