Words by Smiley Team
Yesterday, on International Women’s Day, Apple TV announced it is joining forces with youngest-ever Nobel laureate and women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
Together they plan to inspire audiences with Malala’s influence across the streaming service’s dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation, and children’s series.
“I believe in the power of stories to bring families together, forge friendships, build movements, and inspire children to dream,” said Malala.
“And I couldn’t ask for a better partner than Apple to help bring these stories to life. I’m grateful for the opportunity to support women, young people, writers, and artists in reflecting the world as they see it.”
Shot by the Taliban aged 15 while on a school bus, the young Pakistani activist captured international attention by defying oppressive laws that forbade girls from going to school. She went on to create the Malala Fund, which offers training and education to girls aged 14 to 18.
Aged 16 she published her best-selling memoir, ‘I am Malala’. She celebrated her 18th birthday in 2015 by calling on the UN to invest in “books, not bullets”. After attending school in Birmingham she was offered a place to study politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University, where she graduated in 2020.
Drawing on her incredible life experiences, Malala will now use entertainment as a means to envision a better world.
“Entertainment can help us see what society should look like and what we should aspire to do. And we should never underestimate the power of what everyday life can teach us,” she told Fast Company.
Malala and her new production company Extracurricular join Apple’s growing list of creative leaders, including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Idris Elba, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Octavia Spencer, Kumail Nanjiani, Alfonso Cuarón, and more.
To support education for girls around the world donate to the Malala Fund.
