Meet Stephanie Balogun | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Balogun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I have always had a passion and an interest in visual art. It started with a love for acting and photography, and then it morphed into a love for the art of filmmaking.
I was so intrigued by some films that I wanted to know how they were made, my interest for being in a film decreased overtime and got swallowed up by how much I wanted to be part of the process of making films. I no longer wanted to simply be in movies, I wanted to create and tell stories.
This interest is what pushed me to pursue a career in filmmaking

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Before I decided that I wanted to focus fully on filmmaking I worked on getting better at acting as it was my interest at that time…
I applied and became a student at the renowned Identity School of Acting, the former home to John Boyega, Damson Idris, and Simone Ashley. I also featured in a widely popular web series here in Nigeria (which I hope no one ever finds), and all of these contributed to the passion I now have for filmmaking. (It’s one thing to love food, and it’s another thing to love cooking food; it was time for me to be a chef).

In 2022 I decided to focus solely on my filmmaking. I applied to be an intern in a film production company where I lived, and since then I have worked to become better at the specific skill sets I have interest in.
This was a really tough journey for me in the beginning because it was the start of something new. I was scared, as someone that was shy I was sooo anxious about meeting new people, and not just meeting new people going to the company as a novice I was soo soo scared.

Well I started my internship and with time I got comfortable with the people around… but the main issue had only just began.
The roles I focused on and honed in the company were color grading and cinematography… the journey of a beginner wanting to become a professional in a field is one of the hardest journeys… it felt good on some days, it felt soo hard on some days that I thought I would never be good at these things, on some days I just wanted to cry my eyes out. I sat and wondered one day why these things were stressing me out soo much… I thought it was supposed to be easy, I thought I was going to be happy doing these things everyday because they were what I had interests in… but I hadn’t come to the realization that just because you have an interest in something or you hand picked a career by yourself doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be hard days… doesn’t mean you wouldn’t experience some difficulties in the journey to perfecting them.

The company that I interned in named Clan Yujo- had worked on different films, music videos, and commercials and are also affiliated with Hollywood personalities like JJ Abrams, Morgan Freeman, Idris Elba, and many others.
After interning in the company for a while, in 2024 the company started outsourcing professional jobs to me….. imagine how excited I was. I felt like I was finally reaping the fruits of my labor, like I could actually confidently call myself a filmmaker and not feel like an imposter.
I built my portfolio from the jobs that were given to me in the company.

Learning and working on cinematography exposed me to the world of coloring,
cinematography and color have now become my forte.
I want to take full control of how images look from the start to the finish.
Part of my goals as a colorist and cinematographer is to create beautiful images that correlate to the story that is being told, To be able to imitate exactly what my clients imagine.
And if it’s a personal project to execute exactly what I have in my head.
The final look of an image starts with cinematography and ends with color.
I took a step further to become a Davinci resolve certified colorist In other to perfect my skill, I wanted to make sure that I am perfectly skilled in the software I use to color grade. Working with this production company I have gotten to work on a long list of verifiable projects that I am proud of credited to my name.

I got to color the promotional music video for the Famous Gladiator2 movie by paramount pictures , some films I have colored have been nominated in festivals, I have also shot, directed, and colored music videos for some artists, including a Sony signed artist… got to work on some personal projects and still working on some.

This is just the beginning of my journey cause there are more heights to reach but I am most grateful to God for where I am now, it’s not where I want to be but I know the work that got me here! And I will be putting in more work to get to where I want to!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I stay in Kaduna Nigeria, so let’s say my friend visits me from another city… let’s call her Oreo.
First things first I’ll take her to my favorite cafe(Mr Kops), we eat and take milkshakes.
I will then take her out to enjoy our street foods, we would go eat suya( road side roasted meat)at night! one of my favorite things to do with my friend that are here.
We would go to the movies, go on ice cream dates, go to the supermarket together to get snacks and have a lot of fun movie nights at home. We would definitely catch up on each other’s lives.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family!
My sisters are the reason I finally decided to pursue my career in filmmaking.
Choosing to become a creative in Nigeria feels like the boldest step.
When you’re graduating from secondary school there’s the pressure of what you’re going to study in the university…. But as a Nigerian the system has belittled art courses that when you’re graduating wanting to be a filmmaker or in the creative field makes you look unserious or like a joke, but it wasn’t something I experienced from my family! Instead they pushed me to my interests, they wanted the best for me. My sister sat with me just to coach me on my career choice and to make sure I entered into what I wouldn’t regret as life goes on!! I can’t be thankful enough for my family

Website: https://stephanie-balogun-portfolio.vercel.app/

Instagram: @stephaniebalogun

Linkedin: Stephanie Balogun