AK ONE

Young, rugged and daring.

For some folks the question will be are we discussing guns now? The answer is YES if you have a brilliant sense of humour. Ak one is an industry genius fast rising and on a mission. Aside Shooting, this young man engages in developing projects.

1.  What`s your real name?

My name is Bakare Akinola Sherrif

2.  What do you do for a living?

I do a lot of stuff majorly I am a film maker, producer, director, I write concepts and ideas. In a nut shell I am a CEO

3.  Why AK ONE?

AK ONE is actually from my name Akinola and the ONE stands for one heart, one dream, one God. Initially it wasn’t intended until someone started calling me that and it stuck so I added my own dimension to it. A lot of people call it AK 47 but I am not a gun.

4.  Can you list some videos you have shot?

Let me start from Kaha featuring Tuface (heart robber), 2short featuring Terry G(if you don`t mind), Muma Gee (African juice), Hakym the dream(Dey there) Terry G`s free madness and Throwway, ovation green carol, Lamboghinny (Say no to crime), Jafextra (pump it up) , African China ( if you love somebody), Kaffy (Omo gidi) to mention a few.

Akin at work

5.  How challenging is it to shoot a music video?

I would say the most challenging part is writing the concept for the video.

Shooting a video is divided into three parts. Pre-production,  production and post production. It all comes down to your passion at the end of it all because if you have the passion you won`t see it as work.

6.  Have you ever won an award for your work?

I have been nominated for channel o awards, Nigerian video awards and for the most promising director 2009 NMVA then in 2010 for best cinematography to mention a few. All this tells you that you are still in line and with hard work the awards will come . I am not in a rush.

7.  How did you train to become a video director?

I would first say you must first love the art. You must have the guts. I started with nothing before going into a film school. Just go out there read tutorials and shoot something. I started with shooting my friends video before going to a film school. If you have the money go to a film school otherwise have the guts to start from somewhere. Go out there and shoot! Shoot! Shoot!

8.  Is it a lucrative business?

(Laughs) it is still a lucrative business. You have to pay your dues first. You can`t wake up and make all the money. If you saw me some years ago you won`t believe it but with time it pays the bills. Now I can fuel my car pay my bills and take care of myself as a young man.

9.  What other business interests do you have?

Apart from music videos, it would be Film making. I studied film making in the UK at the central film school and since then I have fallen in love with film making and my first short film was called the “kidnapper”. I have something else I don’t want to talk about because it`s unimaginable and I am saying it first on sandy`s blog so just note it now. When I say unimaginable you need to watch out because it will set the standard for a lot of things in the future.

1           Do you think our videos are of international standard?

Yes. It all depends on what you call international standard because we are of different cultures and backgrounds. In terms of quality we are the same. We can put an American and Nigerian music video side by side and thanks to professionals like us we are raising the bar. You can put on your TV today and see a lot of our videos on Trace, Mtv Base and Channel O. it is then not right to ask if we are of international standard because we portray our cultural differences in a way unique to us with the aid of professionals.

1            How do you come about the concept for a music video?

Yeah. The first thing is to listen to the song, study the artist. You have to study the brand and make it work hand in hand with the brand. For instance a Terry G brand is better depicted with some craziness to suit the style of the artist and to satisfy his fans while a D`banj is better sold as a sexy lady`s man. So we have to study the brand, listen to the song then create a concept around it.

1           Anything you want to share?

(Smiles) My unimaginable stuff I like to call it. I just want to tell people to watch out for my series and other productions. It will be mind blowing, I promise to take the industry by surprise.

 Well people you heard it all. Go out there and shoot! Not at people and not with guns. Go out there and make things happen. Big things start litte and from somewhere. Take a cue from Ak ONE and be an unimaginable sensation.