Ten students, who went through a 10-week intensive training on post-production techniques, have graduated from Kunle Afolayan Production (KAP) Film and Television Academy.
The Diploma course is a partnership programme with University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) and global streaming platform, Netflix to impart knowledge to improve the skill of young filmmakers, and by extension, improve the overall production quality of films from the local film industry.
Toye Peter, Ifeanyi Passion, Todumu Adegoke, Adesuwa Omon, Ugbede Peter, Oyinbra Fegha, Emeka Egbueui, Unyime Patrick, Temitope Folarin
and Candace John-Jumbo were awarded Diploma in post-production editing (Picture Cropping, Editing and Sound Design). The tuition-free course was estimated to be in the margin of N500,000.
The KAP-USC programme, which focuses on post-production, is the brainchild of acclaimed filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan. According to hm, the scheme was his responsibility to the next generation of filmmakers, as he is passing the torch to them to replicate greatness in film making than what has been achieved so far. The programme is the successor to his earlier venture to educate filmmakers leveraging the Internet: Film Masterclass with Kunle Afolayan, a web series masterclass he conceived three years ago.
“I hate to say that there was no structure; there was a structure. But you cannot compare it to structures in other places around the world.
“Despite not having those structures from other places, we are still able to do stuff. Our films are now going international. One of the reasons I thought it was necessary to start a training programme was that we can impact and build a new generation of filmmakers in our own little way. A lot of people can’t afford these courses, but thank God for technology, it is changing how things are done,” he stated.
The ceremony’s keynote address delivered by award-winning writer and producer, Femi Odugbemi highlighted the importance of institutional training for the sustainability of the film industry.
“Just a decade ago, there were less than 10 training programmes available in the country, today, there are dozens.
“So, there is general agreement that the quality of the product needs to improve and that the opportunities of international exposure and distribution will come only with a certain commitment to global best practices and technical quality and artistic exploration,” he said.
Afolayan, however, noted that for such programmes to bear more fruits, film professionals must be willing to “esteem the learning experience as critical, not just in the economic world, but to their personal growth as artists and as storytellers.”
The convocation ceremony, which took place at KAP Hub, Ikeja, Lagos, played host to several Nollywood filmmakers and creatives including Tunde Kelani, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Joke Silva, Duro Oni, Tola Odunsi and Babatunde Adewale.