Michaela Coel is an artist of many talents (Chewing Gum, Black Earth Rising) created her own show this year “I May Destroy You”. The series took a long journey before it premiered on 7th June, 2020.
It tells the story about Arabella who struggles to remember the events that took place on her night out with friends. She soon realises that she was drugged and taken advantage of. Coel wrote all 12 episodes and co directed 9 of them. It is based on her personal experience of sexual assault working on the set of “Chewing Gum” season 2.
Netflix, the streaming giant made her an offer worth $1 million in 2017, however Michaela Coel refused it. Why? They wouldn’t allow her to retain any percentage of the copyright. She even ended her deal with CAA, her agency in the US, who pushed her to take the deal with Netflix.
She then took her series to BBC at the end of 2017 who co-produced with HBO giving her the full rights and a seat at the production side of the making of the show.
Since the #MeToo era, there has been a recognisable power in the stories that are being made from the ones that didn’t get the opportunity of even being heard. There is also a huge responsibility to tell these stories right.
Michaela said, “No amount was worth giving it up. I wasn’t the one who was crazy, killing off agents. This was crazy.”
You can now stream ‘I May Destroy You’ on ‘Disney+ Hotstar’.
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