Our own Nigerian-born animator, Roye Okupe, was featured in The Washington Post this week. Okupe who grew up watching cartoons came to the US in 2002, attending George Washington University and earning a bachelors and master’s degree in computer science.
He created an eight-minute animated trailer featuring his first superhero creation, Wale Williams, a young, 20-something Nigerian who suits up in high-tech armor to become the African superhero E.X.O. (Endogenic Xoskeletal). However, he was unable to find investors to fund his creation.
“That was a down period for me. I really had to dig into believing in myself that I could actually get this done,” Okupe said “Hearing that from someone who was in the [entertainment] industry, I almost took it for the gospel. But if you have a dream, it’s your responsibility to make it happen and then people will join the bandwagon once you start to get some recognition. ”
He added “ I wanted people that were close to home but I also really wanted to prove that Nigerian / African artists as a whole can do stuff that ’ s comparable to what you would see in Marvel or DC and I think I’ve been able to accomplish that”
