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DIRECTOR
~ PRODUCER ~ WRITER ~ ACTRESS
A
consummate artist on stage, film and television, Adetoro is a
graduate of Georgetown University and the Duke Ellington School
of the Arts in Washington, D.C. She began her career as an actress,
where her performances received reviews of “excellent”
and “compelling” by The New York Times and The Washington
Post, respectively. However, disheartened by the continual lack
of opportunities as an actress, she expanded her efforts in 2000
and formed the production company Backdoor Films.
In
its debut production, she wrote, starred and produced the short
film "For Charity’s Sake" (2000). Building on
the momentum of her newfound career, the following year, she made
the highly successful and award-winning short, "WHOA"
(2001). The film went on to screen at over 50 venues worldwide
including the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, AFI Fest, and LA Film
Festival. During the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, she also took
on the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival: Extreme Filmmaking
Challenge, to write, cast, shoot, edit and premiere the short
film "Cop Block" (2002) in ten days. The next project
was an invitation to a directing mentorship program through Fox
Searchlight to produce the short film "3 Minutes" (2003).
Going
back to her independent roots, she once again wore multiple hats
as actress, director, writer and producer on the award-winning
short, “In Time” (2005). The film premiered at the
2005 Sundance Film Festival and continued to screen world-wide
including on HBO and Cinemax. For her acting performance, Makinde
was voted Best International Actress by the Nigerian Entertainment
Awards. Following this effort, she wrote, directed and produced
the short film "Steep" (2007) which premiered at the
2007 Chicago International Film Festival.
Currently,
her debut feature screenplay, "The American Can", has
been acquired by Sony Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment as
a star vehicle for Will Smith. The screenplay made it to the final
rounds of the Sundance Institute Screenwriter’s Lab where
the following comment was made:
"It
really is a terrific and powerful script Adetoro. The story
that you are telling is AMAZING. I'm definitely not just saying
that-- we considered it through and through... I was actually
very surprised by how moving it was. Not only that-- for being
a drama, it sure is action-packed. Very suspenseful... and
very well written on the page to show that. And of course,
feel free to submit projects to us in the future; we're big
fans of yours over here, so the door is always always open."
Among
her many honors, she was invited by Kodak, to an emerging filmmaker
program at the Sundance Film Festival, selected to participate
in a creative assignment for Nickelodeon, is a grant recipient
of the New York State Council on the Arts and is a Film Independent
Project:Involve Fellow. Most recently, she was a finalist in the
Lifetime Movie Network Every Women’s Film Competition celebrating
emerging women filmmakers and her short “It Takes A Village”
(2008) was the New York State winner of the Chase Legacy Film
Challenge presented by Chase Bank, Blackfilm.com, HBO and Kodak.
Behind the
scenes, she was an Executive Assistant in Business Affairs at
Paramount Pictures on television shows including "Everybody
Hates Chris", "Medium", and "NCIS", and
as an Assistant to the Producer on the Fox pilot, "Supreme
Courtships". Frequently collaborating with fellow filmmakers,
Makinde has served as Producer, Casting Director and/or Production
Coordinator on several independent films, including, "Echelon
Conspiracy" starring Martin Sheen, Ed Burns and Ving Rhames,
"Let’s Talk" for BET Films and "A Good Day
To Be Black And Sexy" which premiered at the 2008 Sundance
Film Festival and was acquired by Magnolia Pictures.
As an artist,
her unique voice is a beguiling breath of fresh air as she aims
to entertain, inform and bring about change. Not one to back away
from a creative challenge, her passion for storytelling and truth
will serve to offer a fresh perspective to the world of cinema.
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