Launch Pad Alum Ahmadu Garba Signs with Kaplan-Stahler, Joins Staff of David O. Russell’s Amazon Series (Exclusive)
0An alum of the Launch Pad Feature Competition, Ahmadu Garba has joined the writing team for David O. Russell’s upcoming and untitled mafia series starring Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore and produced by The Weinstein Company. The show earned a two-season order of eight episodes each from Amazon late last year. He has also signed with Michael Kolodny of The Kaplan Stahler Agency.
In 2015, Garba’s feature script AUGUSTUS, pitched as Gladiator meets Rome, landed in the Top 75 of the Feature Competition. An epic historical drama, the script tells the story of Rome’s Emperor Augustus and his rise to power, following the assassination of his uncle Julius Caesar.
Our readers praised the script as a “true sword and sandal blockbuster,” which explores themes of power and corruption as it throws the audience straight into the action, suspense, and drama.
Garba was born in Washington, DC to parents of Nigerian heritage. He grew up overseas and returned to the U.S for college where he received his B.A. at George Washington University in DC. He fell in love with telling stories and decided to drop out of law school and move to LA to pursue a writing career. Since then, Garba has worked on various projects as editorial staff, including Universal Studio’s Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Serenity and Warner Bros’ Lucky You. He also worked on Two and a Half Men and the pilot for The Big Bang Theory. He recently wrapped production on his indie feature, Shine, a project that he co-wrote.
Russell’s project was first announced in August before being acquired by Amazon. Plot details on the project are being kept under wraps, except for it being about the mafia and that Russell is set to direct each episode.
Kaplan Stahler was founded in 1981 by Elliot Stahler and Mitch Kaplan after meeting in the William Morris Agency mailroom.
The Launch Pad Feature Competition is currently accepting entries for its 2017 Competition.
Anya Crittenton | Associate Editor