Miss Nigeria & Me

Feature Documentary | RTÉ

Producer and Talent

A factual documentary produced by Blueprint Pictures and co-produced and featuring Kamal Ibrahim. The documentary is a factual entertainment program for RTE which showcases African culture in Ireland while following Kamal as he traces his roots back to Nigeria.

Pre-Production

Miss Nigeria and Me was a unique project as Kamal was a key subject of the documentary, and the pre-production was where Kamal really got involved. It was split between Dublin and Lagos, so bringing together all the elements to have a safe and effective shoot was hugely important.

Being able to predict problems before they arise – looking at everything that could possibly go wrong and being able to deal with them was very important. We constantly had to keep in mind issues arising from transport to security; looking after the team on the ground and always thinking of the end product.

Health and Safety

Health and safety is a concern on every project but even more so in this case. We didn’t know if the locations were completely safe and we didn’t know how we would be received locally until we got there. We always had to assume the worst-case scenario.

What if we got lost or equipment was stolen? What if we lost contact with a member of the team? Having answers to all these scenarios was the difference between a successful shoot having to abandon the production.

For this project, Health & Safety was a big priority, with security becoming as big a priority as shooting. All the while working within the budget.