On Monday, the first set of trainees and certified affiliates of the School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) at the University of Southern California (USC) from Kunle Afolayan Production (KAP) Film and Television Academy will graduate.
Founded by award-winning filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, the KAP Academy, in partnership with USC and content streaming giant, Netflix, has executed the programme in post-production – the first in a series of training workshops in Africa.
Scheduled to hold at KAP Hub, Ikeja, Lagos, the Academy has announced that cultural guru and distinguished scholar, Duro Oni, a professor will be chairman.
The award-winning writer, Producer/Director and photographer Femi Odugbemi will deliver the keynote address.
Also expected at the event are former D.G of National Theatre, Ahmed Yerima and Chairman, Audio- Visual Rights Society of Nigeria, and Mahmoud Ali-Balogun, among other creative industry stakeholders.
Speaking about the event, Afolayan said he is optimistic that the Nigerian film industry is about to witness a turnaround with professionals who will take the film industry to higher grounds.
The Academy stated that the graduates are film editors with previous experience who now have a global professional mindset.
Process
The course, which ran for ten weeks, had world-renowned facilitators like Douglas Blush, Stephen Flick and Richard Burton led by the School of Cinematic Arts at Southern California.
Afolayan said the gradients have been armed with the required knowledge and skills for the new forms of post-production techniques, including Picture Cropping, Editing and Sound Design.
He said: “It has been amazing working with the Netflix team to produce dynamic Nigerian films. It will only get better now that we partner 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.”
Speaking on the partnership, Allison Triegaardt, Netflix Grow Creative Manager for Africa, said the number of productions is important for African stories to meet the growing demand for quality storytelling.
He added that Grow Creative partnerships with USC and KAP in Nigeria will help bridge the skills gap, upskill experienced crew and improve diversity head-on.
Director of International Programs for the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Rachel Gandin Mark, said for over 90 years, the USC School of Cinematic Arts has trained Hollywood’s top picture and sound editors.
She said: Thanks to this exciting partnership with Netflix and Kunle Afolayan’s KAP Academy in Lagos, our world-class and award-winning faculty, Douglas Blush, Stephen Flick and Richard Burton, will bring their expertise in helping to train the next generation of Nigerian cinematic storytellers.”
The USC School of Cinematic Arts is one of the most prestigious worlds to study all facets of the cinematic arts. Notable alumni include; Hwang Dong-Hyuk, creator of Squid game; Jon Chu, director “Of Crazy Rich Asians”; Shonda Rhimes, creator and showrunner of “Grey’s Anatomy”.
Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
TEXT AD: Call Willie - +2348098788999
![The headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) is pictured in Geneva [Photo Credit: VOANEWS]](https://i2.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2017/09/WHO.jpg?resize=75%2C75&ssl=1)
