Biography

Kemi 'Lala' Akindoju is an award-winning producer, casting director, actor and the CEO of The Make It Happen Productions- a film and theatre production company based in Lagos, Nigeria and more recently the United Kingdom, as The Make It Happen Films. The company has a focus on telling African stories that provoke thought, inspire and entertain.

With almost two decades of experience in front of and behind the camera, she has produced some of the biggest and most successful titles out of Nigeria including Prime Video's "Gangs of Lagos" , Netflix's "The Black Book", & Seasons 1 & 2 of "The Smart Money Woman " . She has performed in over 100 stage productions across Nigeria and the world, as well as producing & directing some of the most critically acclaimed plays including her one woman show *Naked" & "Ada The Country" : A musical.

As a casting director, her credits include Disney's Emmy Nominated animation series "Iwájú", the Sundance-winning short film "Lizard", & the NAACP-nominated film "Eyimofe". She has also been on the casting team on Disney's "Rise", Film4/BFI's "My Father's Shadow" and Paramount Pictures' soon to be released "Children of Blood & Bone". These are just to mention a few

She served as a Senior Development Executive at Amazon Prime Video Nigeria between 2022 and 2023, helping shape the service's local strategy across original and content. In this position she also developed and saw to the successful execution of "Christmas In Lagos". Lala is very experienced with producing high scale films, with big budgets whilst hiring the right talent in front and behind the camera. She is also passionate about teaching and coaching and has experience wearing these hats. She was Sope Dirisu's Dialect coach in "My Father's Shadow" where she worked with him to become an authentic Nigerian man.

A 2010 The Future Awards winner for Actor of the Year, Lala is an alum of the US State Department's International Visitor's Leadership Program (IVLP), Berlinale Talents, 2016 recipient of the Africa Magic Trailblazer Award, a member of the Global Shapers community of the World Economic Forum and 2025 participant of the EAVE Producers workshop.
- IMDb mini biography by: Kemi Lala Akindoju