Ekene Som Mekwunye
Ekene at home in Lagos (2021)
Born	(1978-04-22) 22 April 1978 (age 46) Suru-Lere, Lagos State, Nigeria
Nationality	Nigerian
Citizenship	Nigerian
Occupation(s)	Director,[1] Producer[2]
Spouse	Mutiat Mekwunye
Children	2
Parent(s)	Ezekolie Peter Mekwunye (d. 2016), Lozie Grace Mekwunye
Relatives	Mr Awele (brother) Jennifer 'Omalicha' Mekwunye (sister) Kanayo Richard Mekwunye (brother)
Website	https://riversideproductions.net/

Ekene Som Mekwunye (Born Saturday, 22nd April 1978) is a Nigerian director, film producer and university lecturer.

Early Life

Ekene Som Mekwunye was born to Ezekolie Peter Mekwunye^[3] and Lozie Grace Mekwunye, who were both born and natives of Ubulu Okiti in Aniocha South Local Government of Delta state in Nigeria. Ekene was born on the 22nd of April in 1978 at Randle hospital in Suru-Lere, Lagos, Nigeria. His first name is actually Sosomawina, which was given to him by his father, and shortened to ‘Som’ and his other name is Ekenedilichukwu, which was given to him by his paternal grand father, is shortened to ‘Ekene’. He got his primary education at Fountain School in Suru-Lere from 1981 to 1989 after which he attended Government College, Eric Moore road, Suru-Lere where he got his secondary school education from 1990 to 1995. He went to attain a B.sc in Insurance from the University of Lagos^[4] in 2004 after his secondary school education.

Career

Ekene never set out early in life to be a filmmaker. His interest in film production was sparked off in his final year in the university when he started volunteering to help a department in church and chose the TV production unit. He worked as a production assistant and continued till a year after he graduated from the university. He later started a creative agency with one of his friends but realized that whenever they created something that needed to be produced for TV, they would need to hire a director. So he decided to learn how about directing and TV production. He would later meet the late Amaka Igwe^[5] who organized a workshop for intending Film directors and Screenwriters and he was chosen to attend. Shortly after that, in 2011, he got a job at Mnet (Africa Magic)^[6] where he was involved in producing their prime TV shows Jara and 53extra (Studio 53). He was also in charge off all Channel O shoots in Nigeria where he worked with Derenle Edun as his producer. After 2 years, he went to New York film Academy in Los Angeles^[7] to study filmmaking. Shortly after his return, he moved to MTV shuga as the project coordinator where he organized for their hit TV series titled Shuga^[8] 3 which was the first time the show was going to be shot in Nigeria. He shot a short film just before then which he also wrote as well and it won an AMVCA^[9] (Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award) in 2015 for best short film. He started his Company, Riverside Productions^[10] after He left MTV Shuga and created a TV show called My Big Nigerian Wedding^[11] which went on to become a big wedding reality TV show in Africa. He later produced 3 short films titled The Encounter^[12], A Simple Letterhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt8596134/fullcredits and Lasgidi Vice^[13]. The Encounter won an AMVCA^[14] for best Sound design in 2017 and Lasgidi Vice got to screen at the Cannes International Film Festival^[15] in 2018. He produced his first Feature film titled Sylvia^[16], which was released in Nigerian cinemas^[17] in September 2018 and screened at different film festivals including Nollywood Week^[18] in Paris and BFI^[19]. He Directed his first feature film, which he also produced with Chidinma Uzodike titled Light In The Dark^[20] which was released in Nigerian and Ghanaian cinemas^[21] on the 25th Of January 2019. It went on to screen at film festivals in 5 different continents including, Nollywood Week in Paris^[22], Silicon Valley African Film festival^[23] and Soo Film Festivals both in the United States, Brasilia International film festival in Brazil, Durban International Film festival^[24] in South Africa and other countries in India, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria and Australia. He won the Best Director award at the Kaduna International Film Festival^[25] in 2020 for the same film. He directed his second feature film, which he also produced titled ‘One Lagos Night’^[26] that was acquired exclusively by Netflix^[27] and due for international release on their platform on the 29th of May 2021. He has also directed and coproduced 2 other feature films titled ‘Familia’ and ‘How To Love Me’ which were both shot in Abuja and are currently in post production. He is also an adjunct faculty^[28] at the School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University where he teaches film Production and Techniques. He holds the rights for Nigeria of the biggest DJ competition in the world titled DMC world DJ Championship^[29].

Giving Back

In 2018, Ekene started a free workshop called The Imagery Program where he holds intensive classes in Filmmaking, Screenwriting and Acting where he gets his friends who are amongst the best in the industry to also volunteer their time to come and teach in those areas. These workshops hold at least 14 classes and very intensive. He has held 2 editions and planning a third edition. He is also a mentorship volunteer at the Fate Foundation Mentorship Program in Lagos.

Personal Life

He got married in April 2012 to Mutiat Omotosho in Lagos and they have 2 kids together.

Filmography

Selected Filmography

Category:Living people Category:Nigerian film directors Category:1978 births Category:Igbo filmmakers Category:University of Lagos alumni

References

Category:Living people Category:Igbo filmmakers Category:New York Film Academy alumni Category:Male directors from Lagos Category:Nigerian film directors Category:Nigerian male film actors Category:Igbo male filmmakers Category:21st-century Nigerian male actors Category:1978 births Category:Male filmmakers in African cinema Category:Yoruba-language film directors Category:English-language film directors from Nigeria Ekene Category:Filmmakers from Delta state