In this piece, Platinum Times Nigeria highlights the top 10 female producers in the Nigerian film industry in 2024.
Nigeria’s entertainment industry is a thriving scene of artistic energies, especially in the fields of film and music.
Nollywood is the world’s second-largest film producer boasting a substantial net value of $6.4 billion as of 2021.
Its cinematic prowess is comparable to that of the music industry, which is gaining global recognition.
Every year, more than 2,000 productions from Nollywood are released on various platforms by different Production companies.
Through smart partnerships with major international streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Showmax, Nollywood is now well-positioned to share its rich cultural heritage and core values with a global audience.
Some of Nigeria’s most gifted producers and directors have created captivating narratives that enable this worldwide outreach, thereby creating a strong niche for themselves in the global space irrespective of gender, age, race and social standing.
Enumerated below are the top 10 rated female film producers in Nigeria in 2024.
1. Mo Abudu
Mo Abudu is a prominent figure in Nollywood and has been named by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in international media.
Throughout her career, she has led Ebony Life TV since its launch in 2006 and become a well-known personality in the entertainment sector.
Under Abudu’s direction, Ebony Life TV is currently broadcast in over 49 countries throughout Africa, the United Kingdom, and the Caribbean.
The network has become a significant player, fostering global partnerships that enhance its influence in the media landscape.
Prominent industry heavyweights like Sony Pictures Television, AMC Networks, and Netflix have struck significant collaboration deals with Ebony Life TV.
The groundbreaking agreement with Netflix marked a historic milestone as the first time an African media company entered into a multi-title film and TV agreement with the streaming giant.
2. Funke Akindele
Renowned Nigerian actress, director, producer, and politician Funke Akindele, also known as Jenifa, is also a filmmaker.
Akindele, who was born on August 24, 1977, became well-known for her performance in the sitcom “I Need to Know”.
She won the 2009 Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her superb performance in “Jenifa.”
Akindele produced the 2015 television series Jenifa’s Diary, which was an adaptation of the popular character Jenifa.
She won the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy in 2016 and 2017, and she will return in 2020 and 2022 thanks to her performance in the series.
A Tribe Called Judah (N1.4 billion), the highest-grossing film of 2023 in theaters, made her history as the first female director from Nigeria to surpass a billion naira at the Nigerian box office.
Funke Akindele has maintained a three-year sequence of top-grossing films in Nigeria.
In 2020, Omo Ghetto the Saga brought in a total of N636 million, and in 2022, Battle on Buka Street brought in N668 million.
3. Emem Isong
With nearly 25 years of devoted service, Nollywood icon Emem Isong has been a powerful storyteller for women’s rights in the industry.
Her film “Bursting Out” made a lasting impression, drawing a full house at the Odion Cinemas in London in November 2010.
Emem has also worked with notable organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and Action Health Incorporated (AHI) on documentaries.
These programs are designed to empower marginalized and out-of-school teenage girls living in slum communities around Lagos.
Emem was presented with the prestigious African Film Leadership Award at The African Film Festival (TAFF) in Dallas in 2018.
Her array of awards includes the Giama Award, Thema Award, ZAFAA Award, Best of Nollywood Award, City Peoples Award, and the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMMA), often regarded as Africa’s answer to the Oscars.
Emem has crossed international boundaries with her films, which have been screened at important film festivals and are now being studied in academic programs at colleges in America, Europe, and Africa.
4.Kemi Adetiba
Kemi Adetiba is a Nigerian filmmaker, television director and music video director, whose works have appeared on Channel O, MTV Base, Soundcity TV, BET and Netflix.
She began her career as a radio host on Silver’s Rhythm 93.7 FM and hosted two national hit shows, Soul’d Out and Sunday at the Seaside.
Kemi Adetiba gradually transitioned from radio to television by making TV appearances after which she went on to produce music and films.
In 2016, she directed a film titled “The Wedding Party” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) the same year.
The garnered huge success and broke the box office records by ranking in over N3.5 billion.
Kemi Adetiba is also the founder of a web documentary series; King Women which mentors women and young girls.
The popular political thriller, “King of Boys” which starred Sola Sobowale in the lead role was produced, written and directed by Kemi Adetiba.
Adetiba, sometimes referred to as the Bruce Lee of visuals, will debut on Netflix in 2024 with her most recent TV series, the crime thriller “To Kill A Monkey.”
5. Biodun Stephen
Biodun Stephen is a Nigerian film director, writer and producer, specializing in romantic drama and comedy films.
She has been noted for getting inspiration for the title of her films, from the main character names as depicted in the film with Tiwa’s Baggage, Ovy’s Voice, Ehi’s Bitters and Sobi’s Mystic as notable examples.
Biodun Stephen began her film-making career in 2014 with the release of ‘The Visit’, the film was praised for its minimal yet insightful cast, story and originality.
It received two nominations at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards in Lagos.
She co-produced, Breaded Life, and directed Sista.
6. Omoni Oboli
Omoni Oboli is a well-known figure in Nigerian cinema. She successfully navigated the fast-paced scene over the past 20 years, even though she had to take a brief break from the business owing to family obligations.
A graduate of the esteemed New York Film Academy, Oboli has extensive experience as an actress and is also a skilled digital filmmaker.
She has written numerous screenplays that showcase her creative energy, including the well-known ones “Fatal Imagination,” “Being Mrs. Elliott,” “The First Lady,” and “Wives on Strike.”
Omoni Oboli won the 2010 Harlem International Film Festival’s Best Actress prize as well as the Los Angeles Movie Awards’ Best Actress, Narrative Feature award.
She co-starred with Funke Akindele in the comedy film “Moms at War” in 2018 and directed the same film. She has since produced numerous films for both theatrical release and streaming services.
Notably, Oboli has leveraged the digital space, particularly on YouTube through her channel, Omoni Oboli TV.
She has accumulated an astounding five million streams for her films, hosting productions such as “A Night in July” and “Marriage of Inconvenience.”
7. Mary Njoku
Mary Njoku has established herself as a major force in the African film industry after spending almost two decades acting and directing.
Since making her screen debut in 2004, Njoku has appeared in more than 100 movies and TV shows, most of which are part of “Nollywood,” the Nigerian film industry, which is known as the second-largest in the world in terms of production output.
In the past ten years, Njoku has made a smooth transition from acting to behind-the-scenes work, where she has had a significant influence on the development and delivery of African content adapted for streaming platforms.
In 2013, she took a bold step by founding ROK, a digital media company that operates four TV stations.
She also founded ROK Studios, a content production company that serves her husband Jason Njoku’s IrokoTV, a Nigerian streaming video-on-demand platform.
8. Jade Osiberu
Jadesola Osiberu is a notable personality in Nollywood who went from a career in software development to writing, directing, and producing films.
She became well-known as the creator of Greoh Studios after producing hits like Isoken (2017), Sugar Rush (2019), Brotherhood (2022), and the crime thriller Gangs of Lagos, which is the first Nigerian original movie to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
In September 2022, Osiberu’s Greoh Studios inked a transformative three-year deal with Amazon, signalling a commitment to develop and produce original scripted TV series and feature films for a global audience.
With this partnership, her production company is positioned as a major force in influencing the story on a larger scale.
Inspired by the goal of “telling African stories to a global audience,” Osiberu founded Tribe85 Productions in 2017 to begin her journey into filmmaking.
9. Toyin Abraham
Toyin Abraham stands as a stalwart in the Nollywood realm, boasting an illustrious career spanning over two decades.
She started her career in 2003 and has since expanded into directing and producing in addition to acting on screen.
Her filmography comprises noteworthy productions like “Ijakumo – The Born Again Stripper” and the popular “Malaika,” which became one of the highest-grossing films in December 2023 with a total of N300 million, marking the peak of her box office success to date.
Other notable movie pieces include “Fate of Alakada” in 2020, which garnered N113.2 million at the box office.
Following this success, “Alakada Reloaded” also raked in N70 million.
She also produced “The Ghost and the Tout” (2018) and “Seven and a Half Dates” (2018).
10. Tope Oshin
Tope Oshin is a well-known producer who gained recognition for her work on notable movies such as Up North, which starred Nigerian singer Bankole Wellington.
Recognized as one of OkayAfrica’s Okay100 Women in 2017, Oshin is a highly accomplished director with a resume that includes more than 7,000 hours of film and television work.
Her directing abilities can be seen in several of the most popular drama series in Africa; to date, she has directed 750 episodes of MTV Shuga, Tinsel, Hotel Majestic, Hush, and Castle & Castle.
Distinguished films such as New Money, Journey To Self, InLine, Ireti, The Young Smoker, and the groundbreaking UpNorth theatrical release that happened in December 2018 are among her directing credits.
In addition to being the Lead Director of MTV Shuga Naija 4 (Season 8), Tope Oshin also serves as ShowRunner and Producer for the show.
Her producing credits include the top-grossing Nigerian box office hits, The Wedding Party 2 and Fifty.