KAP Film & Television Academy’s Maiden Graduation Ceremony: A Great Feat!

KAP Film & Television Academy in association with the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts and Netflix,  launched the 10 Weeks Post-Production Workshop in January

Post Production skills improvement being the program’s aim saw the Academy start off with Advanced Cinema Editing where 10 applicants were shortlisted and awarded scholarship by Netflix.

The 10-Week course has come to an end and for the students, baby steps are becoming giant strides as this is no small feat

This is a great feat for not just the students but also for us at KAP Film & Television Academy because this is our first set of students ever and an actualization of the vision of bringing filmmaking literacy closer to the grassroots

As intended from inception to groom the next crop of filmmakers, Douglas Blush, an award-winning director, producer, editor, writer and cinematographer whose work includes over 150 feature and television projects, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as well as the American Cinema Editors (ACE) took the students through a series of learning that has helped sharpen their skills and prepare their mind for the world ahead.

Our maiden graduation ceremony happened on Monday, 23rd of May, with dignitaries in attendance. 

Femi Odugbemi the founder and CEO of Zuri24 Media was the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony and in his speech did an appraisal of our founder – Kunle Afolayan for his contribution to the film industry and the creative industry at large, thinking beyond himself and creating a thriving environment for the next generation to pursue their career goals in filmmaking and equipping them with knowledge to better their art of filmmaking.

He went on to talk about the importance of pursuing knowledge and how it is essential to the growth of the film industry not just by making the economy better or by recording financial success but by improving the quality of acquired skills and developed habits which eventually leads to self improvement.

Learning was highlighted by the keynote speaker as an unending process that involves unlearning what doesn’t work, relearning what works and learning what isn’t known, it was also highlighted that objectivity is an essential tool that helps during the process of learning. He finally mentioned that “learning means we are keen to expand the boundaries of our storytelling beyond entertainment to also edutainment and elevating the consciousness of our audiences through our stories and the characters we create. Storytelling is too powerful not to be more impactful than only to make our viewers laugh, we can open up their world and challenge their thinking”

Prof Duro Oni was in attendance as the chairman of the day, Prof Ahmed Yerima, Mahmood Alli-Balogun (Chairman Audiovisual Rights Society of Nigeria), Otunba Bolaji Amusan, Kemi Adesoye (screenwriter), Adelaja Adebayo (Editor), Victor Okai (President, Director’s Guild of Nigeria), Tunde Kelani, Tade Ogidan, Tunde Adewale, Tola Odunsi, Hafiz Oyetoro, Prof Sola Fosudo, Dr. Isaac Yekini-Ajenifuja (HOD Department of Theater Arts & Music), Adeyinka Oduniyi (President – Independent Television Production Association of Nigeria), Mrs. Chioma Anokwuru (Nollywood Studies Centre, PAU), Joke Silva, Tunde Adewale (TeeA), and many other dignitaries from Lagos State Ministry and Oyo State were all in attendance.

Having established that Africa is home for untold stories, armed with eyes for details and creativity for storytelling, African stories would find more expressions through these 10 cinematic editors that have been added to the film industry.

We celebrate the dawn of a new era!

Ire!