LeBron James partners with tennis ace Naomi Osaka to launch media company
Naomi Osaka is partnering with The SpringHill Firm, a media conglomerate founded by LeBron James, to start a media production company. Hana Kuma Productions will create both narrative and nonfiction material. According to the release, Hana Kuma will focus on “empowering” and “culturally distinct” stories.
Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is creating a media production firm in collaboration with The SpringHill Company, a media company founded by Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
According to a news release, the production firm, Hana Kuma, will develop fictional and nonfiction programming, beginning with a New York Times documentary on Patsy Mink, the first woman of colour elected to the United States Congress. According to the release, Hana Kuma will focus on “empowering” and “culturally distinct” stories.
“There has been an eruption of innovators of colour finally being armed with tools and a massive platform,” stated Osaka in a press statement. “Content has a more global view in the streaming age.” The success of television across Asia, Europe, and Latin America demonstrates that the distinction may also be universal. My story demonstrates this as well.”
Naomi Osaka is launching her own media company — Hana Kuma — in partnership with LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company.
"We'll bring stories to life with this goal: to make unique perspectives feel universal and inspire people along the way” – @naomiosaka pic.twitter.com/hW0rOJ2cav
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) June 21, 2022
According to the statement, the SpringHill Company, created by NBA star LeBron James and corporate Maverick Carter, will contribute production and strategic assets to Hana Kuma. Hana Kuma has also formed alliances with the cryptocurrency trading site FTX and the health portal Modern Health.
Osaka started Evolve, an athlete representation firm, in May. Even if she has lately suffered on the tennis court, Osaka’s honesty has connected with an audience well beyond sports, particularly young people, giving her a sponsorship dream. (Last month, she was knocked out in the first round of the French Open.) She announced on social media on Saturday that she might miss Wimbledon this summer due to an Achilles ailment.)
One ongoing initiative concerns cookery as well as the Haitian community. “I watch a couple of food-related shows and cooking competitions and I like to cook,” Osaka joked. A New York Times Op-Doc on Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to Congress, will be the first project with Hana Kuma credits.
Osaka’s “grace and strength” on and off the court, according to James, make her a wonderful fit for SpringHill, which “exists to empower athlete creators.” “We don’t take our position to provide a bit of assistance, in this case to Naomi, to assist enable her to accomplish even more wonderful things for granted,” James remarked.