1. Mo Abudu
Ever since Mo Abudu ventured into filmmaking, she has turned herself into a reputable auteur and a force on both the big screen. Her magic wand produced top Nollywood blockbusters like ‘The Wedding Party’ franchise, ‘Fifty,’ ‘The Royal Hotel Hibiscus.’ Abudu was also responsible for some TV production that includes ‘The Governor,’ ‘Desperate Housewives Africa,’ ‘Sons of the Caliphate,’ and ‘Fifty the Series.’
Abudu was mentioned in The Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of the ‘25 Most Powerful Women in Global Television.
In 2018, Abudu made headlines again with ‘Chief Daddy’ .
2. Biola Alabi, she is notable for spearheading the berth of one of Africa’s biggest movie awards, Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, while she worked with Multichoice Nigeria. After her exit from the cable TV company, Alabi began working on her production house, Biola Alabi Media. The company delved into movie production and have successfully found space as a major player in the industry.
With the production of ‘Banana Island Ghost’ and ‘Lara & the beat,’ the company has made an impactful contribution to Nollywood.
Alabi went a step further to host a TV show on Arise Network. She has since been a host of the TV station coverage of the Academy Awards, Oscars since 2017.
3. Kemi Adetiba
Kemi Adetiba carved a niche for herself after shot series of music videos for top Nigerian musicians that included Olamide and Niyola.
graduate of the New York Film Academy, Adetiba has worked as an On-Air Presenter, TV show host before she started shooting music videos.
A filmmaker, and television director whose works have appeared on Channel O, MTV Base, Soundcity TV, and BET, Kemi Adetiba made her entry into Nollywood when she worked on ‘Wedding Party 1’ for EbonyLife films.
Adetiba was also responsible for some issue based series and documentaries that include ‘Brotherhood’ and ‘King Women.’
The success of the feature film saw her making her second feature film, ‘King Of Boys,’ a political thriller that ruled 2018.
Aside from breaking her own record with ‘The Wedding Party 1,’ Adetiba was listed as a game changer in 2019.
4. Genevieve Nnaji, she is one of the accomplished Nigerian movie stars with mentions in international media. actress has featured in over 200 movies since her career kicked off 20 years ago. She also featured in the film ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ based on Chimamanda Ngozi’s book of the same name about the Nigerian-Biafran War from 1967-70.
In 2015, Nnaji made her debut as a producer when she co-produced ‘Road to yesterday’ which she also featured in.
In 2018, she made her directorial debut with the movie, ‘Lionheart.’ The movie became the first Nollywood movie to be acquired by Netflix before release. It was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and got good reviews.
Nnaji has since signed a management deal with a top US talent management firm and has been working on new grounds to break into Hollywood.
5. Tope Oshin
Tope Oshin was the only female director on M-Net’s hit soap opera ‘Tinsel’ in its first five seasons – she shot about 350 episodes of the show.
She has produced and directed several acclaimed movies such as ‘Fifty,’ ‘Journey to Self,’ ‘In Line’ among others.
She is also known for directing series such as ‘Hush,’ ‘Hotel Majestic,’ ‘The Apprentice Africa,’ ‘Shuga’ (Season 3 and 6).
Oshin has also directed several short films including ‘The Young Smoker’, ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ and ‘New Horizons.’
In 2016, she directed the documentary, “Amaka’s Kin: The Women Of Nollywood,” a memorial to influential filmmaker Amaka Igwe, who died in 2014, and had before her death, paved the way for most female filmmakers.
In 2017, she shot the critically acclaimed movie, ‘We don’t live here anymore’ and in 2018, she returned to the cinemas with ‘Up North.’
