‘Shanty Town’: Showrunner Chi Chi Nworah reveals how the series got its name

During our exclusive interview with the co-creator and executive producer, she discussed the journey from the vision to the finished product, but one piece of the conversation stood out: the original title.

Turns out the hit TV show, which took almost six years from idea to execution, was originally called ‘Shark Town.’

In her words, “…I started to think about it so I brought in a writer, Xavier Ighorodje. Then, he worked on the story with the team to flesh out the idea that I had. He put life into it then sent me the first draft. I tweaked it and changed the name. It was originally called ‘Shark Town.’ Xavier did amazing job with Donald Tombia.”

According to her, it took a lot of training from boxing to stunts to prepare for her physically challenging scenes.

“We had hired two sets of martial art professionals, who did all kinds of trainings. Amazing people. For me, it was the believability for me. It was my high. I had found something that was that would take me out of my comfort zone. At first, I was scared. Then I got into it, I set my mind to it and I just did that. I didn’t want to have a lot of doubles. I did 90% of my stunts.”

Ini plays Inem, an undercover cop moonlighting as a sex worker in the six-part series, which follows the story of three Lagos-based hustlers who unite to wage war against the biggest and most ruthless crime ring in the state.

The cast includes Nollywood icons like Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ini Edo, Nse ikpe-Etim, Sola Sobowale, Shaffy Bello, Ali Nuhu and Uche Jombo.