Kunle Afolayan

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Kunle Afolayan
Kunle Afolayan.jpg
Afolayan at the 2014 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards
Born (1974-09-30) 30 September 1974 (age 46)[1]
Ebute Metta, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
CitizenshipNigerian
OccupationActor, Director, Producer
Spouse(s)Tolu Afolayan
Children4
Parent(s)Adeyemi Josiah Afolayan (Ade Love - father)
RelativesMoji Afolayan (sister)
Gabriel Afolayan (brother)
Aremu Afolayan (brother)

Kunle Afolayan (born 30 September 1974)[2] is a Nigerian actor, film producer and director.

Early life and career[]

Afolayan is of Igbomina-Yoruba descent, from Kwara State.[3][4][5] He is the son of the theatre and film director Ade Love. He majored in economics and started out working in a bank while doing some casual acting, before deciding to move into full-time filmmaking and taking a course at the New York Film Academy.[5] Since 2005 he has been active in the Nigerian film industry. He has made several films including: The Figurine: Araromire which was in the Yoruba and English languages and Phone Swap which featured Wale Ojo, Joke Silva, Nse Ikpe Etim and Chika Okpala. The Figurine won five major awards in the African Film Academy and was successful in Nigerian movie theaters.[4]

Afolayan appeared at the Subversive Film Festival in 2011 where he represented the Nigerian film industry[6] with his colleague Zeb Ejiro.[4] In May 2013, Phone Swap premiered in France at the first edition of NollywoodWeek Paris and won the Public Choice Award.[7]

Personal life[]

Afolayan is married to Tolu and they have four children.[8][9] He identifies as a Free-thinker.[10]

The filmmaker struck a deal with Netflix in 2021 to make three feature films, including a screen adaptation of Sefi Atta's book SWALLOW. He and the writer penned the script which reportedly has a major twist from the original story. The movie revolves around a woman who begins to consider going into drug trafficking in mid-'80s Lagos. [11]

Controversy[]

On 6 April 2015, Afolayan posted a tweet which implied that Igbos were the majority group behind copyright infringement in Nigeria. The backlash from fans led to an apology from Afolayan and an explanation that he was concerned about the piracy of his films, and most especially threats on the potential release of unlicensed copies of October 1, his latest film at the time.[12][13] Shortly after his outburst, pirated copies of October 1 hit the market on 13 April 2015.[14]

In an interview with Cable magazine,[15] Afolayan was quoted as saying he does not watch Nigerian movies; ″Truth be told, I hardly watch them because I am keen on watching movies that will challenge me and change my orientation about certain things.″ and this led to him receiving several heated responses from fans and some colleagues in the Nigerian movie industry.[16] Days after this News broke, Afolayan shared a video on social media where he announced that he had been taken out of context and then tried to set the record straight[17]

Golden Effects Pictures[]

Afolayan is the CEO of Golden Effects Pictures, a Nigerian film and production company incorporated in 2005. [18][19] Ambassador Audu Kadiri, Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) office in Geneva said, "the acclaimed producer came to limelight as a film producer in Nigeria when he founded the Golden Effect Pictures Limited, a film production company that produces and releases high-quality films."[20] The company's feature films include Irapada, The Figurine, Phone Swap,[21] October 1, Roti, Omugwo, , The CEO and Mokalik.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ "Its Kunle Afolayan's birthday". The Nation. Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Celebrity Birthday: Kunle Afolayan Celebrates New Year". Information Nigeria. 30 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-10-25. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  3. ^ Akande, Victor (22 December 2012). "Kunle Afolayan on the trail of Yoruba deities". The Nation. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "'Mi smo nova filmska revolucija'". www.tportal.hr. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "234Next.com". Archived from the original on 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  6. ^ "Nollywood rivals Bollywood in film/video production". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  7. ^ "NollywoodWeek Paris". nollywoodweek.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  8. ^ "Kunle Afolayan: "Does our Government consider Us worthy Citizens of Nigeria?"". bellanaija.com. 8 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  9. ^ "I work too hard but i'm still a tenant" – Kunle Afolayan to relocate from Nigeria". dailypost.ng. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Dad didn't encourage his children to act -Kunle Afolayan". Ilorin Info. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Kunle Afolayan Reveals Upcoming Movie Projects Wit".
  12. ^ Chidumga Izuzu (9 April 2015). "Kunle Afolayan on controversial tweets: "I was not aware of the Oba's comment, I was just bitter" [Video]". pulse.ng. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  13. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: "I Was Just Bitter", Kunle Afolayan On His 'Igbo' Tweets - Channels Television". Channels Television. Archived from the original on 2015-04-11. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  14. ^ ""Pirated copies of October 1 film now released, please don't buy"". Pulse Nigeria. 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  15. ^ "INTERVIEW: Why I enrolled my son in a mechanic workshop, by Kunle Afolayan". thecable.ng. 15 September 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-12-04. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  16. ^ "Egor Efiok slams Kunle Afolayan over comment of not watching Nollywood movies". Nigeria News - Laila's Blog. 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-10-28. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  17. ^ says, Stefanie (17 September 2018). "Kunle Afolayan Debunks Nollywood Film Rumour". P.M. News. Archived from the original on 2018-10-28. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b "The CEO: Kunle Afolayan unveils cast of multi-lingual movie". The Nation. August 29, 2015. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  19. ^ "NET Special: 2014 Most influential people in entertainment". Nigerian Entertainment Today. 2014-11-17. Archived from the original on 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  20. ^ Nigeria, News Agency of (2017-11-19). "Nollywood powerful tool for "soft" diplomacy – Audu Kadiri". TODAY.NG. Archived from the original on 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  21. ^ "His New Movie "Phone Swap" Beat Hollywood Blockbusters in Nigerian Cinemas: Find Out How Award Winning Filmmaker Kunle Afolayan Did It!". BellaNaija. 2012-04-19. Archived from the original on 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
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