LAGOS — Nigerian author and filmmaker Arese Ugwu has revealed how a rejection from Netflix nearly broke her, after the streaming giant declined her request to scale up her hit TV show The Smart Money Woman.
Ugwu, 39, disclosed that following the success of the show’s first season — which aired on Africa Magic and remained in Netflix’s top 10 for 13 weeks — she approached the platform for sponsorship to expand the project. However, Netflix turned her down.
“We were able to produce Season 1 of The Smart Money Woman and got a fantastic reception… I then approached Netflix for sponsorship to make the project bigger and better, and shockingly, they turned me down,” Ugwu said in a recent interview with Afropolitan. “That rejection almost broke me.”
The financial literacy advocate and bestselling author also expressed her ambition to be recognised as a serious filmmaker.
“I want to establish myself as a filmmaker. I feel like some people still see me as the girl who wrote a book and the book was turned into a TV series,” she said.
Ugwu’s Smart Money franchise — born out of her bestselling book — has become a cultural staple for young African women navigating career, wealth, and lifestyle. Despite the Netflix setback, she remains committed to building her filmmaking career beyond adaptations.
