Naomi Osaka Launching Media Company

Naomi Osaka is getting into show business.

The tennis star is launching media production company Hana Kuma with her agent Stuart Duguid, in partnership with LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company. 

The company, whose name means “flower bear” in Japanese, intends to produce:

• Scripted and unscripted television series
• Documentaries
• Anime
• Branded Content

Hana Kuma’s first named credit will come on a New York Times op-doc project on Patsy Mink, the first woman of color to be elected to Congress. It is also working on a project with Amazon-owned cable channel Epix. 

Evolving Portfolio

Hana Kuma is the latest venture from the 24-year-old, four-time Grand Slam champion.

Last month, she launched an agency, Evolve, with Duguid. The company signed Australian player Nick Kyrgios as its first client on Monday. She also has a skincare line, Kinlò, which launched in September and struck a distribution agreement with Walmart in April. 

Carter noted that The SpringHill Company is in talks with other star athletes about similar partnerships.

“Naomi can just plug into what we have built,” said Carter.

Osaka made $57 million last year, per Forbes, mostly through sponsorships including Nike, Beats by Dre, Nissan, and Mastercard.