15 March 2025 |
4:39 am
At just 25, Director Pink’s award-winning music videos have amassed millions of views and, through Pinkline Academy, she’s mentoring a new generation of creatives. In this candid interview, she shares insights into her creative process, challenges, and vision for the future of African filmmaking. Just about one minute into Chike and Mohbad’s Egwu music video,…
At just 25, Director Pink’s award-winning music videos have amassed millions of views and, through Pinkline Academy, she’s mentoring a new generation of creatives. In this candid interview, she shares insights into her creative process, challenges, and vision for the future of African filmmaking.
Just about one minute into Chike and Mohbad’s Egwu music video, three teenage boys dance bare-chested, flanked on either side by Lagos’ iconic yellow commuter buses (Danfo) and tricycles (Keke Napep). Mohbad’s popular line, “Music no need permission to enter your spirit,” backs the visual. Then, an aerial shot capturing Mohbad’s image on three billboards across Lagos Island enters the frame. The rest of the video pulses with several other pleasure points, especially in the rich display of African fashion with costumes draped in A’nger, Kente, Ankara, Dashiki, and Aso-oke, and the brilliant dance choreography, capturing a slice of Director Pink’s filmmaking talent.
Born Praise Onyeagbulam, Director Pink is among a rising generation of female filmmakers proving their mettle in the male-dominated industry. At 25, the self-taught filmmaker has built a retinue of music videos including recent titles like Phyno and Burna Boy’s Do I, Larry Gaga and Theresa Onuoha’s Obodo, Mercy Chinwo’s Confidence, and several of Chike’s music videos like Running and Ego Oyibo, raking a collective viewership of at least 200 million views on YouTube alone for her work.
READ ALSO: Director Pink: My Vision Is To Keep Creating, Inspiring
Noted for her compelling story concept, set designs, and striking costuming, Director Pink has carved a unique niche, elevating Afrobeats’ global image. Beyond music videos, she ventured into film directing with the Nigerian horror Lady Koi Koi in 2021, barely a year after her professional debut as a music video director.
Now, she’s accelerating action in raising other young filmmakers with her Pinkline Academy, where she’s trained nearly 200 people in filmmaking with her virtual and on-site programmes since she began last year.
“It’s been a long day,” she sighs softly, settling into our late-night conversation. It’s barely two hours to midnight, and Director Pink’s day has only just begun to simmer as she spends a lot of her daytime either working on music video concepts or executing them.
She settles in to welcome Guardian Music into her world of lights, cameras, and video making, where she peels back layers on her creative approach, her challenges as a female music video director in Nigeria, surviving a hyper-social scene as an introvert, her work and mission at Pinkline Academy, as well as her favourite films to watch at the moment.
READ ALSO: Director Pink serves suspense, thrills and actions in Lady Koi Koi
How is the filmmaking terrain for you now compared to when you started in 2020?
It has been quite challenging, especially in trying to gain ground and making people believe in you. However, I’ve been able to work with a lot of artists that I probably wouldn’t have thought of working with, and also expanding into more things like my Pinkline Academy. It has been challenging, but I am making powerful strides.
What has been your most challenging music video in recent times?
Although every project comes with its challenges, I think the one I found most challenging would be the one I did with Davido and Young Alpha, titled Sober. It was Vikings-inspired. I knew that doing that concept in Nigeria was almost impossible, but we had to research and try it. We had to pay attention to details so we could achieve exactly what we wanted.
Would you say you have developed a particular filmmaking style?
I don’t have a specific style. One thing I would say is, for sure, I like to infuse dance, but most times, it’s because the songs I’ve been working with have been very dance heavy. So, I’ve come to love it.
But, again, I work with what my clients want. So, there’s no particular style I must use to achieve it. I feel that as a creative professional, you can have a style, but you should be dynamic enough to explore and do different things out of your comfort zone.
What’s your favourite part of making a music video?
My favourite part is creating the mood board. That’s the best part; it is where all ideas come together. Sometimes, if I don’t do a mood board for a week, I start to feel sick because I like to create. It’s more like writing. I’m just thinking of new ideas, and I’m putting ideas together. That’s one of the favourite parts for me, and I get to do it indoors because I’m very introverted.
Tell us about the inspiration behind the Egwu music video by Chike and Mohbad.
For the Egwu music video, the focus was on not doing too much. Then, on also doing something that could be celebratory for Mohbad and something that could still be emotional. We wanted to just pass a message, and we just wanted it to have that celebratory feel. That was the main idea. And we did that.
I think I created the mood board in less than three hours because I already had something like that in mind before they even planned on shooting a video for it because of how popular the song was. So, it was easy and quick to put it out there. And I just wanted to show Africans, Nigerians, and just happy people still and at the end of the day, reflecting on the fact that no matter what, life still moves on and you have to make the best of it.
Share your experience on the Phyno and Burna Boy’s I Do music video.
Hearing the song from the very first instance, they all thought I wouldn’t be able to pull off a music video like that because it was gangster. It was something that maybe a man should do, right? But Phyno already knew what he wanted to achieve because he is very creative as well. So that was it. We went on just collaborating with the musicians to bring his vision to life.
What’s your most expensive music video budget?
Ha-ha. All my videos are currently expensive. I try to avoid talking about figures entirely in public.
Do you think younger people can leverage mobile filmmaking to get into the industry?
It is very possible, but at the end of the day, it’s not just the phone. You also need to have extra add-ons for your phone, and most of those accessories are not readily available in Nigeria. So, it’s like a very high limitation at the end of the day. However, you still need to understand cinematography, whether you’re using a phone or an actual camera.
What is your most peculiar difficulty in filming your music videos in Nigeria?
That would be securing a location. It’s always hard to get locations here. Sometimes, a location manager could be very unreliable. For instance, there have been times when you would plan a whole shoot and, just a day to your shoot, or when you want to come set up and stuff, they’re telling you that the location is no longer available for use. Or you find out that the location has not been properly organised. We don’t have a structure when it comes to getting locations, especially as people are not willing to travel to shoot outside Lagos.
How long do you typically take to create a music video?
I could shoot it in a day. And for post-production, we usually give like two weeks. If it is very VFX (visual effects) heavy, then it will take three to four weeks.
You started your filmmaking career as a video editor. Do you still edit your music videos?
I do. However, sometimes, as I’m done shooting a particular project, I’m moving on to the next one. So, there’s no time to edit. That is why I outsource.
How has it been running Pinkline Academy?
It has been a great experience so far. I love teaching: I like that I get to pass on knowledge. Teaching also helps me to learn more and remember little details I have forgotten because it’s been a long time. So, it’s been a great experience. We’ve had two academic sessions so far. We’ve been able to teach almost 200 students from not just Nigeria but also places like South Africa, Ghana, Australia, and the UK. We hold some of the classes virtually to facilitate this.
Have any of your students gone on to start practicing filmmaking?
Yes. While in the academy, we’re also able to connect people in the academy to jobs. Some of them are already working with record labels and other companies. In terms of even practicing filmmaking, a lot of them have been way better than they were when they started.
When you aren’t making films or music videos, what are your usual pastimes?
I love watching movies. I can watch a TV series and forget about myself.
Recommend something we should watch.
Right now, I think everybody’s watching Tyler Perry’s Beauty In Black. However, I would recommend everyone watch the series Severance.
What are some of your most interesting tools to use on your phone?
Presently, that would be Cap-Cut.
Who is your favourite emerging musician at the moment?
Yarden is great. Then, there is Qing Madi, of course, who’s an amazing figure.
Finally, what is your vision as Director Pink?
To always make sure I inspire. I want to redefine African filmmaking and elevate women, making space for more female music video directors and cinematographers to come into the scene.
I also want to expand their knowledge of the business of filmmaking. Most people just know how to film, but they don’t understand the business of filmmaking. That’s why you could be shooting a lot but hardly making any profit. I am all for breaking barriers and also building the legacy of bold storytelling, innovation, and empowerment.
