In recognition for their spectacular contributions to the growth and development of the marketing communications ecosystem in general and advertising in particular, the Association f Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN, has admitted Mr. Femi Odugbemi, globally renowned filmmaker, story teller and content producer, and Mr. Tunde Ogunlaiye, former creative director, Insight Communications, into the Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival, LAIF, Hall of Fame.

The duo were admitted and given awards at the Awards Dinner of the 2022 LAIF held at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria, on Saturday, November 26, 2022.

Extolling the sterling qualities of the Hall of Famers, the present of AAAN, Steve Babaeko, described their contributions as outstanding, worthy of emulation and substantially responsible for the giant strides the ecosystem has achieved over the years.

He described one of the inductees, Femi Odugbemi, as an icon, a storyteller, a filmmaker and a legend in the industry.

In a chat at the event, Femi expressed his gratitude and felt greatly honoured. “May God be praised for His grace in my career. I honour all those who supported me and gave me a chance early in my career.

“My creative career began in LINTAS and later STB:McCann. I accepted the award in solemn salute to the many giants on whose shoulders I stand tall,” Femi said.

An internationally celebrated filmmaker, storyteller and media content producer, Femi Odugbemi is currently Managing Director/CEO of ZURI24 Media, a content production and management company.

He is a co-Founder/Executive Director of the Foundation of the Promotion of documentary Film in Africa, otherwise known as the iREPRSENT Documentary Film Forum, organisers of the 13-year-old West Africa leading annual International documentary film Festival, iREP.

Femi is also a past Academy Director of Multichoice Talent Factory as well as a past President of the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN).

He was recently elected as a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, organisers of the New York-based International Emmy® Awards and the International Emmy® Kids Awards @ Mip. And since 2018, he has been a Voting Member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) – of the OSCARS; a status he shares with very few highly revered members of the Nigerian motion picture family. He is one of few on the Africans continent to vote in both Oscars and Emmy academies.

Trained in Film & TV Production at Montana State University, Bozeman, United States, Femi is an award-winning writer, producer/director and photographer, who is widely respected for his creativity and professionalism.

After graduation, he worked for a couple of years as a Producer at KUSM Channel 9 TV station in Bozeman, Montana. Since he returned home in the mid-80s, he has worked for decades in the Nigerian motion picture industry; creating and producing several critically-acclaimed entertainment programmes for television and radio.

A renowned name in advertising and marketing communications in Nigeria having directed memorable television advertising for many of Nigeria’s blue-chip multi-national companies, he worked as Film & Radio Producer at Lintas Advertising, Associate Creative Director at STB-McCann and later as Managing Director, Audio Visual First (AVF), Lagos. In these places, he wrote, directed, and produced several notable documentaries, dramas and commercials for such multi-national concerns as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, Cadbury, Beecham, Rekkit-Benckister, MTN, CELTEL and many other FMCG marketers.

Since 1999, Femi has worked as an Independent Producer/Director. His screen credits include ”Like father, like son” (a TV sitcom), ”Who do you Love?” (SFH talkshow), ”Who wants to be a Millionaire?” (Nigeria’s most popular gameshow), the recent ”Lagos Lottery TV Gameshow,” the international documentary ”Life in Lagos”(2002) for CFI in France, ”Oui Voodoo”(2005), ”Bar Beach Blues”(2004), a short drama which won best short film at the Zuma Film festival, ”Metamorphosis” (2006), and “Maroko” (2006), a full-length feature.

He has also produced ”Mama Put” a New Direction short film and also a documentary titled ”Ibadan – Cradle of Literati.” Femi was Content Producer of the first-ever Soap-opera commissioned by MNET in sub-Saharan Africa titled ”TINSEL.” Following Tinsel, has produced a series of television soaps for Africa Magic Showcase, including Battleground, Brethren and Movement JAPA. His latest offering for the Showcase is Covenant, which debuted on October 3.

From 2003 to 2006, when Femi served as the President of ITPAN, he worked assiduously to create international platforms of collaborations and cooperation amongst motion picture practitioners within the African continent. Persuaded that many professionals in Africa face the same professional and environmental challenges of technology, budgeting, audience development, and distribution, he has demonstrated commitment to nurturing corporate access into the entertainment industry as a way of addressing global imbalances in skills and resources.

Femi also chaired the Lagos International Forum on Cinema, Motion Picture and Video in Africa, an annual film event in the 2000s, designed to invite international attention to the opportunities and potentials of the motion picture industry in Africa. The last such Forum, held at the Lagos Business School, Lekki, Lagos in July 2006, attracted participants from France, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom and all the countries in the West African Sub-region.

In 2005 Femi Odugbemi was a featured speaker at both the Africa Business Conference of the Harvard Business School, Boston, and the World Cinema Festival/ Sithengi Market in Capetown South Africa. His work as a Producer/Director aspires to be challenging, innovative, and different. His goal is to explore to its fullest, the vast potentials of this creative craft to thrive, enrich, educate and entertain.