Leading filmmaker Funke Akindele, has revisited her humble beginnings, recalling the time she made costumes for her colleagues like Iyabo Ojo and Bukky Wright.
Although they appeared to be ahead of her then, she is a bigger player in Nollywood now.
She also noted that she once got involved in menial jobs like cake selling and nail fixing.
Akindele revealed this in an interview with ‘Bella Naija’, adding that there was a time a customer she fixed nails for slapped her after being unhappy with the work.
According to her, nail-making was just one of several hustles she engaged in as a student.
She also sold cakes, worked as a make-up artist, handled costuming, and sourced filming locations.
She mentioned that a make-up artist, Bimpe Onakoya, used to buy cakes from her, and that she also did make-up and costume work for actresses, including Bukky Wright and Iyabo Ojo.
“I was selling cakes. Bimpe Onakoya, the talented make-up artist, was buying cakes from me. She would make me up. I learnt from people making hair. I did make-up. I did costuming. I used to customise for Aunty Bukky Wright. Even Iyabo Ojo then. I would go to Yaba and buy costumes and iron them,” she said.
Akindele further revealed that she worked as a location manager, negotiating with homeowners to use their properties for shoots and taking a cut of the fee.
“I was a location manager. I would go to houses and knock. If they paid the owner N100,000, I could take 30 and pay the person 70. I sold bed space in UNILAG so I could survive. I am a hustler. That is why I am firm. Life taught me, and I cannot do otherwise,” she said.
