A Group of Kids in Africa Who Call Themselves The Critics Are Making Incredible Short Films and Catching Hollywood's Eye
A group of young indie filmmakers in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, who call themselves “The Critics” have caught the eye of some Hollywood players, and for good reason. The group, a nine-person crew, range in age from 7 to 27, and are mostly siblings and cousins. They are huge movie fans themselves, and they decided to give filmmaking a try using phones as cameras and building their own greenscreens to pull off the type of action they’d seen in their favorite films.
They are self-taught, using Wikipedia and YouTube tutorials along the way. They have released several films on their own YouTube channel over the past few years, which you can check out here, and I’ll include an awesome one below.
Once they got their films out, they got some response from a few Hollywood names that they were excited about. Raymond Yusuff, 18, the group’s VFX artist and editor, told CNN:
“Franklin Leonard sent us a message on Twitter, and he was like ‘First of all, you are doing a good job.’ He told us he found our videos and that he was friends with J.J. Abrams and a couple of people in Hollywood. He told us to send a list on WhatsApp of equipment that we might need for our films.”
Last August, the kids received a large shipment of gear, including high-end gaming PCs, monitors, cameras and stabilizers from Abrams and Leonard. “We were so excited, so happy about it,” Yusuff said.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in September, Abrams said he was happy to be introduced to The Critics Company by Leonard, adding that the young filmmakers had talent and determination. “Getting them some additional gear was just adding fuel to their awesome fire,” he stated.
They really are incredibly talented and ambitious, and I can’t wait to see how far they go. Check out fan-favorite video “Another Star Wars Story” below, and stay tuned to hear more about their upcoming short, “Tomorrow’s War,” which is due out on their YouTube Channel later this month.