Hello we're the critics company from, Kaduna Nigeria, we made sci-fi shorts with our smartphone & old laptop and got featured on aljazeera, BBC and so many more platforms, Ask Us Anything!!!

Where do you find ideas and inspiration for your projects?

We find our inspiration from random conversations, music, short films, films we've watched, happenings in pur environs .

If you got funded, what would you spend the funds on?

To get better at what we do, get hands on new equipments, make a better short and help the family in the little way we can. 💙

Hi brothers, this is from India. I have watched your short films/videos on youtube and commented on a few of them too. I just love the fact how you create so crisp clean sci-fi action short films by using just mobile phone and a laptop. Your love for making movies is fascinating and something to be learnt from. I have a lot of friends, even after having good cameras, tripods and other gadgets, just keep giving excuses for not having enough tech with them. I don’t really have a question for you, I just want to show my deepest gratitude and appreciation for what you do brother, Continue doing what you do, don’t slow down when you become rich and successful, don’t let this fire of making movies extinguish when you own better and high end technology, because I know a lot of people get overwhelmed when they have too much to decide from. Love to your entire team. Edit : Reddit removed my comment because I did not ask anything. So I’ll just ask anyways, Who/What inspired you to create sci-fi movies with just mobile phone and laptop ?

Thank you for the kind words, what inspired us to make sci-fi movies was the fact that we didnt get to see Nigerian SciFi movies been made, so we initially wanted to criticize through comedy skits, which we started , those skits weren't funny, and we decided to do what we wanted to see, rather than complain about it, plus also the reason we used the phone and the laptop because it was what we had and for once we never ever thought of the cameras, all we knew was : this phone has a camera we can shoot with it 😅

You guys are the personification of "Be the be change you want to see". Keep up the awesome work!

Thank you 💙

“we decided to do what we wanted to see, rather than complain about it”

THIS!!! You peeps are the very best of us.

Thank you and keep the content coming.

Thank you very much 💙

What would you most like to tell us that no one has asked about?

One of us signed a resignation letter once but returned 😅

Did you expect/hope for an international reaction to your films?

We wanted our videos to get recognition at least in our country, we never ever thought we'd get an international reaction.

Would you ever consider collaborating with other content creators?

Yes definitely, we believe collaboration is key.

Right, We'll be in touch; Where do we contact you?

You can contact us through mail : [email protected]

Just a note for you. With increasing fame you may want an email that doesn't get buried in spam, and direct messaging it privately for responses like these can help keep the number of people who have access to it lower. Not criticizing, This is certainly a good public email, but you wouldn't want an important communication to get overlooked.

Definitely thanks for the suggestion 💙

What are your favourite sci-fi films other than your own?

The list is quite long : were fan's of the star wars franchise, pacific rim, tomorrowland, lost in space, interstellar, oblivion, there are just so many ... 😍

Have you seen Arrival?

Not yet, heard it's a pretty good movie.

It’s really good, you should see it. It is quite a weird film in some ways though.

Also you’re like the only person I’ve ever heard of (other than me) that likes Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland was beautiful especially cos I got to see BTS, Breakdowns the story plus I liked the actress too 😁

Tomorrowland is fun. Does not suck at all.

I enjoyed it but I found they tried to stick to a safe movie format/formula that held it back from doing more interesting things. I liked it, but it was just telling me the same story that most Disney films tell, just reskinned for retro-scifi fans.

Exactly 🙌🏿

Would definitely check it out

You should definitely watch it to see an alien movie where war doesn't break out as soon as first contact is made.

Hmm, your quote makes me think of Prometheus all over again 😁

Another good movie!

True .

Have you seen 2001: A Space Odyssey? I feel that is a must watch for anyone into sci fi film. It is the standard and benchmark and has held up to the test of time over 50 years later.

EDIT: A good trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_e9y-bka0

We've heard a lot about 2001 : A space Odyssey, still haven't seen it yet, would look it up definitely.

Plus none of our shorts are our favs, they make us cringe all the time 😅

What do you think is your best short?

I think its Z : The beginning, there is a backstory on the short that inspires us.

Have you heard of Uganda's Wakaliwood?

If so, what do you think about them?

We've heard of them through the captain Alex film, we don't really know much about what they do, but we believe it's all a gradual process to getting better, if there's a willingness to learn, to put time in what they do, they'll be great 💙

What software do you use and what software would you like to use?

We use after effects and premiere pro, blender and hitfilm, a software we'd love to use is substance designer/painter and daz studio

Love the youtube channel, I have been subscribed for a while! Who are your role models or people that inspire you to be creative and produce your films?

Love from USA!

Thank you for sticking with us, well most of our role models are from youtube : Ryan Conolly, David F Sandberg, peter McKinnon, the corridor crew, Some from Hollywood like Steven Spielberg, john boyega, a few directors in our country like Kemi Adetiba , niyi akinmolayan, Nadine Ibrahim e.t.c

Love from the team 💙

Hi. I like your guys films and passion. I am making amateur short films with my phone too. I just wanna ask, How did you get in to filmmaking?

Thank you, we loved films but didn't start with short films initially, we made a few comedy skits which you shouldn't watch 😅 so we had a deep conversation with ourselves about want we wanted to do, we learnt and we started creating.

how does it feel to know that you have impressed so many people with your talents?

Well it has been nothing but inspiring, its usually surprising when people tell us we inspire them, it gets overwhelming at times 😅

How much do you hate NEPA?

No reply..... 😀

What are some of the very best films to come out of Africa as a whole? Other than who killed Captain Alex of course, because that wouldn't be fair to the rest.

Well, I think the burial of kojo, king of boys, the setup, living in bondage: breaking free, beasts of no nation, are among our favorites from africa there are so many great films that exist which we haven't seen yet.

What time is it in Nigeria right now?

Its 12:54am.

So how do u start writing a sketch?

Well if you're talking about how we start writing our shorts , well most of our shorts weren't actually scripted , we just come up with an idea, speak about it, shot list then go out and shoot, looking back it now I feel doing that helped us not to procrastinate alot and just do stuff.

What’s the biggest, most aspirational project you guys would love to do in your future?

its quite confidential, keep close tabs and you'll know really soon, it's going to be massive for sure.

What was a hard moment while making one of films you guys went “maybe this is the end of the road”, I mean some bad experience that made you lose hope for some time and what made you hopeful again?

I think we've had so many moments like that but this are two memorable ones :

We just finished shooting a short and almost done with the Vfx so our system crashed and we lost the entire project, it was hard to start all over, we couldn't continue, we made other stuff, few months later we decided to do the idea, rewrite the story and it was our first big SciFi short.

The second time, Shooting our Short Film Z The Beginning alot Of Problems showed Up Our Main Character Got sick While Shooting was on The mobile Phone got seized by our parents and we had Issues with the Electricity Supply at that Time We lost Hope And Also Found it Within Our Selves it's The Beautiful thing About working with a Team We Tell ourselves it will Get Better. 💙

This brings back a lot of those memories.

I think we've had so many moments like that but this are two memorable ones :

We just finished shooting a short and almost done with the Vfx so our system crashed and we lost the entire project, it was hard to start all over, we couldn't continue, we made other stuff, few months later we decided to do the idea, rewrite the story and it was our first big SciFi short.

The second time, we were working on our biggest short, undergoing reshoots and the phone was seized, we were told not to shoot, we begged and begged with tears but we got the phone back and we were able to continue 😅😭😭

This brings back a lot of those memories.

Why are you still based in Kaduna? Shouldn’t your priority be moving to Lagos?

Moving to Lagos isn't really a priority for us presently, we come over to Lagos once in a while, but we need the sanity and freedom we get over here to create our films 😅

I hope I'm not too late for the AMA, how did you learn VFX? What's the most difficult thing you had to do for one of your films?

Well we Kearny Vfx through YouTube, the most difficult thing we had to do was getting a robotic arm to star in our short 😁

What are some Nigerian films that have influenced your style or that you draw inspiration from?

Well to be honest, some Nigerian shorts inspired us, not really the full features.

What's your opinions on African films in general?

(To me, a lot of them have the 'so bad it's good' quality.)

Well African films are getting better , its a sloppy ride for us, we have good films that have been swallowed up by the so many bad films, but we coming!!!

In an hypothetical scenario where you have unlimited budget, equipment and team, what kind of movie you would make and why?

Well most of our short films are zero budget, we just make use of DIY resources at our disposal , so we could make a SciFi film , a dramatic, or any genre, we've been in such low budget situations so we know how to work around it.

What’s your favorite pop tart flavor?

Might sound weird, but I don't think we have pop tart here where we live.

Well if you ever get the chance to try one, definitely take it.

Will do so.

How old is your Laptop though ?

My dad got it 2010 so Its 10 years old, we've gotten a new one tho.

What motivated you to pursue this for such a long time?

To be honest, there's no specific reason to what motivated us, we just wanted to do something, we had so many bad moments and this leads to the one thing we're grateful for, having ourselves, being together helps us push through sail through and we've been together since the beginning.

Are there other genres you're considering?

Yes we make shorts with other genres, we made a dramatic short of recent 😀

Nice! Thanks for doing the AMA. I'm excited to check out some of your films when I get home.

Thank you, let us know what you think.

Were trying to be as versatile as possible but keeping SciFi as our niche.

hey, can you tell me how you guys manage the legal aspects/troubles that you face/might face ?

Well we haven't faced any serious legal trouble yet but we have a legal team already who help us in our legal contracts/decisions and would stand in for us in any legal case.

Do you see yourselves going for bigger projects in the future? Some film festivals are really interested in sci fi or experimental shorts and that can be a huge platform for filmmakers.

We actually see ourselves going for bigger projects in the future, but for now we want to just make good shorts , get better and slowly transit into bigger projects, plus we've been submitting to film festivals lately and we have been getting good reception

I discovered you guys a year ago and I came across you again in one of my recommendations. I decided to check out your YT channel and I want to say, you people are rockin it! I find your content inspiring and you people prove that no matter where you're from, you can always make something if you put your love and passion into it. I appreciate the passion and creativity you kids put in your films and as a filmmaker, seeing your content has inspired me a lot more and made me feel a lot more confident in my passion for filmmaking.

My question for you is, who were your inspirations or what movie inspired you to start filmmaking?

Love what you do and hope you keep doing what you do best! Looking forward to more content soon!

Love from Australia!

Hello thank you for the kind words , its morning here in Nigeria, well initially we just watched so many movies , personally the amazing spiderman and the twilight series were my inspiration, the art of Vfx captured me so much then 😅 so at the beginning we just started creating then we came across people like Ryan Conolly, David F Sandberg e.t.c ,those were our major inspirations and what inspired to start filmmaking was when we realized our comedy skits about criticizing bad films weren't funny so we just had to do our own part in making what we wanted to see.

how has life changed for you since getting recognized internationally?

It has changed a lot, we know there's a lot of people watching , we feel a little bit of pressure at times, and a sort of responsibility on our shoulders to just jeep creating and don't let those rooting for us down.

i hope there has been a monetary increase to help deal with the pressure lol

Hopefully there has been monetary increase 😀 and thank you 💙

Why are you running?!?!

Running?

Well done guys... u keep up the good work... would love to know more about how you guys work...I myself just started into blender and I believe the animation industry in Nigeria is a niche to get into... I would love to get into contact with you guys... what do you guys think is the future of animation in Nigeria? How can we push it forward. ..

Thank you, well we make only live action films for now, at a certain point we had plans to make our animated series, didn't work out well 😅, you can contact us through the Instagram link above, and well the future of animation in Nigeria is very very promising, we so many animation studios working hard, putting work and making great stuff, so the future is bright for the animation industry, we can push forward by just creating and doing.

From a hardware perspective, what are the specs of the computer?

And what software are you using?

Well the specs of our laptop was 3GB ram, an Intel Pentium processor, 64MB video memory, tbh I look back now and ask myself how we were able to work with that and stay so many hours of rendering to create 😅, we used older versions of after effects , premiere pro a friend got for us, then we used hit film, but blender has been our major 3d software.

Wow, I can barely render videos. My laptop has an old core i7, 12gb of ram. no GPU. But I am running a newer version of premiere pro. After effects always crashes ;(

Your videos are awesome, by the way.

Thank you well, the newer versions of AE and premiere are memory intensive, I recommend a Lil bit older versions to work effectively.

Hi from Greece! If you had unlimited budget what film would you create?

I also want to say that I really admire the work you do with little means and minimal Budget. I wish you to be able in the future to create original content to be enjoyed worldwide!

Well there's this concept we've had for a while, based on african mythology, time travel and some other complex elements, we'd definitely put the budget on that 😁

1.Did you guys like learn everything from online (youtube ,etc) for VFX and fim making ? 2. If you are going to film a big budget movie will you try to bring in some Hollywood actors or go with the actors you feature in your skits and shorts .

Well we learnt everything online through YouTube and constant creating (if that's the word), if we were to film a big budget movie, we might go for a Hollywood actor or find someone who fits our role it all depends on factors you might not be able to effect, plus we are our own actors at least for now 😁

Can I send you guys some of my music to use for a soundtrack?

We could listen to it, and if it fits what we want to do, we could use it.

what software do you use for the videos? what are your recommendations?

We use, After effects, premiere pro, Hitfilm, blender, I recommend this softwares mentioned. You could get hit film and blender for free.

Top 5 fav movies ?

This is a tough one 😅

Why are you running? Why are you running?

Running ?

Hey, thank you or the AMA!

What do you find the hardest in the filmmaking process?

You're welcome, well I think the hardest part of filmmaking is the beginning (coming up with the idea) and the end (finishing the entire project )

Love Kaduna State, so many good things happening there at the moment. I enjoy your films way more than most of what I see on Nigerian TV. What’s your opinion of TV compared to what you’re doing?

ETA: your work reminds me in some ways of Edgar Wright (Shaun of The Dead, Spaced, Scott Pilgrim). Do you know his stuff?

Plus I'm a big fan Of Edgar wright, I've seen some of his works.

Well tbh, there are some good films on TV, and I think there might not be really any difference between us and team, were just doing what we want to see.

would you ever consider moving to the us to continue what you’re doing?

Yeah, If we get the chance because we want to learn more.

My wife is Igbo and I’ve been watching a lot of Nollywood movies with her, from the higher tier ones such as “The wedding party” to the really bad ones on YouTube like “Beyonce and Rihanna”. Do you have a favorite Nollywood movie?

Nope, we don't, I personally I'm a big fan of a just realeased remake living in bondage: breaking free, I think it might become my favorite Nollywood film.

Hey guys, I’m from the UK and I’m a big film fan too. Great to see that you guys have taken such an interest in making your own movies and sharing them with the world. Are there any specific movies you guys want to make but have not made yet??

Hello, well there are so many, we have tabs on but haven't been able to make yet as its for the future we tell ourselves 😁

This has of course never stopped you before, but do you think you will ever upgrade your equipment? If so, what do you think it would be, or what would you upgrade first? It's great seeing you guys on reddit, you give a whole meaning to people that say you don't need a fancy computer or camera to make great content!

Thank you for the kind words, well we've upgraded , we started shooting phones, now we have a camera but still want to shoot with phones, our main reasons of upgrading is just to experiment with as many tools that we could lay our hands on, there's nothing at our top list that we'd upgrade first, if we could afford it at the moment we go for it.

God bless you guys, I think what you're doing is awesome! What is your favourite sci fi movie or movie in general? Mine is Terminator 2.

There's no favorite for us, we love all the great SciFi movies we've watched, terminator 2 was heaven sent 😅

Your shorts are dope. Are you familiar with Malawi Kufewa acrobatics from African Kings YouTube channel? I know they are not next door but a collaboration would be pretty dope. Cheers. Keep up the good work!

Thank you, would check out the channel and hopefully something happens.

Just checked it out, is it African king or African kings?

Why don't you get a Nigerian billionaire prince to sponsor you for a big sci do film? The country seems full of them and they are always offering me poles of cash

Wow, we've seen a lot of prince comments on this post, well there are not so many princes, no real prince would ask for money and not all Nigerians want to defraud people.

Do you know the Prince from Nigeria who took $10,000 from my mom?

No we don't.

what's your opinion on the high number of jews in the executive positions of hollywood?

Well we just feel who ever is at such high positions has made sacrifices or worked hard enough to get to those places, plus we never knew there were so many jews at high positions.

Is this another scam?

No it isn't , you can click the proof to confirm sir.