Nigeria’s music industry is enjoying unprecedented success across the world.

Stars including Burna Boy, Davido, Tiwa Savage and Wizkid continue to top international music charts and fill stadiums to maximum capacity.

All of this and more have been achieved in an industry that is largely unstructured and receives little to no support from the Nigerian authorities.

filmmaking, entertainment, pan african — Director Dindu, Image: Supplied

“Our creative industry is the country’s major cultural currency yet is also very raw, under resourced and unstructured,” says Nigerian director and artist Adindu Collins via email from his studio in Cape Town. “Just like with most industries in Nigeria, it’s really a miracle how we are able to survive the undercurrents and come out shining on top.”

In a 2022 insight report by a business publication, Sears adjudged the Nigerian Music industry as the second best-performing Entertainment and Media consumer market in the world. It is expected to generate a whopping 73 million dollars as major labels including Sony Music, Universal, EMI and many other music platforms set up local subdivisions on the continent.

Mostly expanding their offerings from records, partnerships and distribution to other technical areas such as licensing, funding and publishing deals.

Born in the Delta state in the country’s south-south region, Collins who is popularly known as Director Dindu joins the pool of young talents who are making a mark on the creative industry through his multi-hyphenate lens.

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For Director Dindu, it’s not just about shooting beautiful videos for music artists. He believes his work is created “to empower other creative voices and spotlight the complex identities in music through my production house, CINEMA House.”

The 31-year-old has created high-quality visuals for DJ Neptune, Joeboy, Victor and Davido yet remains painfully humble about his accolades including the BEATS director of the Year.

From humble beginnings as a student photographer at the University, Dindu credits Taylor Swift’s Wildest Dreams and Micheal Jackson’s Thriller as the spark that ignited his artistic renaissance and transition into filmmaking.

“The video for Taylor Swift's wildest inspired the living daylights out of me. I don't know how to put it but I really love that video and it is one of those videos that made me fall in love with cinematography,” he said

In 2018, he won the Director of the Year at the City People Award kicking off a successful career and affirming his place in the industry.

“It wasn't really filmmaking at first. It was photography but I've always been fascinated by amazing pieces of cinematic works. Even though I never imagined that I was going to make films,” said Dindu.

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An African Renaissance Creative

Dindu who considers himself an “African Renaissance storyteller” wants to use his films to show Africans and the world its capabilities and boundless creativity, especially in a society that places top priority on so-called prestigious fields like “Law and Medicine.”

“You need to tell African stories for Africans first. I do it a lot and I have come to actualize it in my films because it’s easier to sell a product to the audience in the language they understand,” he explained

Through his creative production agency, Cinema House, Dindu explores folklore, aphorisms and local stories to create his films.

“We consciously put out African culture to the world via these music videos,” he said ‘because I think that's the best way we can actually sell our culture, especially in this dispensation where our music is going worldwide,’ he pointed out.

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‘We have to sell the culture and the culture is in the music is that that's just to see just how to make your videos’ he said

In his 2021 video for “BIG THUG BOYS” by Nigerian singer, AV, Dindu created a visual story that appealed to his local audience yet imported other cultural undertones by reimagining Western videos in a local scene. His critics and industry players alike have called it a “hard stroke of artistic genius”

Dindu hopes more creatives will put African stories at the top of their priorities when making art and recognises the power of imagery in positive representations of black people in media.

Nurturing a community of young talents

As his brand continues to grow and his work catches the eye of new audiences, Dindu is also giving back to the community that inspired his creative journey.

Through mentorship programs and internships, he and his team are actively training young directors by impacting them with practical tools. They also offer them platforms to able to tell their stories.

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“We get a lot of messages from upcoming directors in the DMS on Instagram, Facebook and even on WhatsApp,” explains Chris Sowah, one of the members of his team “Some come up to ask for advice and we dish it right there to them on these platforms.”

He hopes to be able to replicate his success in other young directors and build the next generation of African storytellers with a global voice.

“You need to be passionate if you want to be a director and it’s really hard work so we only pick those who are zealous about it,” he said about their rigorous selection process

“We are currently training two students right now at no charge and it brings me joy to be able to see them grow because they remind me of myself from back in the day”

For the general public and content creators, Dindu plans to unleash all his creative knowledge unto Youtube in a series of educative videos on filmmaking, directing and other technical areas in 2023

Nollywood dreams and an AI future

With a creative mind like his and previously commissioned projects with Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video under his arm, Dindu hopes to join the list of celebrated Nollywood directors such as Clarence Peters, Kemi Adetiba, Ishaya Bako and other old vanguards who have held the fort in this $6.4 billion dollar industry.

According to the director, the team is currently filming their first movie project ‘Do or Die’ as a Feature film which will also be released next year.

“It's an in-house project and it’s our first prototype so we are very excited for how it’ll come out,” he added.

filmmaking, entertainment, pan african — Director Dindu, Image: Supplied

As an AI artist, he is excited about the endless possibilities and opportunities it presents for filmmakers on the continent. For him it is mostly about aptly being able to paint exactly what he sees in his head.

“This technology is amazing when it comes to filmmaking,” he said. “Imagine brainstorming for a movie on Africa in a future where we’re highly innovative, technologically advanced and still maintain our culture, traditions and vegetation. You can't find a reference photo for that but this technology makes it possible for you to create it.

“So you punch in keywords and it paints it for you. And most of it is photorealistic. That’s amazing for any filmmaker”

Written By Yaw Tollo