New York-based Ghanaian playwright, Stacy Osei Kufour is the first Black female scribe selected to pen the script for Marvel’s vampire-hunting movie titled ‘Blade’.
In a post by hollywoodreporter.com, it was disclosed that only Black writers were considered for the said project.
“Only Black writers were seriously considered, a reflection of Marvel's focus on diversity and making representation a key factor, especially when tackling non-white characters,” the post read.
The Chicago-born Ghanaian lady spent years writing plays and poetry after her Master’s degree from Hunter College in New York.
Her jump from story editor to now a Marvel movie, and breaking down a barrier while doing so, makes for quite a Cinderella story.
Let’s take a look at 6 things you probably do not know about Miss Osei Kuffour
1. She was a writer and story editor for HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ series
The playwright acted as a story editor and writer on HBO's acclaimed limited series dubbed ‘Watchmen’. Her input in the ‘Watchmen’ series, according to the hollywoodreporter.com got her noticed in order to be selected for the Marvel movie.
2. She was nominated for Emmy Awards after writing for a comedy series titled Hulu’s Pen15
Miss Osei-Kuffour earlier earned an Emmy-nomination in 2020 for outstanding writing in a comedy series for her work on Hulu's Pen15.
3. She has written and edited scripts for more than five ground-breaking Hollywood series
Stacy has worked on movies such as Hunters, Amazon’s blood-soaked limited series that saw Al Pacino and Logan Lerman as Nazi hunters in 1970s America, and HBO crime thriller Run, starring Domhnall Gleeson among others.
4. She struggled to find work after school
Stacy struggled to find work as a writer after her college education. Fast forward, her new role in the Marvel thriller after series of disappointments in the Hollywood industry can be seen as a ‘light at the end of a tunnel’.
5. She is a professional playwright and TV writer
With her goal of bringing untold stories to the stage and screen, Stacy has produced and written several plays that have swept several awards including The Painter, Samuel French Festival finalist. Breathless, workshop productions at the Dream up Festival & Downtown Urban Theater Festival (both at Theater for the New City). Dirty Blood, reading at Rattlestick Theater among others. Also in 2020, she wrote for the TV show ‘Happy’ which airs every Wednesday night on the SYFY network.
6. She was born and raised in Chicago Illinois
Stacy Osei-Kuffour was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois by her Ghanaian parents. She is a BFA graduate from New York University where she majored in Drama and an MFA graduate from Hunter College where she majored in Playwriting.