Acting Is Never A Challenge To Me, I Love What I Do – Akorede Alli

American-trained filmmaker, Akorede Alli has said that his debut film, ‘Ran Mi Lowo’ has the capacity to initiate global conversations among filmmakers.

He attributed this to the energy and commitment he had put into the production of the movie.

Born to the Akinsemoyin royal family, Akorede Alli is one of Nigeria’s new actors, directors and filmmakers with international affiliations whose production outfit is set to release its debut Yoruba Language film, Ran Mi Lowo.

Read his thoughts in this exclusive interview with him.

Q: Please introduce yourself to us and what you do for a living?

Answer: I am Akorede Alli, I’m a film director, an Actor, a Producer, An Executive Producer and a business man.

Q: How did acting start for you?

Answer: Acting started for me when I was a boy growing up in Chevron Estate Satellite Town, where they used to hold children acting programs and I was always chosen as the one to play lead.

Que: How challenging has it been sustaining your interest in acting abroad?

Answer: It’s never a challenge because I love what I do, I learn a lot and get to meet new people on every set that I have been blessed to work on

Que: Where did you grow up and Which schools did you attend?

Answer:  I was born and raised in Lagos State Nigeria. I grew up in Chevron Estate Satellite Town. I attended Kings High School Satellite Town, Pefti Film Institute Nigeria, The School of Visual Art in New York City.

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Q: Do you have plans for a cinema project any time soon?

Answer: Absolutely. I have couple of scripts I’m reading and am excited about them and when I feel that way about a script, that’s a good sign.

Q: Nollywood has become the second largest film industry in the world in terms of quantity of movies produced. Do you think our industry can some day compete in terms of the quality of films produced?

Answer: Nollywood has already started making quality films, to be the largest film industry in the world.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, the people making those films you’re talking about worked their way up there, so for me nothing is impossible.

Q: Most film industries of the world have built infrastructure to an enviable level, yet Nigeria cannot even boast of a film village. Whose responsibility do you think this is, the government, the practitioners or independent investors?

Answer: That’s a good question. I think it’s everyone responsibility because at some point those bodies you mentioned benefits from the industry. If the notion of

“I am the only one doing great things” can be replaced with “Let’s come together to do great things” in people’s mind then those infrastructures can come to play.

Q: Nollywood thrives on drama and many times we don’t explore too many diverse genres, can we expect some of these previously ignored genres from you, like fantasy, adventure, action…?

Answer. My new movie is a Thriller. So it’s safe to say. You can expect different genres from Akorede Alli.

Q: Movies like Black Widow, No Time To Die suffered COVID-19 related delays and many other films like it took more than a year or two to make, yet we see some Nigerian movies shot, edited and released in the space of weeks. As a producer who has trained outside the shores of Nigeria and now operates in Nigeria, how long do you think it should take for a good movie to be produced?

Answer: There are stages to producing a quality film and all stages are very important and have its own time frame. Respect the craft. I’ve found that producers and investors often focus on profit over product and lose both in the process. A few years back, I walked away from investors because of their insistence on a quick turnaround and I patiently waited until I was able to executive produce my own film and could take the time necessary to produce a quality film.