Jim Onyemenam on Filmmaking, AI, and Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers

By Peyton Harvey

Jim Onyemenam is a runner, assistant director, and digital content creator who has served numerous roles on film, television, music video, and commercial sets. As a lifelong film enthusiast, Onyemenam’s love for filmmaking stems from the 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, after watching the film’s DVD featurette. However, Onyemenam’s road to a career in the entertainment industry was not so straightforward. He moved to the United Kingdom from Nigeria at sixteen years old and attended university on a work visa, limiting his potential areas of study. Thus, Onyemenam studied law for three years and graduated, working in financial audit for two years before leaving to pursue a master’s in legal philosophy. During his master’s, Onyemenam worked in the university’s student center for another two years before finally breaking into the industry. However, Onyemenam’s creature pursuits were far from non-existent during this nearly ten-year period. After leaving his financial audit job, Oneymenam made his first short film, an entirely independent project shot with his iPhone on a fifteen-pound budget. He was consistently creating, working on screenplays and short films during his free time, with projects featured in the Southampton International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competitions, and LiftOff Sessions. His work was even shortlisted for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships.

Oneymenam’s career in the entertainment industry shifted dramatically through his involvement with the Media Trust & ScreenSkills mentoring programs and the RED Diary Service Action for Allyship scheme. The Media Trust & ScreenSkills mentoring program is dedicated to partnering industry mentors with aspiring industry professionals. Through this program, Oneymenam was partnered with a commercial producer at ITV, who provided him with his first opportunity to be on a professional commercial set and eventually put him in touch with RED. The RED Diary Service Action for Allyship scheme, dedicated to connecting industry newcomers to existing professionals and opportunities, helped submerge Oneymenam even further into the professional world. Today, he works as a professional runner and assistant director on television shows, feature films, commercials, and music videos. On the side, Oneymenam continues to create, directing music videos and short films.

Oneymenam is breaking into the entertainment industry at a transformational moment. New technologies are driving considerable changes to the industry’s operations, and AI, in particular, has generated significant apprehension about creativity and job security. Oneymenam echoed these concerns, stating that although AI has not dramatically shifted how sets operate, these technologies’ emergence has created copious fear. While AI can empower new opportunities for people to express themselves creatively, it also presents numerous significant problems within the entertainment industry. Oneymenam explained that AI is generative, not creative. AI generates results entirely based on pre-existing art; therefore, a world dependent on AI does not produce new ideas. Oneymenam asserted that an increased reliance on AI would coincide with a loss of technique within production. AI will likely affect the necessity of specific filmmaking techniques, thus reducing the filmmaking craft. While Onyemenam recognizes AI is a part of technology’s course, the loss of creativity is a significant consequence.

Although everyone’s path into the entertainment industry is unique, Onyemenam’s experience is a testament to unwavering creativity. So, what is Onyemenam’s most significant advice to aspiring industry professionals? Keep making projects. Onyemenam contends that no matter what stage someone is in their career, they should always be creating. Whether the projects are big or small, young people looking to break into the entertainment industry should work on refining their voices as filmmakers. Building a profile and body of creative works and finding a team of creatives is gravely important. Finally, as young aspiring filmmakers seek a career in the entertainment industry during these transformational times, Onyemenam stresses the importance of curiosity and unwavering ambition while maintaining an openness to new perspectives. 

Cover photo credit: Forbes