Mbuotidem Johnson, fondly called ‘MBY’, is our Man Crush Monday for the week. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Basement Animation Studio. The Lagos-based studio creates African-centred stories with universal appeal, while developing the continent’s creative talents.
Having over a decade of work experience in the media industry, Mbuotidem has become an expert in animation, graphic design, web development, and audio visual production. Before delving into entrepreneurship, he worked as a creative director and consultant on projects for clients such as Cartoon Network, Leap Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, Lagos State Government, Diamond Bank, Access Bank, Nigerian Stock Exchange and Philips.
Mbuotidem has produced and directed animated short films, Emeka’s Money and Halima’s Vote for Step Up Nigeria and MacArthur Foundation, and Corruption Wahala: An Everyday Tale for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). These short films were selected for the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF), Realtime International Film Festival (RTF), and FUPiTOONS Festival.
In 2018, he worked as the Production Manager of the debut episode of L’Arbre à Palimpseste that won a Gulli Prize. In 2020, a passionate Mboutidem was part of the development team and the Storyboard Director of the YouTube original series SuperSema which garnered over 15 million views in its first quarter of release. Mbuotidem definitely has a proven track record of excellence, and in 2021 he was top at the Annecy Lagos Workshop organised by the Annecy Festival International Mifa Campus and the French Embassy in Nigeria.
As a highly sought-after public speaker, Mbuotidem has had speaking engagements at DISCOP Johannesburg 2018, Lagos Comic-Con 2018, Nigeria International Film Summit (NIFS) 2018, MIPJunior 2019, African Creative Meeting 2021, and AfroAnimation Summit 2021.
Mbuotidem is invested in the growth of Africa’s animation industry. He is the founder and trustee of the association Animation Nigeria, and also serves as Head of Advertising at African Animation Network.
Mboutidem is truly a leader taking the African continent’s animation industry to new heights. This is why at Pride Magazine Nigeria, we celebrate him as our Man Crush Monday.