“Invest in your craft-if it’s something you really love to do you will make the effort. Be open and willing to learn. Take criticism; write, write, then write some more. The more you write, the better you get. Read scripts of movies you love. Read books. Love your work but also learn detachment. More importantly live, or you’ll have nothing to write about.”
- Kemi Adesoye
(Phone Swap) At Murtala Muhammed Airport on a rush hour Friday, Akin and Mary meet for the first time at an airport where they accidentally bump into each other and mistakenly swap their phones. This leads to a destination mix up after they receive one another's text regarding a travel destination. Consequently, Akin ends up travelling to where Mary is supposed to go and vice versa. Neither knows about the swap until they have arrived their opposite destinations and "the phone" stops ringing (in Mary's case), and won't stop ringing (in Akins's case). As a result of the phone swap, they agree to help carry out each other's missions, armed with the information and data on each other's phone. But it's not as easy as they both think as new obstacles and complications rise at every turn as they both struggle to adapt to their alien environment and situation. Mary has to walk in Akins shoes and represent him in a company meeting while Akin has to represent Mary in her the family meeting. This they do with hilarious results.
(The Figurine) Sola Fajure has just graduated from college with a degree in Architecture, but he placed low in his class and has had no luck finding a job, so with few prospects he signs up for his required NYSC, where he ends up serving alongside his good friend Femi and Mona, a woman with whom he's powerfully infatuated. One day, Sola and Femi stumble upon a small wooden figurine, and Sola takes it back to the camp with him. What Sola and his friends don't know is that the figurine is inhabited by the spirit of Araromire, a goddess of good fortune. Over the next seven years, things go very well for the three; Sola and Mona are happily married (despite his many random infidelities) and they have a child with another on the way, while Femi becomes a successful businessman whose work takes him all over the world. But what they don't know is that their good luck came from Araromire, and there's a catch -- the figure was carved from a tree that was cursed, and after seven years of good luck, the tables are about to turn and their lives will soon become a living hell.
Both of these movie synopsis originated from the mind of … Kemi Adesoye.
Kemi Adesoye was born and raised in Kaduna (Nigeria), by Yoruba parents who originated from Kwara State. Her father was the first registered quantity surveyor in the North (where he settled after returning from the United Kingdom), and her mother was a teacher and business woman. The last of four children, Kemi studied to be an architect in University, and earned a Masters degree from the University of Technology, Minna, Niger State (Nigeria).
A lover of movies, Kemi stumbled upon a book in University titled - “The Elements of Screenwriting”, which marked the beginning of her venture into story telling. But this dream didn’t materialise immediately, as she took a job at a radio station.
Kemi wrote her first script in 1998 titled “The Special Gele”, which she submitted it at the MNET sponsored project called New Directions at the International film and Broadcast Academy. She was chosen alongside four other semi finalists, but didn’t win; rather she got something much better – self belief. Afterwards, Kemi sought training off the internet, learning everything she could about screenplays and screenwriting. She later took a screenwriting course at New York Film Academy, Los Angeles Faculty.
Today, Kemi is a writer with MNET; currently writing for the award winning South African soap-opera – Tinsel. She has also written for a medical series titled Doctor’s Quarter’s and has written three short films namely “Prize Maze”,“Mama Put” and “National Cake” . But her greatest achievements yet would be her two feature length films, “The Figurine” (2009) and “Phone Swap” (2012), both directed by Kunle Afolayan.
Kemi has revealed that while the period it takes her to complete a script/screenplay is ever changing, the shortest time she has ever written a first draft for a television show is 8 hrs and for a feature film, ten days. She has already been awarded the Lagos Business School Pan African Screenwriting award, IN-SHORT Best Screenplay award; and her produced screenplays have won AMAA awards in other categories.
Kemi recently collaborated on MTV’s award winning series – Shuga.
Written By: Olusola AgbajeThe post APhroden Spotlight: Kemi Adesoye – The Lady Behind Araromire & Phone Swap. appeared first on Aphroden.