“Landline” Director Dele Doherty Opens Up About Career and Dreams

Ambition has many disguises. For 25-year-old Dele Doherty, it looks like a high-concept thriller sold to Prime Video, a fascination with nonlinear narratives, and an unapologetic dream to write for Marvel.

In 2022, Doherty inked a deal with Prime to make “Landline”, a psychological thriller starring Zainab Balogun and Gabriel Afolayan. The result—released in April 2024—is the culmination of years spent crafting short films, shooting actor monologues, and learning film structure from YouTube. He calls it his “not-yet-breakthrough,” but it’s the kind of debut most filmmakers would kill for.

The Lagos-born, Kentucky-trained filmmaker studied structural engineering before ditching the plan entirely. A brief stint in Theatre Arts at UNILAG gave way to a film scholarship at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in the U.S.—a detour that shaped his visual instincts.

Two things cut through clearly in conversation with Doherty: passion and precision. “I was always worried about when my breakthrough would come,” he says. “And this isn’t even my breakthrough. I’m still yet to make a film for Marvel.”

In this exclusive conversation with The Nollywood Reporter, he talks about the pressure of debuting on Prime, the underground spirit of “Landline”, and what’s next for a filmmaker aiming for both Oscar gold and emotional resonance.

TNR: What inspired you to make “Landline”?

Dele Doherty: If you say inspired the story, it’s basically that I wanted to tell a story that I could make. I wanted to tell a story that fits into my film language, the type of films I like to make. I like psychological thrillers. I like films with very complex story lines and complex narratives. I’m very influenced by Christopher Nolan. I’m very influenced by a western style of filmmaking.

Basically, I wanted to make something like that. Originally, I had the idea of just, you know, making it from the point of view of Kola that’s Gabriel. Yeah. That it should just be him in the room talking to his wife on the phone, and he hears wife die over and over again. But that was back in 2022 until I was able to get funding from Prime, and I just said I’ll show both sides of the story.

The main inspiration was to do a film that I could do on my own and handle because coming up as a filmmaker in Nigeria, it can be very hard to get opportunities. I mean, you have to have something that you have already done. I also wanted to prove I could make films and something I could add to my portfolio and all that.

What does “Landline” mean to you?

But then again, “Landline” became more as I discovered the story and went deep into the entire thing. I saw the meaning in how we try to change something in our life, but sometimes it’s just futile. It’s just wasted effort. We live the same lives every day.

People die every day, and people complain about it, but there’s really nothing being done. So it’s like we’re living in a loop. I just wanted to prove it to the world. I wanted them to go on this emotional journey with Kola and see the feeling of losing someone close to you and how it hurts.

Did the final cut reflect your original vision for “Landline”, and what are the challenges? 

Yes, yes it did and even more. I mean,  we did face a lot of challenges. In fact, there was almost a fire on set. We faced a lot of them but the final cut was what I intended to tell. You know how they say in film, Make everything larger when you’re making a film because at the end of the day it’s going to seem small but because you’ve tried to go bigger, it fits your vision.

My vision for the film, I had more of a different location in mind but we had to work with what we had. Honestly, I wanted more stunts, fight scenes and struggles but we had time and financial constraints. We made good with what we had in the end, and it came out as the vision I had in mind.

Your favourite scene to direct and why?

I enjoyed the closet scene. The scene where she walks into the room, and then she goes to hide inside the closet, then she comes out, and then the killer grabs her and flips her in the air. I’ve had that scene in my head for quite a long time. The scene was fun to direct because we had to get a shot of her full body in the air.

We tried it over and over until we got the perfect shot.

Also, the timing of everything, how she walks inside, enters the closet, she presses the door, the killer shows in the mirror, and then crosses over. It’s all the fun of directing, the blockings, the timing, the reading, and all that. It was just very fun.

There’s a lot of intentionality in and the evilness of the scene was what made it exciting. Imagine breaking the door on a pregnant woman and she is falling flat on the floor. I like those kinds of thriller things. So, these scenes stood out for me.

So did you face any doubts with “Landline” as your first feature film?

Yes. Of course, you know, as creatives, you might get the best idea of all time, but when executing it, you face a lot of imposter syndrome. Am I supposed to be doing this? Am I supposed to do this right? So, of course, it was my first feature film. I was very scared.

It was one of those moments where you cannot make a mistake. I mean, you can make mistakes, but you have to correct them. You know, Prime was taking a chance on me. I’ve had short films. I’ve had teasers to show, but, you know, I’ve not really made a feature film up to this length. They took a chance on me. So, I could not afford to fail. So I was scared but I had God with me.

What’s your thoughts on the reception of “Landline” in Nigeria? 

I was worried about the acceptance and how people would receive the film. How if it was coming to the market and the audience that we have, which I really think we do have an audience problem in Nigeria. But then again, we had more positive responses than negatives.

It’s very evident that we have an audience problem in Nigeria, but which is not so bad because, I mean, if we have been given a particular type of food for such a long time, I think to accept a new style will be very hard. But then we got a lot of positive responses. We got people that understood the film and appreciated the film, which is my success.

I was really worried about how people would like it. If people will watch the film because we did not really have a lot of PR. The people that made the film are young filmmakers and we were working with actors who had, you know, made a name for themselves.

My crew members are young people in the industry. Some people were taking roles for the first time. People who had not done assistant directing before were taking the roles. People who had not been production managers, and we did very well. So, there were a lot of doubts and fears that people would not like this film. Will people watch it? People saw the film, and it was a success. It is a success till now.

What is your ambition for filmmaking in the long run?

I would like to make something that caters to a bigger audience.  I want to win an Oscar in my life. I want to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. I want to make blockbuster films of high budget and all that. So, that’s the route I want to go through.

Can you speak on the challenge of distribution for African filmmakers

For me, I’m not going to do cinema until I have a good distributor. If Prime calls me again to make another film for them, I’ll be happy. If Netflix calls me, I’ll be happy. I’ll keep doing the streaming platforms until I’ve gotten the attention of a very good distributor. The thing is, distributors would likely only put their money in something that you know will cater to a wider audience.

Do you think Big Film Studios should consider taking risks with young filmmakers like you?

The only thing I will say is they should try to take chances on young filmmakers because we have good ideas. I know some very good young filmmakers that are trying to do something. It doesn’t have to be N100 million. Just take chances on these young filmmakers and let them tell good stories. They should also try new genres and not rush films.

What’s Piece of advice for young filmmakers like you?

I’ll say patience. “Landline” taught me patience. I pitched the story of “Landline” in 2022 and I got to make it in 2024. It took me two years before Prime gave me the money to make the film. Any young filmmaker should have patience.

I know there is the issue of financial struggles, but you just have to learn patience. Patience not only makes you stronger as a filmmaker, but it will also allow the story you want to tell to develop. You are taking over the story and correcting plot holes. It gets better and better. Patience is very key.

Before I made “Landline”, I used to shoot monologues for many young actors in Lagos. There’s always room for patience and perseverance. So, wait and while you’re waiting, develop your skill. You have to stay ready for any opportunity that might come. You have to always have value. Learn multiple things. On project, I wrote, produced and directed. Know everything in filmmaking.

What’s next for Dele Doherty?

I have a few short films in post-production and I just want to submit them for festivals. I’m working on a new story that I hope to pitch to people soon. I’m currently working on the pitch deck. It is a feature film too and also a psychological thriller. It has a very nonlinear narrative and a lot of action.