To have full agency in shaping the next phase of Africa’s development, the continent’s young people must be empowered with the skills to tell their own stories.

This is the vision of MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) West Africa Director Atinuke Ngozi Babatunde.

Having led the MTF West African academy since 2021, Atinuke has committed herself to upskilling and training the current cohort of aspiring West African filmmakers. These are the young people whose responsibility will be to tell the stories of their society, and who will create the popular culture of the future.

Training and storytelling

“If you hang around me long enough, you will know I love these two things: telling African stories; and capacity building through coaching, mentoring and training,” says Atinuke.

The MTF Academy West Africa is one of three academies across the continent dedicated to developing the African film and TV industry through training of film and TV professionals.

Every year, the academies select 60 talented individuals from across 13 countries for 12-month academic and practical immersion programmes that include both theory and hands-on experience in cinematography, editing, audio production and storytelling.

Besides the Lagos academy, the year-long, fully sponsored programme is also offered at regional MTF academies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Lusaka, Zambia. The MTF Academies partner with respected local tertiary education institutions to develop courses and certifications.

The students also get the chance to learn about filmmaking by making films, developing their skills in film and TV production alongside industry greats. Many later find work in the industry, where they help to drive the next phase of its evolution.

Industry growth

"Upskilling is important for us in terms of the growth of the industry,” says Atinuke. “The academy supports the industry in three ways: the academy, where 20 students are trained to become filmmakers; the masterclasses, where we partner with industry experts; and through industry integration.”

Atinuke is highly qualified to deliver this three-pronged approach to training and industry development.

She has been with MultiChoice for more than decade, having previously been Head of Channels for Africa Magic Showcase, as well as Africa Magic Urban and Africa Magic Epic. In her career of more than two decades, Atinuke was senior brand manager of Airtel Nigeria, and has also run her own marketing-solutions agency.

She is highly qualified, having earned an MSc from the University of Lagos and an MBA from the Lagos Business School, with distinctions in marketing, entrepreneurship and strategy. She is currently completing a doctorate in business administration through Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University.

Content distribution

Besides her passion for training film professionals to tell African stories, Atinuke understands the critical importance of getting those stories out into the world, where they can impact people’s lives. That requires robust distribution networks.

“One of the greatest challenges faced by our filmmakers is how to distribute the content they create,” says Atinuke. “We have a situation where filmmakers create content and most times are looking to only distribute to pay-TV platforms, without considering other alternatives. This puts a lot of pressure on them and the platforms.”

Besides platform innovation, Atinuke believes the key to the success of the growing West African TV and film-production sector is to understand the tastes and needs of local audiences, and to give them what they want. It’s about hyperlocal content.

But when done well, that hyperlocal approach can also have universal appeal, and can find receptive audiences well beyond the African continent.

“For us in the West, there’s a huge appetite for our local stories,” she says. “From the influx of foreign platforms to the region, these stories are in demand even beyond the shores of Africa. I desire to see more of these contents distributed, so that filmmakers can earn more and make more impact from their creativity.”

For Atinuke, the MTF is a vehicle, one that develops the skills, the networks and the opportunities to carry Africa’s stories out across the continent and into the world.

She concludes, “I am committed to creating – and curating – premium and authentic content for diverse audiences, right across Africa.”