Niyi Akinmolayan – Director/ Filmmaker Extraordinaire

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If you watch a lot of Nollywood movies, chances are you don’t even know who sits at the helm of these movies. We are very comfortable with adoring and giving all the kudos towards the success of the movie to the actors and actresses on the screen but forget that the real magic makers are the ones behind the screens.

Niyi Akinmolayan is one of the most revered directors in Nollywood today after directing the three highest grossing Nollywood movies of all time but what do we really know about him? Do you even know who he is? How he started? What he does minus directing? What was his first movie?

Early Life

Niyi Akinmolayan was born Olaniyi Akinmolayan on November 3, 1982 in Ondo state and is a Nigerian film-maker, director, and media consultant. He hails pursued an Engineering degree at Yaba College of Technology. It is quite surprising to know that with his success in the film industry, he did not actually go to school to study his present profession. So is the life of the Nigerian education and professional system.

While in school, he started learning graphic and website designing and animation. Taking this in stride, he served as an apprentice to other Nollywood filmmakers during which he honed his skills in video editing, after effects, and visual effects.  What this shows is that there is a way to juggle passion with your desired academic work.

Career

He founded Anthill Productions in 2008 where he is the creative director. This is where he debuted his experimental visual effects film, Kajola, in 2010.

After his first movie, Smoke and Mirrors, in which he collaborated with Ehiz Ojesebholo, he went on to direct the dance movie, Make a move, in 2014 which starred actors like Tina Mba, Beverly Naya, and other popular actors. After this, he directed the movie, Falling, in 2015 which starred Adesuwa Etomi, Blossom Chukwujekwu, and Desmond Elliot.

He went ahead to direct the movies The Arbitration (2017), The Wedding Party 2 (2017), Chief Daddy (2018), The Set Up (2019), and Elevator Baby (2019) all of which grossed respectable amounts in Nollywood with The Wedding Party 2 and Chief Daddy being among the top 3 highest grossing movies of all time.

The Wedding Party 2 and Chief Daddy are among the top 3 highest grossing movies of all time.

Niyi’s career in the feature film industry is not the only one worth commenting on. His 2016 animation, Plaything, The Adventures of Lola and Chuchu (2019) and the award winning Malika: Warrior Queen, which he was an executive producer, are also worth the mention.

Awards, Nominations & Acknowledgements

  • 2015 AMVCA for Best Movie (Drama) – Make a Move
  • 2016 Best Director AEA
  • 2016 AMVCA for Best Actress – Falling
  • 2017 TIFF – The Arbitration
  • 2018 Director of the Year, City People Movie Award
  • 2019 LAIFFA for Best Animated Short – Malika: Warrior Queen
  • 2019 AFRIFF for Best Animation – Malika: Warrior Queen
  • 2019 Director of the Year, City People Movie Award

 

Quotes from the Director Extraordinaire

“To move forward as a continent, as Africans, we need to teach people to question things”.

“The African culture is built on stories”.

“Failure is an essential part of film making, but you will never understand that if you don’t get started”.

“If you can’t afford established people, get young hungry ones and train them. It pays off eventually”.

“You only make good films by making films at all”.

“If we have to go forward, then we have to learn to share”.

“Regardless of the size of your film, Plan out your intentions to make people see it ahead of time.”

 

Sources;

Wikipedia

Guardian Newspaper; Saturday Magazine

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