How Owen Odigie Is Building a Global Black Prestige Storytelling Platform

Ikenna Ukwa

Owen Odigie is not interested in telling small or limited stories. The Nigerian-American writer, producer, and entrepreneur is carving out a bold new path in global entertainment, with a focus on ambition, power, and the lived experiences of Black professionals worldwide.

Through his company, Opulence Entertainment, Odigie operates at the intersection of creativity, capital, and culture. His goal is to redefine what it means to be a modern creator in today’s global film and television industry, one who combines artistic vision with business discipline and long-term ownership.

At the center of his work is a clear conviction: Black stories deserve the same level of creative sophistication, financial backing, and strategic intent as the world’s most prestigious dramas. Odigie tells stories about Black professionals navigating elite global spaces, characters shaped by pressure, ambition, identity, and reinvention. These are stories that move across countries and continents. Growing up, he rarely saw these experiences reflected on screen, and that absence now drives his creative vision.

Before transitioning fully into entertainment, Odigie built a career in finance, starting at Goldman Sachs and later holding various investment and strategy roles, including early-stage venture capital. He went on to earn both an MBA and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University in the United States. While there, he stood out as a driven leader, serving as Student Body President and later as Commencement Speaker.

Navigating elite institutions where Black representation was limited became both an emotional and intellectual foundation for his flagship project, Osa’s Vantage.

Inspired by his personal journey from Nigeria to Wall Street to Hollywood, Osa’s Vantage is a dramedy series that explores ambition, belonging, and power within elite environments, including an international business school in New York City. The series follows young Black professionals as they attempt to build careers and identities on a global stage.

Odigie says the project began with a simple but expansive question: What does ambition look like from a global Black perspective? The answer became a story about the pressure, humor, and quiet negotiations that accompany success across cultures.

What sets Odigie apart is not only the ambition of his storytelling but the way he structured the project from the outset. By combining creative development with financial participation and ownership, he is building Osa’s Vantage as both a cultural asset and a long-term media platform, an approach that remains rare for a first-time creator.

With a background in finance and early-stage investing, Odigie approaches storytelling with the mindset of a builder and capital allocator. His projects are designed to balance creative ambition with scalability, durability, and long-term value.

This philosophy led him to create Opulence Entertainment as a global media company focused on three core pillars: original IP creation, strategic financing, and globally resonant narrative building. Rather than relying solely on traditional studio structures, Opulence develops projects internally, co-finances them, and retains meaningful creative and economic control.

Osa’s Vantage is supported by a cinematic visual treatment directed by Forbes 30 Under 30 filmmaker Sterling Hampton, underscoring the premium ambition behind the series. Odigie also serves as co-executive producer and showrunner alongside Ben Cory Jones, known for his work on HBO’s Insecure and BET’s Boomerang. The project has received early backing from Jean-Marc Chapus, co-founder of Crescent Capital Group, a leader in global private credit markets.

The journey has not been easy. Odigie acknowledges that stories centered on the Black diaspora are often undervalued or overlooked. Yet he believes the diaspora is one of the most globally connected communities in the world, with shared ambitions that transcend borders.

To advance the project, Odigie independently developed the series, assembled top-tier talent, designed a global financing strategy, and organized private screenings in New York, London, and Los Angeles. The response, he says, has confirmed strong international demand.

For Odigie, the success of Osa’s Vantage extends beyond any single project. He sees it as part of a broader cultural movement, one that positions Africa and the diaspora as complex, powerful, and globally relevant.

Looking ahead, Opulence Entertainment remains open to partnership, but only on strategic terms. The company is built to stand independently, bringing original stories, capital participation, and a global vision to any collaboration.

With Osa’s Vantage leading the way, Owen Odigie is emerging as a new voice in global entertainment, helping to shape a future where Black stories are not defined by borders, but by ambition, excellence, and scale.