KAP Film & Television Academy Kicks Off With First Batch Of Students Courtesy Netflix Scholarship.

Kunle Afolayan Productions (KAP) Film & Television Academy, USC School Of Cinematic Arts and Netflix have partnered for a series of training workshops for the creative industry in Africa. The first in the series of talent development initiatives is a post production training programme.

The workshop kicked off on Wednesday, 9th of March, 2022, at KAP Film & Television Academy.

Allison Triegaardt, Netflix’s Grow Creative Manager for Africa says “Africa is a hugely important region for Netflix and as we grow the number of productions is important for African stories to be able to meet the growing demand for quality storytelling. Our Grow Creative partnerships like the one with USC and KAP in Nigeria will help bridge the skills gap and upskill experienced crew. This will also ensure an even stronger diversity of voices, stories and points of view for our global audience.”

The post-production training program is one aimed at polishing the skills of film editors and broadening the horizon of their knowledge.

It’ll focus on modern concepts of storytelling through the power of editing – the philosophy of what shots to use, what flow a scene should have, and the tone of the film created by the editor’s choices. This will be an exciting, hands-on seminar with lots of student participation and editing.

1. Some specific elements they’ll explore are:

2. The energy and arc of a scene

3. Interpreting the script for the edit

4. Character development and dominance in a scene – “whose scene is it?”

5. Action vs reaction and how those choices affect the story

6. Use of basic sound design and temp music to enhance the editor’s cut (the separate audio seminar will go into much deeper detail)

7. How to give and receive useful critique notes, and make changes while working successfully with directors and producers”

This program will be led by world-renowned editor, Douglas Blush from USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Doug Blush is 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) will be taking the students through the program.

The USC School of Cinematic Arts is one of the most prestigious schools in the world for the study of all facets of the cinematic arts. Notable alumni include: Hwang Dong-Hyuk creator of Squid game; Jon Chu director “Crazy, Rich Asians”; Shonda Rhimes, creator and showrunner of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “Bridgerton,” Ryan Coogler, director of “Black Panther;” George Lucas, creator of “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” George Lucas,” and Ron Howard, director of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

10 students were shortlisted for this program and In the vein of being committed to growing the next crop of editors in Africa, NETFLIX has made it easy for them to get the tools for their success.

The shortlisted students are:

• Emeka Egbelu
• Adesuwa Omon
• Ifeanyi Passion
• Ugbede Atabo Peter
• Unyime Patrick
• Candace John-Jumbo
• Toye Peters Ogunjomo
• Oyinbra Fegha 
• Temitope Folarin
• Todimu Adegoke

The program will run for the next 10 weeks, after which they will receive certification from USC School of Cinematic Arts and KAP Film & Television Academy.

In Kunle Afolayan’s words, “It has been amazing working with the Netflix team to produce dynamic Nigerian films, and it will only get better now that we are partnering with Netflix and USC to train the newest crop of film post-production experts. These editors and sound designers will go on to craft Nigerian stories on a world-class level.”

The Nigerian film industry is about to witness a turn around in the availability of more professionals who will take the industry on to the next level.

Below are some images from the Academy’s launch

Ire.