Daniel Ademinokan Apart from being married to Doris Simeon, one of Nigeria’s star actresses, Daniel Ademinokan’s choice of quality over quantity as a director cum producer, has earned him a lot of respect in Nollywood. With a handful of highly-rated flicks to his credit, the list of Nigeria’s top ‘brains behind the scene’ cannot be complete without Da Bishop, as he’s also fondly called.
On his beginnings as a movie director, he says, “I started as a writer cum actor but my passion for directing drove me to understudy a friend of mine called Ikechukwu Onyeka before I later travelled to Europe and America to gain more experience. “I started my career in directing as an assistant director to Ikechukwu Onyeka during the shoot of a movie called Twist, which featured 2Face Idibia and Carol Ekanem among many others. And my first major movie as a producer cum director was Omo Jaiye Jaiye.
“I never thought of becoming a film maker. I was just a book-worm who was fond of watching TV. Although, I used to entertain people as a musician, I did not know it would get to a point where I would become a movie director. As time progressed, I started being involved in movie-making as a scriptwriter. I later found out that I was better as a director than anything else. “Interestingly, I am an artist. I can paint as well as draw. In fact, it’s easier for me to draw the concept of whatever movie I want to shoot. I can also play the key board, guitar and few other musical instruments, so it’s also easy for me to compose sound tracks for my films during post production.”
Known for his attention to details, Daniel gives the definition of a good move director as “Someone who can tell a story and hold his viewing audience from beginning to the end with perfection, story quality and attention to details. I always wanted to do something beyond the ordinary. When I opted to become a director, to be different from the rest was my goal. “I am one of the highest paid movie directors in Nigeria today and I can choose to shoot 100 movies in a month but I cannot be paid for that kind of quantity. I want to leave a legacy, something people can remember me for when I’m gone. I have only produced Omo Jaiye Jaiye as a producer. My wife also wears the cap of producer and as a company, we’ve produced Asiri, Omo Iya Kan, Desperate Measure, which is not yet out, Oni temi, and others in the pipe line. We are shifting gradually from producing Yoruba films to making more English flicks.”
Talking about his challenges, he says, “It depends on different factors. Most challenging movie in term of weather and telling a good story is Unwanted Guest, which I shot in New York. And in terms of shooting to make the story go right, that is Ghetto Dreamz. It is the first biopic that I will ever shoot in my life and one has to be careful when telling a story that people know. Besides, being under the scrutiny of the press is another challenge for me.”
