The MTV Staying Alive Foundation and MTV Base (Africa) have won the prestigious Gold Award in Edutainment at the World Media Festival for Shuga, the sex and relationships drama series filmed in Lagos, Nigeria. This is the second time that Shuga has won the award; series 1 of Shuga achieved success in 2010, winning gold in the Public Relations Health Award category.
The World Media Festival Award recognizes true excellence in modern media communication. Judged by industry experts, the 2014 awards saw 700 entries critiqued for writing, sound, editing, creativity, visuals, insights, and above all the extent to which the programme meets its stated goals and communicates with its intended audience.
Georgia Arnold, Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation shared her excitement about the award, “We are honoured to receive the World Media Festival Gold award for Edutainment, recognising the value of Shuga as a vehicle for communicating messages about public health, as an entertainment experience, and as a grassroots teaching tool.”
Highlighting the valuable role that edutainment and multimedia communications can play in the battle to reduce the number of HIV infections among Nigerian youth, Shuga is part of a far-reaching multimedia campaign that fuses sexual health messaging with gripping story lines to raise awareness among young people about HIV prevention and reproductive health in Nigeria.
Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa also commented, “Set in Nigeria but following universal themes, Shuga showcases the creativity of Nigerian writers, directors and actors. We are delighted that these talented individuals had this mainstream opportunity to demonstrate their talents on TV and other content platfoms around the world, using authentic Nigerian voices to paint a new picture of the continent on the global stage, while simultaneously fulfilling important public health goals.”
The third series of Shuga, which was filmed in Lagos was written by Kemi Adesoye and directed by Biyi Bandele. The series stars top celebrities like Ice Prince, Iyanya, Maria Okanrende, Tiwa Savage, Chris Attoh, Ikubese Emmanuel Ifeanyichukwu, Nick Mutuma, Okezie Morro, Dorcas Shola Fapson, Leonora Okine, Sharon Ezeamaka, EFA, Timini Egbuson among many others.
Shuga premiered to 52 territories in sub-Saharan African on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) on Sunday 1 December 2013. The series aired to viewers in over 500 million households worldwide.
