For Isaac Ayodeji, writing began long before screenwriting became a career. His relationship with stories was shaped by old magazines and newspapers his father kept, alongside literature books introduced by his mother, an English and literature teacher.
A trained physiotherapist who eventually found his way into screenwriting and producing, Ayodeji spent years immersed in books, writing and fictional worlds before professional filmmaking entered the picture. In 2025, that journey earned him his first Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) nomination for his work on Suky, a crime drama and revenge story that follows a young man consumed by vengeance as he fights to survive inside one of Nigeria’s most notorious prisons.
“I enjoyed working on Suky. The nomination, I think, is further proof that films should wear their influences shamelessly,” he said.
Speaking exclusively with The Nollywood Reporter, Ayodeji reflected on the journey from his earliest writing experiments to professional screenwriting and producing, the research that shaped Suky, and the creative philosophy that continues to guide his work.
The Beginning
Ayodeji’s relationship with storytelling was shaped at home, where his father’s collection of old magazines and newspapers gave him an early appetite for the written word. His mother, an English and literature teacher, added another layer through the books she introduced him to.
He wrote for years before screenwriting entered the picture, immersing himself in books to the point where writing became his primary form of entertainment. Eventually, after spending so much time inside other people’s fictional worlds, he found himself wanting to build one of his own.
His first real writing opportunity came through a church play, which he also performed in. From there, he found Facebook’s once-thriving writing community, where he began penning short scripts for a small circle in Ibadan.
A pivotal turning point came when he met director Taiwo Egunjobi at the University of Ibadan, a relationship that would later become an important part of his creative career.
“Writing was always there,” he said. “Screenwriting was just where it finally landed.”
His first commercial writing gig came with the sitcom Sisi Clara, which followed the eponymous salon owner and the eccentric characters who passed through her chair. It was his introduction to a professional writers’ room and a crash course in learning on the job.
“I owe that room a lot, Laniyi Stevens, our executive producer, Moses Ipadeola, Temi Fosudo, Taiwo Egunjobi. I could keep going,” he said. “A salon full of dysfunctional characters, and behind it, a room full of people willing to let a beginner learn in public.”
“That culture shock was necessary. Growth doesn’t happen in comfort. You get thrown into the deep end and you learn to swim. Practice is still the only way to learn anything,” he said.
From there, his career expanded into projects including the historical drama A Green Fever (2023), Suky (2025), The Yard (2026) and The Fire and the Moth (2026), with Suky eventually earning him his first AMVCA nomination.
On Suky and the Research Beneath the Violence
Although the original story for Suky did not come from Ayodeji, the genre was one he already knew and understood. The project gave him an opportunity to explore the kind of lean, physical crime story he felt Nigerian cinema needed more of.
“I think Nigeria needs more of them,” he said. “Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s A Prayer Before Dawn was a major reference.”
The project originated with director Ola Cardoso, who introduced Ayodeji to the world of Dambe boxing and sparked a collaboration built around a singular goal.
“The desire was for something highly kinetic and bone-crushing,” he said, describing it as “a revenge crime action film that was lean and mean and delivered on its promise to be brutal.”
The influences extended beyond contemporary prison and action cinema. Drawing inspiration from filmmakers and stars such as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris, Ayodeji immersed himself in American B-movies from the 1980s and 1990s, studying how their straightforward storytelling created momentum without overcomplicating the narrative.
“I researched underground boxing and Dambe,” he said. “Then BB Sasore and Derin Adeyokunnu and the rest of the Nemsia team got involved, and the project took shape.”
While revenge drives the plot, Ayodeji said freedom is the deeper theme running through the film. Every major character, he explained, is trapped inside a different kind of cage, with Suky fighting his way toward vengeance while the people around him quietly struggle against their own limitations.
Themes of greed, corruption and survival naturally followed, given the story’s focus on institutional rot.
“It’s hard for a project about institutional rot to avoid them,” he said. “Power corrupts, literally. Our stories reflect it because every institution everywhere wrestles with this blight.”
For Ayodeji, part of Suky’s appeal was its willingness to communicate those ideas through a language and setting audiences could immediately recognise, while still embracing the conventions of the genre rather than trying to disguise them.
Why Characters Have to Make Us Feel Emotions
For Ayodeji, commercial filmmaking at its highest level is fundamentally about the audience. While shorts and niche arthouse projects can leave more room for pure self-expression, he believes the equation changes once significant money and other people’s expectations are involved.
“A film that doesn’t connect with an audience will be a tough sell,” he said. “You have to make people feel.”
That philosophy begins with character. Regardless of genre, Ayodeji believes compelling characters are non-negotiable because audiences need to understand what a character wants and why getting it will be difficult.
“They have to want something an audience can recognise,” he said, “and they have to be separated from it by forces strong enough to make the journey worth caring about.”
That character-first approach, he explained, is central to the work he has done with Egunjobi, particularly The Fire and the Moth. Rather than seeing the film as a major departure from their previous collaborations, Ayodeji considers it another expression of the themes that have consistently interested them.
“A lot of our projects centre on greed and corruption in institutions, on actions and consequences,” he said. “The only real difference here was the western-esque backdrop.”
The project began as a straightforward thriller centred on an artefact before evolving into a western and outback story influenced by films such as Hell or High Water, No Country for Old Men and Red Rock West.
Ayodeji was particularly drawn to the way those films use economic hardship as fertile ground for moral ambiguity. Extensive workshopping with Egunjobi, followed by further development with Nemsia Studios, reinforced lessons he already understood but had not always taken seriously.
“Ideas are lovely,” he said, “but they have to be grounded in the world we actually live in.”
Stepping into a producer role on the project deepened that understanding. Watching actors work through scenes in real time showed him which script decisions translated effectively to the set and which ones needed to change once the theoretical became physical.
“It was a reminder of how dynamic filmmaking is,” he said. “Things can and will always change. Mostly for the better.”
Despite the mixed reviews the film received following its release, Ayodeji said he has been encouraged by the continued response from audiences and critics who recognised the effort involved in attempting something different.
“We still get love today. We still get reviews,” he said. “We’re still turning up on best-of-the-year lists, best-of-the-continent lists.”
Legacy, Mentorship and What Stories Owe the World
Ayodeji is wary of being crushed under the weight of “legacy” as an abstract idea. Rather than constantly thinking about how his career will eventually be remembered, he prefers to concentrate on the story in front of him and what it can contribute while he is making it.
At the same time, he does not believe storytelling exists without responsibility. For him, entertainment and meaning do not have to be opposing ideas.
“Stories cannot just be stories,” he said. “It has to matter somehow; politically, socially, spiritually.”
That belief extends to mentorship and the responsibility to make the filmmaking process easier for those coming after him. Alongside Egunjobi, he co-founded FilmKaku, a resource designed to address what they saw as a gap in the industry’s access to practical filmmaking knowledge.
“Most advice out there is Western-focused,” he said. “That’s what drove Taiwo and me to start FilmKaku. We intend to bring it back soon.”
For Ayodeji, the desire to build a stronger creative community is connected to his broader view of how filmmakers should treat one another, particularly in an industry where the work is often vulnerable to intense public scrutiny.
What’s Next
Reflecting on his journey so far, Ayodeji said one of Nollywood’s biggest lessons has been the importance of humility. He also emphasised kindness, both among people working within the industry and from the audiences who ultimately consume their work.
“Truth, whatever shape it takes, can be dispensed with kindness,” he said. “Anybody making anything at all is taking a shot in the dark, and that deserves respect, not scorn.”
His AMVCA nomination was another milestone, but not one he allowed himself to dwell on for too long.
“I didn’t linger on it,” he said. “There’s still a lot to be done.”
Looking ahead, his ambitions remain relatively simple, even after the recognition that has come with his recent work.
“I just want to tell stories I care about, regardless of genre or tone,” he said. “I want to love God better, be more available to family and friends, and enrich my library of knowledge and experience.”
