Jozi Festival 2019
In a very interesting turn of events, two TWPC members have been picked as the only Nigerian entries into the Jozi festival 2019.
Peter A. Okojie has been growing his brand as a documentary filmmaker over the last 2 years. Having started his career as an intern in TWPC back in 2008/9 we are greatly humbled to see how he has grown and taken his skill and confidence to another level. Peter has gone from being a trainee to being a colleague as he floated his production company in 2018, Peter Okojie Productions.
Now it seems like lightning has struck twice. Samuel Erhahon joined TWPC in 2017 after meeting the Principal Consultant for the first time at the end of a panel discussion that was held during the AFRIFF (African International Film Festival) 2017. He left his life in the nation’s capital, Abuja and moved to the ‘Wild South-West’ coast city of Lagos to resume as a production intern with the company.
Sam shadowed Peter during the final days of production and post of the documentary ‘Breaking Forth’ and with the blessing of management and the motivation of Peter, began to write and shot his own short documentary titled ‘Beyond Gender’.
TWPC have a habit of throwing young, zealous filmmakers that come through their doors into the deep end. Some sink. Some swim. Sam refused to sink.
With Peter’s support, expressed in various methods ranging from heckling to taunting to heart felt one-on-one talks, as well as support from management, Sam finally got his film together in his spare time when he was not doing office duties. He got onto Film Freeway and started applying for festivals.
Low and behold, the master and the apprentice now face each other on an international stage. It was hilarious to see both of them fighting for our votes in the office and amongst colleagues who they share in common.
To us it doesn’t matter who wins or if they win at all. It’s just nice to know that in our country, there are still people who are willing to invest time and support into the next generation.