The first batch of certified apprentices and affiliates from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) of the Kunle Afolayan Production (KAP) Academy of Film and Television will graduate on Monday.
Founded by award-winning filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, the KAP Academy, in partnership with USC and streaming giant Netflix, has run the show in post-production, the first in a series of training workshops in Africa.
Scheduled to be held at KAP Hub, Ikeja, Lagos, the Academy has announced that distinguished scholar and cultural guru, Duro Oni, a professor will be the chairman.
Award-winning writer, producer/director and photographer Femi Odugbemi will deliver the keynote address.
Also expected at the event are former Director General of the National Theatre, Ahmed Yerima and President of the Nigerian Audiovisual Rights Society, and Mahmoud Ali-Balogun, among other stakeholders from the creative industry.
Speaking about the event, Afolayan said that he is optimistic that the Nigerian film industry is about to witness a change with professionals who will take the film industry to higher ground.
The Academy stated that the graduates are film editors with prior experience who now have a global career mindset.
Process
The ten-week course featured world-renowned facilitators like Douglas Blush, Stephen Flick and Richard Burton, led by the Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
Afolayan said gradients have armed themselves with the knowledge and skills necessary for new forms of post-production techniques, including image cropping, editing, and sound design.
He said: “It has been amazing working with the Netflix team to produce dynamic Nigerian films. It’s only going to get better now that we’re partnering with Netflix and USC to train the new crop of movie post-production experts. These editors and sound designers will continue to craft Nigerian stories at a world-class level.”
Speaking about 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’s partnerships with USC and KAP in Nigeria will help close the skills gap, enhance the experienced crew and improve diversity head-on.
USC School of Motion Picture Arts Director of International Programs Rachel Gandin Mark said that for more than 90 years, the USC School of Motion Picture Arts has trained Hollywood’s best picture and sound editors.
She said: Thanks to this exciting partnership with Netflix and the Kunle Afolayan KAP Academy in Lagos, our world-class, award-winning faculty Douglas Blush, Stephen Flick and Richard Burton will bring their expertise to help train the next generation of Nigerian film storytellers.”
The USC School of Cinematic Arts is one of the worlds most prestigious for studying all facets of the cinematic arts. Notable alumni include; Hwang Dong-Hyuk, creator of the game Squid; Jon Chu, director of “Of Crazy Rich Asians”; Shonda Rhimes, creator and showrunner of “Grey’s Anatomy”.