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.