Today we’d like to introduce you to Obinne Onyeador.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Obinne. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up in LA as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, I had to balance the duality of both Black and African. Allowing myself to accept the beauty of both of my cultures was a long-fought battle that didn’t really start until college. Part of that battle was acknowledging that popular media has never validated my experience despite my obsession with it.
That realization fueled me to pursue a career in Entertainment and contribute to expanding people’s thinking on different cultures. I recently graduated from UC San Diego in 2019 and through an organization, Evolve Entertainment Fund, I was able to secure my first internship post-grad at Anonymous Content then moved on to a position in Casting at ABC. Most recently, I accepted a position at All3Media as a Current Programming Assistant where I can work closer to the creative.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. As a black woman, I constantly have to remind myself to take up space and let my opinions be heard. It’s definitely easy in White-dominated spaces to feel like I need to shrink myself to fit in and be accepted. Thankfully I have people surrounding me that remind me of what I have to offer which allows me to enter these spaces with all the confidence.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I work in Casting at ABC where I assist with the ABC Discovers Showcase which is dedicated to giving up-and-coming actors a platform to advance their careers. Outside of my position, I’m currently working on a web series called “Stuck” which is largely inspired by my life. The first episode is currently in post.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I definitely would’ve taken more advantage of the resources I had back in college. The access to camera equipment, studios, and creative communities made filming and creating content a lot easier. I regret not creating as much as I could of because post-grad it’s so much harder to afford the resources to bring your vision to life.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @life.ala.obi
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