New York, United States of America (USA)- Four-time Grand Slam singles champion, and the highest-paid female athlete, Naomi Osaka, has partnered with billionaire basketball sensation, LeBron James, to open a media company.
The media company, Hana Kuma, which translates to flower bear, in partnership with James’ SpringHill, and entertainment, marketing and products company, will produce stories that are culturally specific but universal to all audiences.
Speaking to New York Times, James said Osaka’s grace and power on and off the court made her a good match for SpringHill, which exists to empower athlete creators.
“We don’t take for granted the position we are in to lend a helping hand, in this case to Naomi, to help empower her to do even more great things,” said James.
The production company is the latest project from 24-year-old Osaka and her long-time agent, Stuart Duguid. The duo also have a sports agency named Evolve, which signed Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios as the first member of their roster on Monday.
“There has been an explosion of creators of colour finally being equipped with resources and a huge platform. In the streaming age, content has a more global perspective. You can see this in the popularity of television in Asia, Europe, and Latin America that the uniqueness can also be universal.
My story is a testament to that as well. I am so excited about what we are building at Hana Kuma. We will bring stories to life with this goal in mind, to make unique perspectives feel universal and inspire people along the way,” said Naomi.
The first project with Hana Kuma credits will be a New York Times Op-Doc about Patsy Mink, the first woman of colour elected to Congress. Hana Kuma is also working on unspecified documentary content for Epix, a premium cable channel now owned by Amazon.
