One of Nollywood’s most successful producers finds time to hone her filmmaking skills while steering multiple projects
Mo Abudu, executive producer of Fifty and The Wedding Party, recently completed an intensive 3-week course for directors at the London Film School.
Coming in the midst of a whirlwind period of production and promotion of two movies, The Wedding Party 2 (with the ELFIKE Film Collective) and The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, the passionate creative was determined to carve out time for learning. “This is an incredibly busy year at EbonyLife, with several series launches on our TV channel, two new films and several other projects in pre-production. However, I felt that it was really important to continue my growth as a filmmaker, with a view to directing my first feature in the near future.”
The course explored the fundamentals of filmmaking from script to screen, and is based on an exercise originally devised by FAMU, the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. According to Ms. Abudu, “The course was very practical and covered scriptwriting, visual language, choosing locations, working with actors, shooting, editing and post production. One critical area of learning for me was mise-en-scène – the arrangement of everything that appears in the frame – actors, lighting, décor, props and costumes.”
Mo Abudu gets behind the camera to direct filming of her short story, written while on the course.
“Luckily, we had a great course leader, Udayan Prasad, the director of The Yellow Handkerchief (2008), a critically acclaimed independent film, starring Oscar-winner William Hurt, which was a remake of a Japanese classic of the same name. One of Udayan’s favourite sayings is, ‘It all begins and ends with the story’, something that I truly believe in,” says Mo Abudu.
With a slate of new movie releases scheduled for 2018-19, Mo can’t wait to get started. “I have learned so much over the last few weeks and I am really looking forward to putting all of it into practice very soon.”
The world premiere of The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (RHH) takes place on Saturday, 9th September 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Executive Producer, Mo Abudu will be joined by Director, Ishaya Bako and the cast, including Zainab Balogun, Kenneth Okolie, Rachel Oniga, Jide Kosoko, Deyemi Okanlawon, OC Ukejie, Lala Akindoju and Toni Tones. RHH has been highlighted by TIFF as a ‘Hidden Gem’, a film worth viewing by audiences at the festival.
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