Chiori Daniel Cole is one personality to look out for in the creative industry having delivered on several musical and film projects. The Mass Communication graduate from Leadcity University, Ibadan became a household name when he successfully planned and executed one of the biggest events held back-to-back in Nigeria #OLIC (Olamide Live In Concert). He is also the brain behind the success of Achievas’ first major blockbuster movie ‘Knocking On Heavens Door’. In this interview with TOMI FALADE, he gives an overview of the creative industry in 2021 and how his goal is to someday win an Oscar.

Is filmmaking your only career? 

Asides from being a filmmaker, entertainment consultant, and director with my brothers at Achievas Entertainment, I believe in investing in different sectors and talents around the world. We own a shipping company, Ocean Glory Commodities Limited, a major player in the shipping industry in Nigeria and I represent the company as a Director of Finance.

What was the drive to be a part of the creative industry? 

I have always loved the entertainment industry. I was once a soccer player hoping to play professionally one day, but it never happened. That didn’t stop me from achieving a dream of entertaining people with my talents. We started the whole entertainment business with my family in 2007. Achievas Entertainment was registered in 2007 and because I wasn’t part of the directors then, I didn’t even have a spot or a role to play or an office to hold. I was more like a young boy who loves entertainment so much that I would skip school tests and exams just to be at events happening around Lagos, Ibadan, Osun, Ogun, Port Harcourt. I was travelling with our then artiste Solidstar and at the same time, I was working with 2Baba indirectly as a videographer. I wasn’t being paid a penny all the while, but the experience was what I needed. It wasn’t that I didn’t need money, money just was not my motivation. My drive was to watch and learn and when it’s time for me to excel I will do it perfectly with the help of my super team at Achievas Entertainment Limited. Entertainment is in our blood, and we are bent on restructuring the entertainment industry and giving value for money.

You seem to have slowed down on movie production. Is there a reason? 

We didn’t slow down. Filmmaking requires creativity and it must be top-notch for us to be able to entertain or pass the message we’re telling. It is not just about shooting a film because people are saying you haven’t shot anything and you want to impress them by gathering Nollywood actors, put them all up on a set and then two weeks later you start saying a blockbuster has been produced.

For us, we take time to create, build, understand and deliver a superb story to the world. My dream as a filmmaker is to win the Oscar with my Nollywood produced film and I know it is possible. We will do it for Nigerians, Africans and others in the many parts of the world. We currently have a project ‘Oldest Bridesmaid’ that finished production and is awaiting a release date on one of the Video-On-Demand platforms. It has also been featured on the NFT market space (non-fungible token), which makes it the first Nollywood film to ever be on an NFT market space.

What is your view on the industry performance in 2021? 

To be honest it’s a great story to tell your kids how every Nigerian artiste became big in their various categories from the A lists down to D Lists. They have changed a lot in the music industry just between 2020- 2021, and believe me, it’s been a great year for the industry. All we need to do now to keep that pace is to show love to each other, do more partnerships with brands, banks, industries and many others to bring our stories to life. The movie industry is still doing well, but we need help on funding to be able to give quality pictures, quality stories, quality acting and more. It’s been 90% for the music industry and 40% in the movie industry and I believe we can do better. My plan is to take up that role and get international recognition, partnerships and many others to help save the Nigerian movie industry.

You recently pulled a mammoth crowd for Buju’s debut concert; how were you able to pull that being his first-ever concert in Lagos? 

It wasn’t about me, it’s the team at Achievas Entertainment. Buju is a great guy and his team members are young people who are hungry for success as much as we are. The crowd came out because we all went out promoting and pushing the concert in the right manner. We had an intention to fill Balmoral Hall up for BUJU’s concert and we did it, thanks to all our supporters and sponsors.