Niyi Akinmolayan
Niyi Akinmolayan is an acclaimed Nigerian filmmaker, director and media consultant. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Anthill Productions, a media production facility. He is a native of Ondo State. Niyi studied Electrical/Electronic Engineering at the Yaba College of Technology.
At the start of his professional career, he worked as a graphic designer, website designer and a trainee to Nollywood filmmakers. During this time, he learnt and perfected his skills in music and video editing, animations, after effects and visual effects.
Putting these skills to use, in 2008, he worked with Ehiz Ojesebholo to produce his first film, Smoke and Mirrors. The film starred A-list actors including Olu Jacobs, Keppy Ekpeyong and Bimbo Akintola. Following this, he then teamed up with Desmond Elliot to produce the film Kajola in 2010 which received great accolades from the industry and beyond.
That same year, Niyi set up Anthill Productions, a state-of-the-art multimedia facility and animation studio in Lagos Nigeria, serving both local and international clients. Anthill productions offer services in film making, editing, animation, visual media production and post-production. In 2016, the company broke the internet with the release of its first animated short film titled Plaything. Plaything was premiered in Lagos to glowing reviews. Anthill productions has also worked with the Federal Government, Inkblot, Friesland Campina, AXA Mansard, UKAID, Sesame, Blue Water, Airtel, among many others.
With a growing interest in Nigerian animation, Niyi launched Anthill Business, for users to create personalized videos at a reasonable financial budget and enable Nigerian youths to utilize their creative skills.
Niyi has been nominated for several awards over the span of his career, including best director, director of the year, and best animation for various works.
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Recently, Niyi Akinmolayan created an impactful 90 seconds animation video on coronavirus to help children understand why they must stay indoors to help reduce the spread of the virus. The video was made in four Nigerian indigenous languages, including pidgin and is being distributed for free globally. The animation has received international recognition and global TV stations such as CNN and BBC have featured the video. The children coronavirus animation video has been aired in different countries and subtitled in different languages all over the world including Turkey, China and Brazil.
Click on the link below to view the video.
Niyi Akinmolayan is an inspiration to us all and we are so proud of him.