Alumni

 

Chibuzor (Chi) Ogbue came to The Master’s School (TMS) in 2013 for his junior year of high school. Basketball was the key element that brought him to the school, proving beneficial for him at the time, though its full purpose was yet to be revealed. Chi and his mom immigrated to the United States and resided in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Growing up, Chi viewed himself as an easy target due to his dark-skinned complexion, African roots, rapid height growth, and initial lack of athletic skill. To make matters worse, he used to carry a puppet around that served as his alter ego, which peers made fun of him for carrying. To cope, he flipped the script and made the joke before anyone else could. His passion lay in stories that emphasize laughing at life's challenges, such as *SpongeBob SquarePants*, *The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy*, and *Phineas and Ferb*. However, in his early teens, he put the puppets aside for basketball, recognizing it as a talent that could earn him college scholarships and open doors for further growth and preparation for the future.

 

Chi attended Norwich University to play basketball, but it wasn't his true passion; it was a means to an end. His love for children's media and boundless creativity led him to a job at The Walt Disney Studios (Disney Branded TV). While there, Chi was a writer for the NAACP-nominated series *Rise Up, Sing Out* on Disney Plus, featuring The Roots, where he created the story for the protest episode. He worked at Disney until September 2022, when he sold his first project to Sony Pictures and started his own production company—Jerry’s World Productions.

 

Chi is trying to revolutionize a new genre called Modern Nostalgia, where he takes elements of what makes nostalgic content feel nostalgic while putting a contemporary spin that creates a whole new product that feels nostalgic. His aim is to determine ways to make TV relatable and appealing to his generation while retaining the emotional punch that makes classic stories so compelling. Chi recently won a Hometown Media Award 2024 for Best Mixed Media in the country for his backdoor pilot "Jerry's World," which tells the story of a blue puppet trying to fit in a human world—a narrative that mirrors Chi's own life experiences.

 

Chi credits The Master’s School teachers with being instrumental in preparing him to venture into both corporate and Hollywood life. He continues to maintain friendships from his time at TMS and is grateful for all that he has been given. Chi has never taken "No" for an answer and continues to defy the odds despite being very young in his career. He is determined to use his life story and experiences in Jerry’s World Productions to reach people and inspire them through his puppets, ultimately aiming to change the world through storytelling.

 

For more about Chi and his company, visit Jerry’s World Productions: https://www.jerrysworldproductions.com/

 

Chi, thank you for sharing your vision and your story. We look forward to hearing more from you in the future!