Tendo Nagenda (born 1975) is an American film producer and former studio executive, described as "one of the most high-profile black film executives."[1][2]
Born in Los Angeles to a Ugandan father and a Belizean mother, Nagenda graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 1997 with a double major in accounting and government. He worked at Deloitte for a year and a half before spending four months at the New York Film Academy.[3][4]
Nagenda held positions at HBO, Good Universe, Warner Independent Pictures, and Plan B Entertainment before an eight-year stint at Disney. At Disney, he became executive vice president of production and oversaw the production of Queen of Katwe, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, A Wrinkle in Time (2018 film)|A Wrinkle in Time, umbo (2019 film)|Dumbo and Mulan.[5][6][7][8][9]
In 2018, Nagenda was hired by Netflix to serve as Vice President of Original Films as part of Netflix’s move towards self-produced as well as diverse content.[10][11][12] During this time he oversaw Da 5 Bloods, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Hillbilly Elegy, The Harder They Fall (2021 film)|The Harder They Fall, The Gray Man, and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.[13][6][14][15][16] His unit handled roughly twenty films of budgets $25m and up per annum.[17]
He was associated with the work of Ava DuVernay, David Oyelowo, and Ryan Coogler throughout his tenure at both Disney and Netflix.[18][19][20]
In August 2022, Nagenda departed Netflix. He founded his own production company, 10 by Ten Entertainment, with the stated aim of “creat[ing] culturally relevant, big-event entertainment, reframing on and centering underrepresented perspectives.”[21]