Meet Bolu Essien: The Marketing Professional & Filmmaker Whose Workplace Series Is Trending On Netflix

Bolu Essien is a Media and Consumer Experience Manager for West Africa at a top Multinational. Whilst excelling at this and having won awards and recognitions for her works, Bolu is also excelling as a filmmaker with her latest project on Netflix titled Becoming Abi. Becoming Abi features a fantastic cast that includes Idowu Philips (Known as Mama Rainbow), Seun Ajayi, Juliana Olayode, Biodun Stephen, Stan Nze, Ifeanyi Kalu, Akah Nnani, Benita Okojie Adeyina, and many more.

Becoming Abi is a trailblazer rampaging Netflix presently is a workplace series that explores the lives of Millennials working in an Ad agency in Nigeria.

It joins other Nigerian hit movies on Netflix like Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart, the Wedding Party, and Kemi Adetiba’s King of Boys. The implication of this is huge as Netflix competes on quality rather than quantity. That means for a movie to be on Netflix, it is worth its onions. In that sense, African movies have to meet technical specifications on picture and sound in addition to scripting and acting.

Becoming Abi is a Dramedy series that follows the journey of Abi in the marketing and advertising world. It explores interpersonal relationships at the workplace, dealing with difficult bosses, finding love, faith and so much more. It’s largely inspired but loosely based on Bolu Essien’s corporate experiences while working in an advertising agency.

Speaking on the inspiration for producing the movie, Bolu Essien said the movie is not entirely fiction, but more of a true-life event. “‘Becoming Abi’ is inspired by a true-life event and it’s 70% accurate to a true-life story. So, basically, it chronicles the experiences of what it looks like when a millennial goes for an interview and tries to get a job.”

Of interesting note is the fact that Bolu Essien herself played the titular character of the movie. Her performance has received many sterling reviews, one that is worthy of a veteran in the Nollywood industry. This is besides the fact that she wore many hats on this project as Creator, Writer, Producer, and Co-Director of the Workplace Series on Netflix.

Speaking on this, she said, “I’m a working marketing professional but also an actor and writer so I wanted to mirror a truly Nigerian experience that we rarely see on TV and that’s the reality of working in the Nigerian professional environment. The type of people you meet and all the shenanigans that happen in the workplace. I also wanted it to be a very light and easy-to-watch TV series and with the responses so far across social media, I think I and the team achieved our goal.

Revealing the movie’s journey to Netflix, she said: “When I shot this movie last year October, I didn’t know where it was going, but I knew the quality I wanted to create and I knew how relatable the story was. When I was done shooting, we then sent it to the distributor in December and they shared it with Netflix and here we are today, it is coming up on Netflix globally.  The people who saw it before it got to Netflix were amazed and kept asking who I am and how I was able to come up with this. The feedback has been overwhelming and great.”

As someone leading the media activities of a multinational company, one will wonder why she was able to achieve the feat. She responds, “I work in and with a fantastic company that is aware of, accepts, and encourages my creative interests. But even more importantly, I leverage holidays and my leave to explore these interests.

“Becoming Abi was shot during my leave last year while writing and other pre-production meetings happened during weekends. There are also a couple of people who were paid to work on Becoming Abi. It takes a village to make a great film or TV Series,” she responded.

The journey to the acceptance of the movie and its placement on the global Netflix platform is not without its challenges. ‘’One of the biggest challenges I encountered in the process of producing this movie was funding.  So, what I and my husband did was we invested all our money in the series. Of course, a little bit of it was from friends that are like family.

“For cast and crews, I got them through my research based on their previous works. However, I created a document where I created a character with what they are wearing, and what the office should look like. In terms of cast, I have cast who also turn this project down. I reached out to some who say they don’t think the project is for them.’’

With this movie, Essien is looking to score some points: “the first thing I want people to see in this movie is themselves. 80% of Nigerians are youth, which is over 100-120 million people, so I want them to watch the series and see themselves through it.

“Also, I know what a struggle it is trying to get an understanding boss is, I understand what a struggle trying to get an increment in my salary means, I know what it is like not having a car, and also to be buying swallow in the office for lunch, I know what it is like to be scared of my manager….so I want them to see themselves.

“Also, when I look back at my journey, BECOMING ABI makes me take stock, so I want people to see that they are becoming and they will succeed. The challenges will be there but they will be fine. So, for every millennial, every youth, everybody in the 9-5 profession, I want you to watch the series and believe you will succeed just like Abi,’’ she said.

Becoming Abi has been trending for weeks unending, maintaining a consistent presence on the top ten most-watched series on Netflix. For the wider IMC industry, this is a big win. For years, people don’t understand what the industry is about.

Industry watchers believe that Bolu Essien’s effort in this blockbuster is worth celebrating and worth commending as marketing and advertising or even workplace series is something that is rarely seen on screen in this part of the world.

For Bolu, the feedback from viewers has been massive. “From the viewers’ feedback, it has and is still achieving what we had set out to achieve which is REPRESENTATION. I wanted to create something that people like me in the corporate sphere would relate to. From the tough boss to the funny colleague, the “eye service” merchants, and so much more,” she says.

Gushing on the success of the series, she says: “grateful to God, Telling Brand and Human stories is what I do best and so to have an opportunity to marry both worlds together is one I don’t take lightly or for granted. People love the show, we are proud of what we made and that’s really it. Our stories are worth telling and we’ll tell it!”