It’s been a busy year for Winifred Okpapi, the Head of Strategy Talents and Arts Affairs at The Temple Company. Since Ogidi Studios, one of the projects she curated for the company, began operations in March, it has been a beehive of activities. In the past few months, the company has worked with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) on their MSMEs beneficiary documentary, collaborated with YouTube for the Future Insiders Program for young creatives, a first in Sub-Saharan Africa, part of the production of Global Citizen Live in Lagos, launched a new social networking app Amaze that connects fans to their favourite celebrities, among many other deals.
The studios, now a Mecca of some sorts for creatives, was born out of the need for the company to provide a creative space for in-house talents. What they didn’t know at the time was the pool of opportunities that the project would provide. Due to the number of clients seeking collaborations with them, Okpapi revealed that a creative agency was set up to meet every need of clients. Now The Temple Company, which started as a management and events company has metamorphosed into a 360 creative solutions company.
In Okpapi’s eyes, the Temple Company is the solution to all creative problems.
“There’s nothing creative that you want that you won’t find when you walk through that door,” she said confidently.
The company now serves as a one-stop shop for everything creative and is not limited to musicians and actors.
“We’re creating a platform where anybody can sign up as long as they are good at what they do, and their work can be presented to international companies and brands. We will always welcome them with open arms.”
Okpapi joined The Temple Company as an arts manager in 2017, shortly after the company was launched. As the arts manager, she curated the annual art exhibition ‘It’s Not Furniture’ which usually features artists from different parts of Africa.
“We showcase works by new artists from different parts of the continent. Giving them a platform to be seen and heard.”
This year, Okpapi added producer to her expansive résumé. She played the role in the Temple Motion Pictures production ‘My Village People (MVP)’ which made more than N100 million at the box office.
“It was amazing, especially when we started with ‘ITK’ our first release, we were not expecting much. We just wanted something for the family that everybody could watch during the Christmas period. We are currently number 18 on the top Nollywood movies of all time. So when ‘MVP’ came; collaboration is the new competition. Three companies came together for ‘MVP’. It was challenging but there was a lot of creativity at work,” she explained.
As an experienced management professional with project and business maximization acumen, and over 10 years of experience in talent and client management, Okpapi is particular about the kind of collaborators the company works with.
“They must share similar mindsets and vision.”
The graduate of Information Engineering with a master degree in Arts and Culture Management hinted that shooting for the ‘ITK’ sequel has already begun as well as other TV and web series productions which will all be airing next year. 2022 will also see the company having an independent fiesta, Lagos Independence Festival of Excellence (LIFE) in collaboration with the Balmoral Group.
