Nungari Kiore Expands Into Producing With Kenyan-Nigerian Vertical Drama ‘Blocked’: “It Pushed Me Creatively”

It feels like only yesterday that Nungari Kiore broke into mainstream television with her appearance in Tosh Gitonga’s Netflix music drama Volume. In 2024, she had her biggest breakthrough yet as part of the leading quartet in the youth drama series Jiji for Showmax, which she says shaped her both as an actor and an individual through its themes of gender-based violence and survival.

Besides acting, she’s also a director, creative producer and co-founder of A Dear Diary Production, a female-led production company focused on storytelling and behind-the-scenes content production.

Her first major project as a producer is Blocked (styled as BLØCKED), a vertical drama told through approximately two-minute episodes that explores online relationships, deception and the emotional consequences of digital intimacy.

A Kenyan-Nigerian co-production, Blocked was filmed remotely between Nairobi, Lagos and London, and stars Nigerian actress Nengi Adoki (The Trade, Juju Stories) alongside Kiore. It is directed by Nigeria’s Bolaji Kekere-Ekun (Tainted Canvas, The Most Toasted Girl), who also co-wrote the script with Kiore, Adoki and Rishama Madaki. The project is produced by 37thSTATE and TheNengers in Nigeria, alongside A Dear Diary in Kenya.

The journey to Blocked began in 2024 when Kiore travelled to Nigeria and met Adoki, whose work on web series like The Most Toasted Girl and The Men’s Club she says had already left a strong impression on her. After connecting creatively, the two began discussing the possibility of collaborating on a project together, and Blocked was born.

“The idea was really inspired by the rise of vertical storytelling and digital-first cinema,” says Kiore.

The project became a truly international collaboration, spanning three continents and multiple countries. While Kiore worked from Kenya, Adoki moved between Nigeria and Canada, and director Bolaji worked between Nigeria and the UK during production.

“Despite the distance, we rehearsed extensively online before beginning production in 2025, completing the project in early 2026,” says Kiore, acknowledging that the experience pushed her creatively as an actor. “I had to trust the process in a very different way because everything was happening remotely. It reminded me that limitations can actually spark innovation.”

Blocked is currently available on TikTok and Instagram as the team explores more distribution opportunities. Kiore hopes viewers will walk away thinking more critically about the relationships they build online.

“The series explores how easy it is to trust, connect, and even fall into something dangerous with someone you’ve never met in real life,” she says. “At the same time, I hope it opens people up to how powerful digital storytelling can be. This is just the beginning of what’s possible.”

Blocked arrives at a time when more African filmmakers are venturing into micro-dramas, looking to tap into a rapidly growing medium projected to reach approximately $26 billion by 2030.

Earlier in March this year, South African studio Both Worlds and Atlanta-based Freeli Films launched the first Africa-US micro-drama co-production partnership. Recently, MoonBeam Productions, known for producing the long-running comedy series Njoro wa Uba, launched the micro-drama Influencer Mwitu on Safaricom Baze. Meanwhile, the 2026 American Black Film Festival (ABFF), running from 27 to 31 May, launched a dedicated showcase for vertical, mobile-first micro-dramas, featuring a lineup of eight productions that includes South Africa’s The King, The Affair and the Son Heir, produced by Both Worlds.

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