Chico Ejiro (born Chico Aziakpono; died 25 December 2020) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

movie

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and producer. Little was known about Ejiro other than he was born in Isoko, Delta, Nigeria; he originally studied

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

; and he was drawn into

video production Video production is the process of producing video content. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard drives, SSDs, ...

because Nigerians would not buy blank video cassettes. His enormous body of work was typical of the second generation that started in the 1990s when cheap video-production equipment became available in the country. He owned a production company called Grand Touch Pictures, which is based in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. Nicknamed Mr. Prolific, he directed over 80 movies within a 5-year period—each one shot in as little as three days. They feature story lines relevant to Nigerians. The exact number of movies he has worked on as either director, producer, or both is unknown, but it ranges in the hundreds as of 2007. He was profiled in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine in 2002. He died in the early hours of Christmas Day, 25 December 2020. His son died on 15 November 2021, just nearly a year after his father’s death. According to several reports, his son had been battling cancer for years. Ejiro was married to Joy Ejiro, and they had four children. He had two brothers: Zeb Ejiro, the best-known of the new Nigerian cinema auteurs outside of the country, and Peter Red Ejiro, also a movie producer. Ejiro was featured in the 2007

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' Welcome to Nollywood'', which followed him as he made ''Family Affair 1'' and ''Family Affair 2''.

Filmography

* ''Silent Night'' ''(1996)'' * ''Blood Money'' ''(1997)'' * ''Night Bus to Lagos (2019)''

References

2020 deaths Nigerian film directors Nigerian film producers Nigerian screenwriters People from Delta State Year of birth missing {{Nigeria-film-director-stub

Filmography

See also

References