Born in Warri and growing up there, Joseph Okeje has acquired what can be described as a Warri sense. Listening to Joseph speak, you can hear the influence of his Warri background in his pidgin, that sweet singsong twang that accompanies the speech of most people either born or raised in that South-Southern part of Nigeria.
Okeje, a video editor joined ID Africa, in July 2019 as an intern. In that space of time, he has quickly expanded and refined his skills. With a keen eye for learning and natural creativity, Joe is now a full-time staff producing and editing videos in ID Africa.
Asking Joseph how he got started as a video producer and editor he says, ‘I was interested in comedy skits and I wanted to make my own, then I went on Youtube to learn how to edit my videos… I downloaded the Adobe Premiere Pro, and that was how it started’.
From then on, Joseph started his video editing and production journey. He was making his own comedy skits and started making videos for others as well. He soon joined Afrinolly, where he was for five months. He, however, is interested in music videos, short films, as well as comedy skits.
Okeje’s influences include Akin Alabi, Patrick Elis, Adasa Cookey amongst others. He shares, ‘anything African I would be interested in it’ ‘I like Akin Alabi’s videos. Once you see his videos, you know it was Akin Alabi that made it. I like how he uses African themes in his work.’ ‘I like how these directors relate with the artist, how they understand the identity of the artist.’
Joseph is particular about portraying the Nigerian culture, value and ideas in his videos. He is passionate about Nigerian stories, songs and music. He is the producer of two short movies – “Agent Obi”, and “Room 406”.
Over the course of six months, Joe says he has worked on about a hundred videos, both for ID Africa owned platforms, – TheNet.ng, 234Star, Neusroom, Orin – and brands like MTN, Multichoice, Viacom.
On his plans for the future, Okeje says ‘I want to shoot movies – like Wedding Party and The Boss… and I want to direct music videos too’
Kume Akpubi, a colleague of Joseph’s has this to say about him, “When you go the extra mile to get the best results for your job; and when your reaction to both good and bad situations is to celebrate your wins, however small, you’re very close to being Joseph. But then again, there can only be one Joey Drip, and he adds to your profile”
When Joseph is not behind his laptop working his magic on a video, he most likely is dancing. Or making people laugh. Joseph possesses an uncanny ability to make anything funny, no matter how tense the situation may be. He says when the voice in his head becomes too loud, he turns up the music. “I like making people happy because no matter the sadness, I remain 100% happy.”