Without screenwriters, there will be no stories made into film. The growth of Nollywood over the years is largely due to improvements in storytelling and other technical aspects of production. From developing an idea to creating plausible scenarios and building characters, Nollywood screenwriters lay the foundation for our stories in film and television, positioning the […]
5 months ago
Without screenwriters, there will be no stories made into film. The growth of Nollywood over the years is largely due to improvements in storytelling and other technical aspects of production. From developing an idea to creating plausible scenarios and building characters, Nollywood screenwriters lay the foundation for our stories in film and television, positioning the industry for global relevance.
Here are six Nollywood screenwriters who have made a name for themselves in the film industry.
Tunde Babalola
With over two decades of experience in the British and Nigerian film industries, Tunde Babalola is one of the finest storytellers in Nollywood. He began his career in the critically acclaimed UK sitcom play In Exile. He also brought to life his writing skills in comedy and drama while working on the UK network police drama series The Bill from 1996 to 2001. The British-Nigerian screenwriter has worked closely with filmmakers like Kunle Afolayan and is noted for scripting popular movies such as Maami (2011), Last Flight To Abuja (2012), Alero’s Sympathy (2011), October 1 (2014), Mokalik (2019), Citation (2020), La Femme Anjola (2021) and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (2024). Babalola is a multiple Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) winner, which includes recognition for the Bolanle Austen Peters’ film Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
Kemi Adesoye
Initially trained as an architect, Kemi Adesoye ventured into screenwriting after discovering a book on screenwriting in a university library. After acquiring formal training at the New York Film Academy, she began scripting different productions and established herself as one of Nigeria’s foremost screenwriters of the present generation. She is best known for writing Kunle Afolayan’s 2009 suspense thriller film The Figurine, a production considered instrumental to the rise of New Nollywood. Her screenwriting oeuvre includes critically acclaimed films like Phone Swap (2012), Fifty (2015) Omugwo (2017), and Glamour Girls (2022) as well as popular television shows like MTV Shuga and Tinsel.
Shola Dada
An award-winning curator and frequent collaborator of Kunle Afolayan, Shola Dada is known for The Bridge (2017), Roti (2017), and Anikulapo (2022). Anikulapo won him the 2023 AMVCA prize for Best Writer in A Movie. Shola Dada also scripted Man of God (2022), a film produced and directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters. In 2023, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, popularly called the Oscars, welcomed her alongside other compatriots and sterling creatives, Kunle Afolayan, Richard Mofe-Damijo, C. J. Obasi and Jadesola Osiberu as voting members of the organization.
Nkiru Njoku
Nkiru Njoku’s writing career of over fifteen years took off in Nigeria where she was domiciled before relocating to England in 2018. She started with Tinsel as head writer, became story editor, and then was the show’s lead writer, working on over 2000 episodes. The M-Net/Africa Magic soap opera which began airing in 2008 is now considered the longest-running Nigerian television drama and one of the most successful Nigerian shows in recent times. Njoku also worked on MTV Base’s Shuga Naija, particularly with Tunde Aladesee as head writer of the lockdown edition titled MTV Shuga Alone Together.
Dami Elebe
Dami Elebe is one of Nigeria’s leading female scriptwriters of the current generation. She started as an on-air personality, working at Classic FM, Beat FM, and Naija FM. Also a director and filmmaker, the talented scriptwriter is one of the brains behind the scripts for series like Ndani TV’s Skinny Girl In Transit (2015-present) and Rumor Has It (2016-2021), Red TV’s The Men’s Club (2018-present), and the first Nigerian Young Adult Netflix Original series, Far From Home (2022). She is also the head writer for the second season of the AMVCA-nominated series Flawsome.
Collins Okoh
Before 2019, Collins Okoh wrote stories purely for his Facebook audience. His screenwriting adventure began after he was introduced to Nollywood filmmaker Funke Akindele with whom he worked on a couple of projects, including co-writing the third most commercially successful Nollywood film at the domestic box office, Omo Ghetto: The Saga (2020). He also wrote the Prime Video series SHE Must Be Obeyed (2023) and co-wrote Nollywood’s highest-grossing film of all time, A Tribe Called Judah (2023), with both produced by Funke Akindele. Due to the immense success of the projects he worked on, Okoh enjoys a reputation as the go-to screenwriter for commercial breakthroughs in the Nollywood comedy-drama genre.
