Chudor House Productions, Artist International Group Developing Kenyan Bestseller ‘Truth Is A Flightless Bird’ For TV; Adam Targum Set As Showrunner

EXCLUSIVE: Chudor House Productions and Artist International Group are teaming on a series adaptation of Truth is a Flightless Bird, the internationally bestselling crime novel from Akbar Hussain.

Banshee‘s Adam Targum will serve as showrunner for the drama, with Odiri Iwuji at Chudor House and Aleksey Ageyev at Artist International Group producing. NneNne Iwuji (African Queens: Njinga) is set to co-write alongside Targum and will serve as an executive producer.

Set between Kenya and the U.S., Truth is a Flightless Bird is a brutal love letter to the frontier town that is present-day Nairobi: a studied observation of the failure of bare-knuckled capitalism, the inequality machines our cities have become, and — ultimately — the profoundly irrational human capacity to hope, to risk everything in order to have something in which to believe.

“Truth is a profoundly authentic deep dive of a universally fractured society,” said Targum of the book, published by Iskanchi Press in October 2022. “An immersive thriller, churning with energy and a frenetic urgency of life, tailor made for a gripping international series adaptation.”

Stated Iwuji, “When we optioned Akbar Hussain’s novel, we knew that we needed a very experienced and passionate creator to help bring it to life for the screen. Adam embodies both. We are thrilled to have both Adam and NneNne deliver Akbar’s uniquely captivating story to an international audience very soon.”

Ageyev added that “the landscape of television is evolving, with emerging territories and markets beginning to have a significant influence in the realm of scripted TV. With the potential for growth residing in these burgeoning markets, together with Chudor House, we look forward to creating a series that resonates not only with local audiences to further expand the local market, but also captivate global audiences.”

Previously, Targum has written on and exec produced series including NCIS: New Orleans, Outcast and Banshee. Other notable small-screen credits include Syfy’s Deadly Class and CSI: NY. Iwuji scripted the miniseries African Queens: Njinga and Queen Cleopatra for Neflix.

Production and management company Artist International Group was founded in 2017 by David Unger, who serves as CEO. Notable clients include Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors), Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire), Gong Li (Mulan), Carolina Miranda (Fake Profile), Kev Adams (Retirement Home), Rafael Cebrian (Acapulco), Fan Bingbing (The 355), Rossy de Palma (Parallel Mothers) and Zine Tseng (3 Body Problem), to name just a few. Clients on the filmmaking front include Ludovic Bernard (Lupin), Tony Kaye (American History X) and Michael Haussman (Edge of the World).