Niyi Akinmolayan
Niyi Akinmolayan is a Nigerian filmmaker and director Known for his work in both blockbuster and independent films, He directed The Wedding Party 2 (2017) Chief Daddy (2018), Prophetess (2021), My Village People (2021), The Set Up (2019), and Lisabi: The Uprising (2024). He is the founder of Anthill Studios, a media production facility. In January 2022, Anthill Studios signed an agreement with Amazon Prime Video to stream Anthill's films globally following their theatrical releases in Nigeria.
Quotes
[edit]- if someone is financing a production from Hollywood with millions of dollars and they are hoping to sell to an international market, they are going to rework the story to their taste.
- [1]Akinmolayan said on Channels Television’s Sunrise.
- To really be genuinely authentic and at scale is going to require more than just goodwill. It will require funding, structure, and distribution. Those are strong things that we haven’t quite figured out yet.
- In cinemas, we know that Hollywood films don’t even need marketiNg. Nigerians will watch them. So it’s easy to say ‘Let’s be authentic,’ but the audience wants more beyond that. That’s really where the challenge is.
- Actors… I know you all need money. But please stop signing contracts that tell you not to promote other films you are in. Nollywood is not that rich (Far from it), and you are worth more… you are a part of the necessary ingredients for growth in the industry. Don’t stifle yourself.
- filmmaking is not something you can just learn in a set of training. It is an apprenticeship profession, anywhere in the world.
- There are no real gatekeepers in Nollywood because there are no gates. It’s just money or the lack of it. As long as you want to or have made a film and are ready to spend money on its release, no gates anywhere. You don’t have money. Like everything else in Nigeria.
