MTV STAYING ALIVE ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT DEAL WITH CBS STUDIOS AND PARAMOUNT+ TO BRING SHUGA TO THE US.

At MTV Staying Alive Foundation we harness the power of entertainment to change the attitudes and behaviour of young people around the world. Each campaign includes a TV series, radio drama, print, digital and social media, and peer education programmes.

Pioneered in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009, MTV Shuga is a long-running drama series and multimedia campaign that launched on December 1 and follows the lives of young people on the African continent. Since 2009, the drama has crossed the continent from Kenya to Nigeria, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire and India and has touched on numerous plotlines relating to HIV testing & prevention, Covid-19, family planning & contraception, transactional sex, gender-based violence, and condom use. Stars include Lupita Nyong’o (Black Panther) and Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King). All our series are produced in-country, with local cast, writers & crew, and are produced rights-cleared & given away cost-free.

Our work has proven impact, with MTV Shuga viewers being twice as likely to test for HIV, more aware (60% vs 28%) of HIV Self Testing ; and young women are 55% less likely to test positive for chlamydia if they’ve been exposed to MTV Shuga.

Now CBS Studios has bought the format and we are headed to Baltimore!

Shuga: Baltimore will follow the lives of six young people finding the beauty in their futures while surviving in a rapidly tech gentrifying city. In this hyper-surrealist tale, they each will face love, resolve, loss and hope while confronting their new roles in an evolving world.

We are thrilled to be partnering with Two Shakes Entertainment, with Damon Wayans Jr. & Kameron Tarlow acting as Executive Producers, alongside Georgia Arnold, Sara Piot, Richard Warburton from MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Paramount Global. Greg “Mellow” Brown will act as Co-Executive Producer.

Two Shakes was founded by Damon Wayans Jr. and Kameron Tarlow with a commitment to taking characters who are traditionally 4th, 5th and 6th on a call sheet and making them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. They are behind series such as Kim Cattrall and Miss Benny's Glamorous for Netflix & they recently renewed its first-look deal with CBS Studios through May 2024.

We look forward to working with Two Shakes Entertainment and bringing Shuga: Baltimore to life.