Meet the All Stars Involved in Converse’s Create Next Film Project with John Boyega

This October, John Boyega and Converse are joining forces on the ‘Create Next Film Project’ to nurture a new generation of rising Black filmmakers.

This is the newest project under Converse’s All Star Program, a robust community-focused ecosystem of mentorship, commissions and funding that aims to create new opportunities for young creatives. At the heart of this effort is a focus on a new wave of Black talent whilst highlighting issues within the film industry, as identified by Boyega himself. 

John Boyega stated “I approached Converse with a desire to start a domino effect in creating opportunities for those in my position when I first started out – those who work night after night perfecting their craft.”

“There is a wealth of Black talent looking to start out in the film industry and my mission is to help highlight them. So few jobs in the film industry are filled by Black talent, this partnership with Converse is the first step in me trying to address that,” added Boyega.

Under the Create Next Film Project, Boyega will work with five London filmmakers, Ade Femzo, Kaylen Francis, Kemi Anna Adeeko, Lorraine Khamali and Ibrahim Muhammad.  

Each filmmaker will receive funding to create a five-minute short film, as well as be supported through mentoring from Boyega and a team of creatives from across the Converse network, including Mathieu Ajan (Bounce Cinema) and Shannie Mears (The Elephant Room). Across the next six months, each will also be provided guidance at key moments in the creative journey, including the initial brief, a mid-point creative check-in and at the crucial final edit.  The initiative is the latest among the Converse All Star Projects, which exist to fund and fuel the ideas of emerging leaders and creative thinkers around the globe.

“This project isn’t only about five filmmakers. It’s really about every aspiring Black filmmaker in London and beyond. We’re going to document the process so the community can grow alongside the All Stars in this program – learn what they’re learning, seeing what they’re seeing. Converse has a campaign to ‘Create Next,’ and I really feel that’s what we’re going to achieve with this initiative,” Boyega concluded. 

Read on to meet the five filmmakers part of the Create Next Film Project and follow them on their socials.

KEMI

22-year old Kemi is a London-based film director from Nigeria. She’s passionate about the positive representation of Black communities and in creating narratives that they can aspire to.

On representation Kemi says, “Representation is everything, like for me – I can’t think of a time when I would watch TV and think oh wow, they look like me. I feel like I didn’t get to experience that, so a big thing for me is for my work to show to those young Black girls and young people that they’re able to look onscreen and see people like themselves. I want them to see the type of love that they aspire to have, the type of wealth they aspire to have – all of those stories, on-screen.”

IBRAHIM

19-year-old Ibrahim is a photographer and film student at The University of Westminster. Ibrahim’s films are influenced by artistic and experimental ideas and characterised by an exploration of the honesty in people.

On access to resources as an emerging filmmaker Ibrahim says, “Everything has just been borrowing things from my University, and borrowing things from friends. I think almost all of my films have been around a hundred pound budget when it comes to props, so I don’t splash out on my films – when it comes to actors a lot of them are friends from my college that did theatre that I can call on, so a lot of it has been networking and connections.”

LORRAINE

22-year-old Filmmaker and Photographer Lorraine grew up in Kenya and moved to London at the age of 12. Starting young documenting friends and family, she progressed quickly into working on real film sets as a behind the scenes photographer whilst studying at uni.

When describing her work Lorraine says, “My work is an expression of my feelings, my thoughts and what I wish to see more of in the world we live in today. I love photographing and filming the beauty of the ordinary things that exist around me, the people I meet and what emotions I might be feeling at that moment in time. It comes from a need to connect deeply and make sense of the world around me.”

ADE

21-year-old Ade is an actor, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and the founder of ACP network – a creative platform for people to come together to create, learn and experience the film industry. He dreams of becoming an owner of his own studio one day.

On his aspirations for this project Ade says, “What I hope to gain from this experience is learning more about the craft and trying to understand what I do want to do, regarding filmmaking whether it’s directing or writing, producing – really, whatever it is. I want to advance my filmmaking skills and try to learn as much as possible whilst on set.”

KAYLEN

23-year-old Kaylen is a filmmaker and actor from South London. As a creative both in front of and behind the camera, his true goal is to create films that are full of depth and meaning and to enable his viewers to feel empowered and uplifted.

On getting the call to take part in this project Kaylen says, “I was humbled because its a huge opportunity and I think for me, it’s mad because I don’t have a background in filmmaking, in terms of going to Brit school or a creative University. I worked really hard to catch up with everyone else who was pursuing filmmaking during their school time. I had to do it after hours, so being recognised by someone within the industry I was like wow, yeah – I’m going in the right direction.”

Watch the All Stars in motion below:

Stay tuned for updates on how the Create Next Film Project manifests here

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