My Life In Nollywood: Maryam Ndukwe 

Every week, The Culture Custodian grants you an all-access backstage pass into the lives of Nollywood rock stars. You get to learn about their fascinating backgrounds, the behind-the-scenes stories, and more. This episode features make-up and special effects artist, Maryam Ndukwe.

Maryam Ndukwe is fuelled by ambition, a trait she describes as hereditary. Growing up in a calm neighbourhood, she was blessed with a father that expressed faith in his children’s ability to make an impact in their respective endeavours. She began showing signs of creativity from her elementary school days where she participated in dancing, drama, choreography, and was always eager to represent her school at events and competitions. As a child, she initially nursed the thought of being a professional dancer, but later decided to become a lawyer. After secondary education, she gained admission into Lagos State University where she earned a degree in Political Science. With her political knowledge, she felt that she could venture into politics while still retaining the chance to transition into law whenever she wanted to do so.

Life after school, however, unfolded differently from what Ndukwe earlier envisaged. Led by her creative guts, she decided to pursue make-up artistry so she could be involved in transforming people’s looks and imbuing them with confidence. In 2008, she underwent makeup training at Sharon Signatures, and took other masterclasses afterwards. With every training, hands-on experience and a relentless desire for excellence, she grew in leaps and bounds, from bagging jobs in theatre, fashion shows and music videos to becoming a go-to makeup and special effects artist in Nollywood. In 2023, she won the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards category for Best Make-up Artist in recognition of her excellence on Shanty Town, a Netflix crime thriller series directed by Dimeji Ajibola.

In a career spanning seventeen years, Ndukwe has collaborated with different filmmakers and production houses across film and television, including popular domestic platforms like Rok Studios, Ibaka TV and Africa Magic. Her works include Happy Endings (2018), Space Out (2020), Laura’s Bubble (2022), Burn (2022), The Silent Intruder (2024), Onye Egwu (2024), The Party (2025)—a recently released three-part Netflix whodunnit series, The Sixth Sense (2025) which is an official selection for the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF 2025), and Hakeem Seeking Justice (2025) which will be available in the cinemas from this August.

This interview with Maryam Ndukwe has been edited for clarity.

What inspired you to become a makeup and special effects artist?

I started makeup in 2008. At first, I was just a normal beauty make-up artist for music videos, pageants, theatre, and I also did home service. This is how I got the opportunity to work in film. But getting into Nollywood soon made me realize most of our make-up here does not match up with standards of international filmmaking. Seeing how makeup and special effects are done in those foreign films further inspired me. As such, I am always driven to match that energy.

Considering your admiration for global standards, can you mention international makeup and special effects artists whose work has influenced you?

Mike Clency and Norma Patton Lowin.

What was your first Nollywood project?

It was a series titled the Kuti Career Palace directed by Rotimi Salami. I don’t know if it was eventually released because, back then, he was having issues putting it out on television. I did another project with him whose title I cannot remember.

In Nollywood today, we have a few other names that stand out in your department, one of which is Hakeem Effects. How do you relate and connect with your colleagues, particularly contemporaries, in the industry?

I have never been a fan of Nigerian makeup and special effects artists. They are all good, creative and amazing in their own kind, but I have never really seen them as people I seek inspiration from. Actually, I started noticing them recently. I met and got to work with Hakeem Effects for the first time in 2018/19. I was the makeup artist and he did the SFX on a project titled House On The Hills, filmed in Abeokuta and directed by Ikechukwu Emeka. I like how we are growing in the industry, but, like I said earlier, I have people from the international scene whose standards of filmmaking I admire and look up to. I just wish we could get more support from our stakeholders and government here, just like they do over there. Here, filmmaking is more of a personal race.

A previous interview reveals you are a member of the Creative Design Guild of Nigeria. How has the association impacted your career?

I had that interview while I was still in the association. The association has not impacted me in any way that I am aware of. As it stands, I am no longer a member because I realized they were not growing. If an organization is growing, you will see the changes. For instance, we paid dues to a platform that does not even understand their responsibilities. We have a lot of people out there getting bigger gigs without being a member of the association. What, then, is the benefit of the platform if it cannot help you secure jobs or enforce laws that will position members for opportunities? if it cannot make producers prioritise the guild’s members over non-members? The guild lacks a stronghold, and cannot even give account of its own members.

How do you source for your materials and resources with which you work as a creative?

We don’t have enough markets where we can get our products. We have only a few people who take it upon themselves to connect with those abroad and order materials that we need here. It might seem like they are helping the industry but these people also see that as an opportunity to exploit other makeup and special effects artists in need of the materials. Because it’s few people that can get those materials, you don’t have a choice but to pay whatever amount they charge you to get what you need.

How did it feel at the time you won the 2023 AMVCA Best Makeup Artist award for your work on Shanty Town?

It was a glorious moment for me. I credit my win to God, who is the pillar of my creativity and without whom I am nothing. After the moment, a lot of people said in my comments section that the award was long overdue. What they don’t realize is, for people like us, it’s not easy to get a film that can make it to the nominations. Besides, that moment was one I had dreamt of as far back as 2017 when I was only doing SFX on a very small scale. In 2017, I had attended an AMVCA event at the Eko Hotel to do make-up for an actor, and stumbled on Judith Audu, a lady I had worked with, when I was about to leave. We met at the parking lot when she was rushing into the event centre. After exchanging pleasantries, I asked her what it took to become an award nominee, to which she responded that it required going an extra mile in my make-up craft. As of then, I was doing make-up for platforms like Iroko TV, Ibaka TV and Africa Magic, with only two major cinema titles—including I Come Lagos directed by Elvis Chuks—to my credit. That same day, in the parking lot, I made up my mind to up my game and prayed to God for the right opportunities that would enable me to showcase my talent. I didn’t realize when tears flowed down my face as I told God I wanted to be a winner, not just a nominee. A few years later, when I stood on the podium to receive the award and deliver my speech, I gave God the glory first and thanked my husband who was right beside me. I appreciate the AMVCA for recognizing genuine talent without bias.

Can you describe your efforts on Shanty Town, from being contacted for the project to aligning with director Dimeji Ajibola’s vision?

It was one lovely afternoon when I got a call from Chichi Nworah, the producer, informing me about a gig for a project she wanted to film in Awka-Ibom. At first, I was doubtful. But when she sent me the script, I found it awesome and gave my consent. Initially, she wanted me to do both make-up and hair, but we eventually agreed for me to focus solely on the glam, including parts of the SFX, while someone else handled hair. Speaking with Mr Dimeji, the director for the first time, he shared his creative ideas, requested our plan as a department and told us he wanted something beyond the regular make-up in the Nigerian film industry. That prompted me to conduct a lot of research, including revisiting several international old movies and checking out slum looks in other countries. Pinterest was one of my best resources at the time. I communicated with my sister and my husband, who was then my fiance, getting them involved in the research process. I put my files of ideas together and sent them to the director when they were ready, and he was impressed. While preparing for the production, I travelled to Abuja where my fiance was staying at the time for a certain product because it wasn’t available in Lagos. Even still, I couldn’t find it in the stores around, and we had to order it from abroad. When it was time to work, I formed a team of professional assistants, ensuring to pick the right hands that were best suited for the project. We also faced challenges from some actors that we had to convince about applying certain products on them to give them the looks we wanted. I took on a number of responsibilities at a time—working on the background actors, particularly the shanty girls, constantly checking in with the art department, maintaining frequent communication with the director. Sometimes, I had to leave the camp earlier and drive with the production car to the hotel of Madam Sola Sobowale so that I could make her up there before she went on set. Then, there’s a scene in the series when a certain guy, seen around the younger Scar, emerges from the water looking ridiculous. The looks were a creative idea I had generated and modelled after Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator, to depict a heartless person. Above all, working on Shanty Town felt like the right moment for me to showcase the best of creativity, and I had to give everything to make that happen.

What were some notable moments from working on The Party, the Netflix series directed by Yemi Morafa?

It was like me working with a set of people I had worked with before, particularly the crew. The experience was challenging and interesting at the same time. In the series, to achieve that scene where Shaffy Bello’s character was in tears, I didn’t rely on the actor’s professional ability to cry. Instead, I had to make it easier by applying a product on her face to convey that impression. Another effort of mine is in the scene where Bobo, played by Kunle Remi, bleeds through his nostrils. Usually, for such a scene, the average makeup/SFX artist would put some blood in the actor’s nose to produce the effect of blood gushing out immediately after receiving the blow. But I knew nose bleeding wasn’t always like that and had to think differently to create the gradual appearance of blood. For me, it was about paying attention to the little details. Then, there’s the James Gardner character who betrayed Bobo, whose cut in the hand I made not to appear too obvious. That’s because we could not afford to have a full-blown cut that would distract the audience from understanding what the scene is actually about. I didn’t want to replicate most of the SFX I have seen in Nollywood where the effect diverts people’s attention from the story and its impact. The reception scene in the series was shot for about two weeks, and keeping up with the continuity looks there was challenging.

As the CEO of Classic Makeova, what is your vision for the brand and how do you bring together a team of like-minded creatives?

Classic Makeova is a brand that is into the details, not just basics of the craft. And I cannot achieve great work without a team of great people around me. When I choose my assistants, I don’t just look out for people that are desperate for money. I need people with the same vision and zeal as I have, people that can work without getting distracted. I like to leave a mark to everything I do, so that in the next five or ten years, I can look back and remain proud of my work.

How do you decide the budget for makeup on a project?

The story generally determines the budget. For instance, a story that has wealthy sophisticated characters with massive use of prosthetics will naturally require a cinema budget, not the budget for an Africa Magic or Iroko TV production. Sometimes, it’s not really about the budget. I still have to do good work even when the budget is not big because you never can tell how far the film would go. In the past, I have done some jobs that did not pay well, but those jobs brought me better opportunities.

Are there any trends in makeup or special effects that excite you and that you plan to incorporate into your work?

Artificial intelligence is deeply integrated into today’s entertainment industry. Recently, while browsing a page, I noticed the transformation of an actor’s appearance, including their hair. For example, to make Wale Ojo resemble Uzor Arukwe, a typical Nigerian makeup artist might use a pencil or contour palette, apply foundation, add beards, and use a wig or reshape the actor’s hair to alter their look. However, this isn’t the most effective approach. The professional method involves a detailed study of subtle facial differences—such as head and nose shapes, beard lines, skin tone, and hairlines. After this analysis, the artist gathers tools to adjust skin color, create prosthetics for accurate cheekbone structure, and meticulously craft every facial detail, including hair. This process takes time, often for weeks or months, and is commonly seen in international productions. Paying attention to detail will help us gain international recognition and stand out.

Considering the demanding nature of your job, how do you create a balance between your personal and professional life?

It’s not an easy task especially when you are married and far away from where you mostly practice your craft. I live in Abuja, and often have to travel to Lagos to work. I could stay away from my matrimonial home for weeks or months. However, having a partner that understands my vision and passion has been helpful, and I thank God for that.

Beyond makeup and special effects, what other interests or creative pursuits do you have?

Yes, there are. I love narrating stories, and am working towards directing my own films. I want to tell stories the right way.

Where do you envision yourself and Classic Makeova as a professional makeup artist and brand owner in the next five to ten years?

I picture Classic Makeova as a bigger brand whose influence goes beyond Nigeria. I see us collaborating with international filmmakers and investors. It will be a brand with many branches, including cosmetics, production and directing.