Today, we are going into the world of Nollywood and looking at the people who are making things happen in the industry: movie producers. Nollywood keep producing talents who have gone the extra mile to differentiate themselves. Today is about movie producers in Nigeria who are breaking barriers.
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More often than not, people celebrate the actors and actresses in a movie because those are the people they can see. In fact, most people don’t even know the producers of the blockbuster movies we watch. The truth is, without producers behind the scenes, there is no such thing as ‘a great movie’.
Here is our list of movie producers in Nigeria Movie Industry. Read and get inspired.
1. Emem Isong
This stunning Akwa-Ibom lady is one of the award winning movie producers in Nigeria. She was born on the 5th September.
Emen is a graduate of Theater Arts from the University of Calabar. She began her movie production career in 1994 when she co-produced the movie “Jezebel”. Thereafter, she produced her first solo movie “Breaking Point” in 1996. Meanwhile, Emem Isong is not just a film producer, she is also a screenwriter and director.
For 8years, Emem Isong worked with Remmy Jez as a producer on his movies. She however, ended the working relationship in 2008.
Emem’s ability to produce creative movies made the New Nollywood movement list her as a Maverick. More than that, she has bagged several awards. She won the Eloy Awards, Best Movie Producer of the Year for “I’ll Take My Chances” (2011). In 2010, she won ZAFAA Awards, in the category of Best Producer for the movie “Memories of my Heart”.
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In June 2010, Emem Isong founded Royal Arts Academy (RAA) to equip aspiring actors for the growing entertainment Industry in Nigeria.
Some of the movies she produced include:
- Jezebel, 1994
- Breaking Point, 1996
- Private Sin, 2003
- Promise Me Forever, 2004
- Masterstroke, 2004
- For Real, 2004
- Critical Decision, 2004
- Men Do Cry, 2005
- I Feel U, 2005
- Girls in the Hood, 2005
- Games Women Play, 2005
- Endless Lies, 2005
- Behind Closed Doors, 2005
- Traumatised, 2006
- Games Men Play, 2006
- Yahoo Millionaire, 2007
- Unfinished Business, 2007
- A Time To Love, 2007
- Reloaded, 2008
- Edikan, 2009
- Memories of War, 2010
- Holding Hope, 2010
- Bursting Out, 2010
- Kiss and Tell, 2010
- I’ll Take My Chances, 2011
- Silver Lining, 2012
- Forgetting June, 2013
- Knocking on Heaven’s Door, 2014
- Apaye, 2014
- Don’t Cry For Me, 2015
- Ayamma, 2016
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2. Tope Oshin
This stunning lady was listed as one of the most influential Nigerians in film in 2019. Without mincing words, Tope Oshin has paid her dues and she deserves all the accolades coming her way.
Temitope Aina Oshin was born on June 10, 1979. She is an alumna of Lagos State University, Colorado Film School and Met Film School, London among others.
Actually, Tope started out as an actress and, was on set for 12 years. It will interest you to know that Tope Oshin is the brain behind some of the highest box office breaking movies in Nigeria. To mention a few, she is
the producer of the highly acclaimed ‘Fifty’ and ‘The Wedding Party 2’.
Also, Tope has several awards to her credit. In 2014, she bagged the Teens Favorite Awards for Teens Favorite TV & Film Producer. In addition, ELOY Awards nominated her as the Best Producer of The Year.
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Other notable home movies, TV Movies and TV features she has produced include but not limited to:
- We Don’t Live Here Anymore, 2018
- Ireti, 2015
- Crush, 2014
- New Horizons, 2013
- Till Death Do Us Part, 2013
- The Young Smoker, 2011
- Amaka’s Kin, 2016
- Ever After, 2017
- Evol, 2016
- Walk The Talk, 2014
- Love and War, 2013
- Conversations At Dinner, 2013
- Tinsel, 2009-2013
- Moments with Mo, 2009
3. Kunle Afolayan
Kunle Afolayan is another major player among movie producers in Nigeria. It is safe to say that Kunle learnt well from his late father ‘Ade Love’ who was equally a great movie producer in his lifetime. This great actor and director was born on 30th September, 1974.
Kunle became actively involved in the Nigerian Movie Industry in 2005. Since then, he has produced many award winning movies including, ‘The Figurine’, ‘Phone Swap‘, ‘Irapada’, ‘October 1‘, ‘The C.E.O’, ‘Omugwo’, ‘ROTI’, ‘The Tribunal’, and the most recent – ‘Mokalik’.
In addition, Kunle Afolayan is the CEO of Golden Effects Pictures, a Nigerian film and production company. This company contributed largely to his success as a producer. In 2017, he was nominated by City People
Movie Award for the Best Movie Producer of the Year (English).
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4. Funke Akindele Bello
Funke Akindele is one producer that receive loud applause from fans. She has over 100 movies to her credit both as a producer and an actress. Some of the movies produced by Funke is ‘Jenifa’, ‘The Return of Jenifa’ and ‘Maami’.
The movie, Jenifa, which later became a television series (Jenifa’s Diary) brought Funke a big break she hasn’t recovered from. Really, Funke is a timeless producer that comes out with something new when you think you’ve seen it all.
Funke was born on August 24, 1977 in Lagos State, an alumna of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and University of Lagos respectively.
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5. Kemi Adetiba
Kemi Adetiba is also one of the well known movie producers in Nigeria. In truth, Kemi’s movies speak for themselves. You will agree with me that there is a ‘Kemi’s touch’ on all her productions that makes them stand out. A good example of such is ‘Wedding Party’ and ‘King of Boys’. The interesting part is that she’s also a video director and, has worked with the likes of Olamide, Niyola, Waje and Tiwa Savage among others.
Kemi was born on 8th January, 1980. She began her media career at a tender age following after the footstep of her father, Dele Adetiba.
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6. Tchidi Chikere
Tchidi is a prominent movie producer in Nigeria. Over the years, he’s been able to carve out a niche for himself. Aside being a producer, he is also an actor, scriptwriter, singer and music video director. The media guru has over 100 movies to his credit.
Mr Tchidi was born on October 10, 1975, a native of imo state and an alumna of University of Calabar. Some of the movies produced and directed by Tchidi includes:
- Blood, 2003
- Stronger Than Pain, 2008
- Gold Not Silver, 2011
- Paint My Life/Tempest, 2012
- Dumebi, 2013
- Professor John Bull, 2017
- Pink Room, 2018
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7. Bolanle Austen-Peters
Bolanle Austen-Peters is the founder of Terra Kulture; an art and cuture company. More than that, she is another prominent movie producer in Nigeria. She began her movie production with “93 Days”; a movie that tells the story of 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria and how it was contained.
She however, became popular when she produced ‘SARO the musical’, FELA and the Kalakuta Queens and ‘WAKAA!‘ She also co-produced Bling Lagosians
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8. Mo Abudu
Our list cannot be complete without mentioning Mo Abudu; the founder of EbonyLife TV. Impressively, Forbes described her as “Africa’s Most Successful Woman”. Needless to say, EbonyLife TV is the executive producer of the highly rated movie; ‘Fifty’ and ‘The Wedding Party’.
Mo Abudu is also the executive producer and host of ‘Moments with Mo’, a TV talk show on African regional television. Her friends and acquaintance describes her as someone who love excellence. No wonder all her movies come out as a big hit and they end up raking in billions of Naira.
This talented woman was born on 11th September, 1964. She is an alumna of Ridgeway School, Midkent College, West Kent College and University of Westminster.
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9. Muyiwa Ademola
Muyiwa Ademola is another great movie producer in Nigeria. Apart from being a producer, he is also a respected actor and director. His movie ‘Ori’ (Fate) won the ‘best indigenous film’ at the 1st Africa Movie Academy
Awards in 2005.
He began his movie career in 1991 and today, he has several Yoruba Nollywood movies to his credit. Some of the movies include ‘Asise’, ‘Ile’, ‘Ami Ayo’, ‘Fimidara Ire’, ‘Alapadupe’ and ‘Iranse Aje’.
Muyiwa was born on 26th January, 1971. He is an alumnus of St David’s High School and University of Ibadan.
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10. A.Y (Ayo Makun)
Actually, A.Y started out as a stand up comedian that always get people cracked up. Although, he’s not been in the movie industry for long, his few years as a producer has gotten him international recognition.
A.Y’s first work as a producer was the movie comedy, ’30 Days in Atlanta’ which was a big hit and raked in millions. After then, he has produced other blockbusters like ‘A Trip to Jamaica’ and ’10 Days in Sun City’.
The award winning comedian is the CEO of Corporate World Entertainment Nigeria. He was born on August 19th 1971 in Warri, Delta State.
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4 thoughts on “Movie Producers In Nigeria Making Impact In The Nollywood Industry”
Please I love acting I wish I can act with you. It’s my passion😭😭😭😭😭
I so much love acting, scripting, but then don’t know how to go through it.
I wanna be a Nollywood film producer, and so how do I start the film business plan.
Thank you for reading.
This resource: https://www.entrepreneurs.ng/film-production-business/ will help you start your own film production company.
Thank you.