Omoni Oboli, a prominent filmmaker in Nollywood, has disclosed that early in her career, she exchanged her scripts for acting roles, which ultimately influenced her choice to become a director.

In a recent interview with Radionow 95.3 FM, Oboli recounted the challenges she faced at the outset of her filmmaking career, including the practice of giving away her screenplays without any financial compensation and her initial attempts at directing her own projects.

“I was trading my scripts, I’d say you know what, just take it, don’t pay me. Just give me a role in the film. So, I started to do that. But then I’ll watch the film and I realised, Okay it’s not quite what I had in my head when I was writing cos I see what I’m writing, I write in pictures. I see what I’m writing, so when I’m watching the movie it’s so different. Not to say that it wasn’t good because no two directors will direct the same script in the same way. So I said to myself, if my stories are going to have my DNA, then I’m going to have to direct them myself,” she said.

She admitted to feeling nervous as she embarked on her directing path, lacking confidence at first, but gradually mustered the courage to chase her aspirations.

“And it was a scary thought, really who do you think you are to come and direct a film? Like who are you again? You know it was so scary, but then I said to myself, Warri no dey carry lass na. Wwetin dem get wey I no get? I was like, I’ll do this thing. So I started understudying directors, like I’m acting on set but I’m watching the director closely. And I said you know what? Maybe I need some formal education on this. So I went to the New York Film Academy for a short course,” she added.

Oboli has an impressive portfolio of films, including "Moms at War," "Last Year Single," which is currently available on Netflix, and "The Uprising: Wives on Strike 3," the latest installment in the Wives On Strike series, set to premiere in theaters this October.