Peace Hyde: The Architect of Africa’s Unscripted TV Revolution
Peace Hyde boasts an illustrious career of ground-breaking firsts. She was the first ever journalist and tv host to sit down with all of Africa’s billionaires and ask them about their failures in her prolific one on one hit interview series, My Worst Day (three seasons) and Against All Odds (two seasons) on CNBC Africa.
Hyde is also the first Ghanaian to win the prestigious Sanlam Excellence in Financial Journalism Award for the African Growth Story in South Africa; the first Ghanaian to hold the title of head of digital media and partnerships and west African correspondent for Forbes Africa and the first creator and executive producer to secure an unscripted original commission deal with Netflix for the hit reality tv series, Young, Famous and African.
The show has amassed a global cult following that is impossible to ignore with fans craving for more insights into the lives and relationships of Africa’s superstars. When former US President Barrack Obama was on the lookout for African leaders for his inaugural Obama Foundation Africa Leaders, Hyde was selected out of over 30,000 leaders to heed the call.
After winning four film festival awards for her impactful Vice News documentary, Inside Nigeria’s Push to end Police Brutality and being inducted into the prestigious World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders alum - Hyde is just getting started.
Her remarkable achievement as a leading creator in the unscripted tv space has firmly cemented her status as a titan in Africa.
In her exclusive interview with GQ, Hyde talks to Molife Kumona about shaking up African stereotypes globally, decoding the African media and entertainment landscape and finding purpose in philanthropy.
GQ: With Young, Famous and African, you revolutionised African TV from the perspective of dispelling the old held beliefs about the continent. How do you feel Africa’s perception is changing since launching the first season?
Peace Hyde: I think the success of the show has had quite a significant impact on the global perception of Africa. This project is compelling for me for a number of reasons. I was born and raised by a Ghanaian mother in the UK at a time when it was not cool to be African.
I remember people getting teased in school about the way they spoke or about how dark their skin colour was and even when I began my career as a science teacher years later, where I taught chemistry, physics and biology to high school students, this trend was still prevalent. I am talking about just a decade ago, before I relocated to Ghana.
I believe in the power of storytelling. I believe that it has the ability to not only entertain but also dispel notions that we have held on to for years. I remember being in Los Angeles and having a conversation with an African American friend of mine who had never been to the African continent and she asked me if we had roads? That stayed with me and I think it was the catalyst that sparked YFA.
I asked myself how do we show the world that there is more to the continent than starving kids and adverts begging the west for aid. For me that is the true power of Young, Famous and African.
Amidst the drama, all the fights and all the glitz, the world is slowly waking up to a side of Africa that was simply non-existent in the media space until now and they are simply loving every moment of it. I am immensely grateful to Netflix and its culture for boldly breaking stereotypes and telling the stories that many platforms are quite simply too timid to tell.
GQ: What do you make of the cult following Young, Famous and African has created and how do you balance the passionate opinions from the millions of fans?
PH: Young, Famous and African has become such a cultural sensation at such a dramatic speed that it is unbelievable. The number of talented individuals behind the scene and in front of the camera that make this show what it is truly incredible. And I know I speak for everyone including my co-creator, Martin Asare, when I say we are truly humbled and elated every time our content sparks conversations and engagement of any kind whether positive or negative.
Like I always say, you are not truly shifting the needle if people are not feeling something. So, I make it my business to read every feedback, Tik Tok video or Instagram post I come across and genuinely take it into consideration. But you cannot please everyone and I think as a creative you need to balance what the audiences want with what the overall creative vision of the show is.
The pressure of creating a hit series like YFA is that every single mistake is immediately picked up because our audience really demand the very best of the best and quite honestly that is what we set out to create every season. So, when we hear that our wigs are not laid properly, trust me I see it and we are taking notes to ensure we are always improving and setting the bar even higher with each season.
Netflix is an amazing partner because of their relentless pursuit of truly top-class entertainment and the executives there who are responsible for creative, production and PR are some of the most talented people I have ever had the pleasure to work with.
GQ: What do you say about the negative comments about the shows drama and propelling negative stereotypes about Africa?
PH: I read a comment that said the show is a wrong depiction of Africa because we have so many people who do not live like the cast members so why do we not show a balanced view? As a continent our stories have been written for us by others for years, and it has been told through the eyes of people who are predisposed to only see one part of the narrative - the ugly side.
Our goal is to embrace what makes us unique but also celebrate the stories of aspirational upwardly mobile Africans who have made it out the mud.
Yes, there is drama and yes, we have a lot of fights but in all the drama, fights and excitement, do you know what they are not talking about? How broke Africa and how miserable Africa is. They are not saying we do not have roads. They are not asking if we live on trees. Secondly, look at the themes we unpack in each season. Our cast have touched on everything from infidelity in marriages, surrogacy, infertility, overcoming loss, parenting, betrayal, divorce, broken homes and so many stories that make us human.
YFA brings you authentic human connections and shows our vulnerabilities as humans. At its core that is what YFA is. Our stories resonate globally because people share the same similar experiences in Los Angeles, London, Milan. If you want to find out about the bad sides about Africa, we have so much content that speaks to that. YFA speaks to the new narrative of an Africa on the rise and an Africa that is beautiful and unapologetic.
GQ: Moving from the UK to Ghana, then working in Nigeria for a decade as an award-winning journalist and now creating a hit series in South Africa, you have a unique understanding of the media and entertainment landscape of the continent. What is your take on the direction the industry is moving in?
PH: I think as a continent we are at a remarkable growth stage and transcending borders. For the first time in African cinema and entertainment our films are not only captivating audiences globally but also highlighting the power of telling diverse stories. We have an enormous wealth of creative talent with Nollywood leading the helm in West Africa as a trailblazer and Ghana in second position as a rising star.
South Africa with its stunning landscapes and best in class production capabilities is consistently pushing the envelope on African entertainment. I think we have come a very long way but there is still a long way to go. Because I am a proud Ghanaian, I would love to see Ghana as a power player in the global film and entertainment arena the way South Africa and Nigeria are. But there are challenges.
Beyond access to funding, we need to be able to harness the advancements in technology and digital platforms and tools to enhance production, distribution and film consumption. Ghana has been struggling to keep up with digitisation. I believe digitalisation can be a boon for the Ghanaian film industry and help the country enhance its competitive advantage and move towards becoming even better because we definitely have the creative talent.
Beyond that, I think Ghana needs to have a strategy that puts us on the map of global streamers much like what Korea did with hits like Squid Game and Parasyte on Netflix. That is when the world will begin to pay attention. We have to be in it to win it.
GQ: I love that. I also know you're involved in a lot of philanthropic initiatives. What can you tell me about that?
PH: Yes, I believe in empowering the youth. As a former teacher I am very passionate about the power of education to bridge social divides and that is how I started my education not-for-profit, Aim Higher Africa. We began by working with street children in Accra helping them to read and write and we gradually evolved to placing children in formal education before transforming our focus to helping grassroots entrepreneurs to create businesses that they scale and have a multiplier effect by providing employment opportunities for other impoverished youths.
The goal of Aim Higher Africa is now to help impoverished communities in Ghana and Nigeria by empowering the youth to think differently about entrepreneurship. we have created over 5000 small scale businesses so far. I am a big believer in giving back and creating a bridge for those behind to come up. That is the only way Africa can truly grow. As the old saying goes, if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far, go together and I believe as a continent we have a long way to go together.