When media creators are asked to discuss their challenges with putting new work, one of the things they all mention is the difficulties of finding like minded people to collaborate with or commission to handle certain parts of their projects. The industry is structured in such a way that collaboration of any kind is discouraged and creators are made to feel like they have to do it alone or not at all. Friends Make, an Abuja based creative collective is trying to dispel that myth.

Founded by Ajay (who is a photographer and filmmaker), Nathan (a creative producer with a focus on photography), Ojima (an illustrator whose work has been featured on the New York Times and Saraba Mag), Suleiman (moonlights as a director and screenwriter), Sharon (the group’s resident publicist), Uzoma (filmmaker and photographer) and Yemi (art director and motion designer), all creators across several disciplines, the Friends Make collective seeks to use their collective strengths to help bring projects of mutual interest to life through the medium of film, storytelling, audio, text and photography.

The collective is different, in that all the content produced seems to be owned by the collective rather than any individual within the collective, and the collective looks outside of itself, collaborating with other creators to bring its projects to life. They are also based in Abuja, those most have also spent extensive time abroad, which means they have a duality of perspective that should appeal to Nigerians and Nigerians in the diaspora that we hope will eventually be expressed through the projects they create.

Their first project Too Much, Not Enough,  a poetry infused short film that explores the motions of young love is interesting enough to pique my interest about the prospects of the collective. They are definitely one to keep on your radar.

Editor