Joel Embiid wants the African diaspora to thrive on screen

Joel Embiid knew as early as his rookie season in the National Basketball Association that he ultimately wanted to enter the media industry.

Seven years later, he is now at the top of the sport. Embiid, the league's reigning most valuable player, set a Philadelphia 76ers record last week Score 70 points in a game – and is ready to take on that new challenge.

Embiid, 29, who moved from Cameroon to the United States as a teenager, has founded a production studio, Miniature Géant, that he hopes will enhance the culture of his home continent. The studio plans to profile athletes and entertainment figures of African descent, with the initial goal of selling content to streaming services.

“We engage in many different spaces, but the common denominator is Africa and the joys and the quest of African people and the African diaspora,” says Sarah Kazadi-Ndoye, the studio's lead creative director and a native of the Democratic Republic Congo.

Miniature Géant's first documentary explores themes of race and identity as it follows Memphis Depay, a Dutch footballer who was born to a white mother from the Netherlands and a Ghanaian father. The studio is also in exploratory talks with Cameroonian mixed martial arts fighter Francis Ngannou, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. In addition to reporting on athletes, the studio also hopes to explore the entertainment world.

Embiid is one of many athletes entering the world of content creation. The basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo recently announced the start of a production company with ESPN analyst Jay Williams. The retired quarterbacks of the National Football League Tom Brady And Peyton Manning founded similar organizations and released projects with ESPN and Netflix.

But by focusing on a defined African niche, Embiid says he thinks Miniature Géant (French for 'Giant') will be distinctive. Kazadi-Ndoye, a former ESPN and CBS Sports producer who was hired in November, will help the studio generate ideas and filter pitches.

“I think a lot of times a lot of people just want to do things because that's a way to make money,” Embiid said. “But I have always been passionate about telling stories.”

Nearly a year before he announced the formation of Miniature Géant in June, Embiid discussed his ambitions over lunch with Maverick Carter, LeBron James' longtime friend and business partner. In 2020, Carter and James founded SpringHill Company, which houses athlete podcasts and digital series and produced a new version of the film “Space Jam.”

The conversation became the impetus for Miniature Géant, SpringHill's second studio after a collaboration with tennis star Naomi Osaka.

Carter said SpringHill would provide Embiid's studio with development financing, administrative support and Hollywood relationships.

“Put simply, he is the visionary and we need to help him execute,” Carter said. “Joel is committed to telling the stories that matter to him and we want that to be the case.”

Mahen Bonetti, the founder of the African Film Festival in New York, said there was no shortage of African stories being produced, citing as an example the robust Nigerian film industry known as Nollywood. But Embiid's status as a global celebrity could help bring them to an even wider audience, she says.

“What someone like him can do is help facilitate the growth of the film industry on the continent by investing in meaningful stories that represent Africa and lift the spirits of the people there,” Bonetti said.

Miniature Géant's first project follows Depay, the second top scorer in the history of the Dutch national team, as he trains for and competes in the UEFA European Championship this summer. Depay said he was looking for a business partner and quickly felt comfortable with Embiid's studio.

“I show the world a lot, so it's only right that someone like him is involved,” Depay said.

Embiid and Kazadi-Ndoye also hope to develop a project about Ngannou, who grew up in poverty in Cameroon. Since leaving the UFC last year due to a high-profile contract dispute, Ngannou has signed with the Professional Fighters League, a rival mixed martial arts promotion, and has become a prize-fighting boxer.

“I think his story is so inspiring and it needs to be told the right way,” Embiid said. “Coming from the same country, you naturally want to be part of what he was able to achieve.”