Meet AMA Psalmist, a Filmmaker that believes in Africa and the Uniqueness...

Meet Micheal Akinrogunde, professionally known as AMA Psalmist, a Nigerian Auteur, Director and Writer. He is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Convenant University, he hails from Ondo State, Nigeria.
He says he has always been involved with drama and related arts but was sure about film in his 300 level in 2013.
Micheal said he is a filmmaker for a lot of reasons but the major reason being the constant need to express, tell stories and the power film has to influence decision making. He was never exactly attracted to the industry, it was more of disgust than attraction because without any form of training, he remembers always pointing out errors and mistakes he saw in films he grew up watching. He then learnt to enjoy them, appreciate the work put in and he fell in love with the industry. One of his earliest inspirations was watching 'Knocking on Heaven's doors' he felt Adesua Etomi's acting was a super inspiration, as regards pursuing film as a career, the earliest inspiration he says, has to be Kunle Afolayan.
He began his journey by doing a lot of studying, he would. read and consume a lot of materials, from books to articles to videos to Behind the scenes (BTS) videos, anything he could lay his hands on.
AMA Psalmist stated his professional filmmaking career in 2015, he said he was lucky he was very guided by mentors and senior colleagues, it is what he is most grateful about, as he didn't get to make many of the mistakes even if he did make a few, but it was very guided.
His first experience on set was very overwhelming, he didn't know it was that 'serious', one thing he said he learnt early was to plan, plan and plan some more so that helped with many issues, but even then, it was still overwhelming. Learning to work under pressure, working with different temperaments, managing emergencies, time teaches you a lot too.
He learns a lot from his role models, believes it is one of his strongest weapons because a lot of people have lived this same journey and it only makes sense to learn from them, he also believes example is always a better teacher than experience.

He jumps at every opportunity to learn. In 2017, he was a part of the 30 writers that trained at HomeVida awards, supported by Google and USAID where he met Abdul and Uyoyou Adia; this meeting birthed the short film 'Gana Street League'. In 2017, he took part in the Access bank Accelerate Filmmaker Project and was amongst the 5 winners. He made a short film titled 'Penance', from the platform it earned him an Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2018, for Best Short Film. Penance also won the Best Short Film at the Film Gala Awards (Film House and Moet and Chandon)  and gave him an opportunity to distribute the film in Cinemas nationwide. AMA Psalmist is also part of Nigeria's New Tribe at the Future Awards Africa 2018, where he was a nominee for Screen Producer. He was listed in the YNaija New Establishment List 2019.
He has since gone on to Direct, Produce and/or Write some amazing projects like; Puzzled, Hunter's Game, Penance, My Mfon, Gana Street League, Talent, Caged, Black Water, Sade, Monologue, Change, The Legend of the Street, amongst others.
AMA Psalmist also sings and have recorded some songs that are on ITunes, Soundcloud, e.t.c. He used to be part of a boy band, he loves to sing and has always been a member of the Church Choir. He is also part of the media team as a volunteer of a very laudable initiative, called H.O.P.E (Helping Other People Excel),  a community development initiative for young people by young people and have a mission to help other people excel at transforming their society. H.O.P.E. Foundation
He doesn't quite know what really makes him stand out as a filmmaker but he says his cast and crew, have attributed it to his very detailed planning, pre-production and attention to details on and off set.
Ama Psalmist says his strong points as a filmmaker is his willingness to always learn. He enjoys Directing but he is also passionate about writing and producing. He is a very creative, innovative, intelligent, joyful and humble. He loves watching movies (it is more like a job), making music, travelling and Volunteering.
You can find him on social media via:
Facebook: AMA Psalmist
Instagram:AMA Psalmist
Linkedin: AMA Psalmist
Twitter:AMA Psalmist
Watch the Multi Award winning Short film Penance: Penance by. AMA Psalmist
Watch the first Episode of the series 'Puzzled' Puzzled, Episode 1 Catch other episodes via Puzzled Series
Listen to one of his songs Gentleman Cover by AMA Psalmist feat Ric Hassani

AMA Psalmist