Niyi Akinmolayan

Niyi Akinmolayan is a Nigerian film-maker, director and media consultant. He is best known for directing the highest grossing Nigerian film of all time, The Wedding Party 2, which starred Banky Wellington, Adesua Etomi and Enyinna Nwigwe; it was a sequel to the equally successful film The Wedding Party (2016).[1] He is the founder and Creative Director of Anthill Productions, a media production facility.

Niyi Akinmolayan
Born (1982-11-03) November 3, 1982
OccupationFilmmaker, Media Consultant
Years active2010–present
Spouse(s)Victoria Akujobi
Websitewww.niyiakinmolayan.com

Early life

Akinmolayan is from Ondo State, South West Nigeria and is of Yoruba descent. He began a degree in engineering at the Yaba College of Technology,[2]

Early career

At the start of his professional career, Akinmolayan worked as a graphic designer, website designer, and as an apprentice to Nollywood filmmakers, during this time, he began to hone his skills in video editing, animations, after effects and visual effects.[2]

His debut film titled Kajola, released in 2010, was an experiment in visual effects,[3] but was panned by film makers and critics alike.[4] Akinmolayan had set up his production company, Anthill Productions in 2008, which provided the visual effects for the movie Kajola.[3]

Later career

In 2014, he directed the Nigerian dance movie Make a Move which starred Ivie Okujaye, Tina Mba, Beverly Naya, Wale Adebayo, Victor Godfery, Helga Sosthenes and Eno Ekpenyong. The movie was nominated for the 2015 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Movie (Drama).[5]

In 2015, Akinmolayan also directed the movies Falling featuring Adesua Etomi, Desmond Elliot and Blossom Chukwujekwu, and Out of Luck which featured Linda Ejiofor, Tope Tedela and Jide Kosoko. The film went on to earn Akinmolayan a nomination for Best Director at the 2016 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and lead actress Adesua Etomi, won the award for Best Actress at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for her role in Falling.

In December 2016, Akinmolayan released a short film titled PlayThing a 3D animated movie, which was premiered at the FilmOne IMAX cinema in Lagos to rave reviews.[6]

In 2017, his movie The Arbitration featuring O.C Ukeje and Adesua Etomi was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.[7] Following the success of The Arbitration, Akinmolayan began a competition on his blog for prospective writers, receiving over 300 entries, it led to the production of the short film Room 315.[8]

In 2017, due to the successful reception of Plaything, Akinmolayan produced an animated series in collaboration with FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, titled "Adventures of Lola and Chuchu".[9]

Filmography

Selected Filmography

YearTitleMajor CastRoleNotes
2010KajolaKeira Hewatch, Desmond Elliot, Adonijah OwiriwaDirectorFeature Film
2014Make a MoveIvie Okujaye, Tina Mba, Beverly Naya, Wale Adebayo, Victor Godfery, Helga Sosthenes and Eno EkpenyongDirectorFeature Film nominated for the 2015 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Movie (Drama)
2015FallingAdesua Etomi, Desmond Elliot and Blossom ChukwujekwuDirectorFeature Film
2016PlaythingExecutive Producer3D animated Short film
2017The ArbitrationOC Ukeje, Adesua Etomi, Iretiola Doyle and Somkele IyamahDirectorFeature Film, available on Netflix
2017The Wedding Party 2Banky Wellington, Adesua Etomi, Iretiola Doyle, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Patience Ozokwor, Enyinna NwigweDirectorFeature Film
2017Adventures of Lola and ChuchuDirector3D animated series - 13 episodes
2018Chief DaddyTaiwo Obileye, Joke Silva, Rachel Oniga and Funke AkindeleDirectorFeature film
2019The Set UpAdesua Etomi, Kehinde Bankole, Joke Silva, Jim Iyke, Dakore Egbuson, Tina MbaDirectorFeature Film
2019Elevator BabyToyin Abraham, Timini Egbuson, Yemi Solade, Sambasa Nzeribe, Broda ShaggiExecutive ProducerFeature Film
gollark: Spreadsheets probably did a lot for slightly-financey office work.
gollark: That seems implausible, what are you defining as office work?
gollark: IIRC old AI research did that, but it didn't work very well and the "throw tons of compute at it" approach is much more effective.
gollark: It would be incredibly slow, but technically not *impossible*.
gollark: I meant with a USB SSD or something, the Pi 4 has USB 3.

References
  1. Animashaun, Damilola (2018-01-23). "'The Wedding Party 2' Is Now The Highest-Grossing Nollywood Film Ever". Konbini Nigeria. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  2. Anazia, Daniel (2016-03-19). "From kajola to make a move, Akinmolayan breathes out of luck". Guardian Newspaper Nigeria. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  3. Pedro, Uche (2010-06-29). "So 2059! Nigerian Cinema goes Sci-Fi as futuristic movie KAJOLA gets set to premiere in July". BellaNaija. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  4. Alero, Otuama (2010-08-08). "Cinemas pull the plug on Kajola". Nigeriang.com. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  5. "AMVCA winners announced". Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  6. Orubo, Daniel (2017-04-04). "Watch 'Plaything' – The Best Animated Nigerian Film We've Ever Seen". Konibi. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  7. Kaura, Istifanus (2017-11-11). "These Nigerian Directors Are Winning At The Film Africa Festival". Konibi. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  8. Orubo, Daniel (2016-03-11). "Lights, Camera, Action: Niyi Akinmolayan On Set For 'Room 315'". Channels Television. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  9. Izuzu, Chimduga (2017-09-30). "Watch episode 1 of Nigerian animated series". PulseNG. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
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