| Dolapo Adeleke | |
| Birth Name: | Adedolapo Omolola Adeleke |
| Birth Date: | 6 September 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Kano State |
| Nationality: | Nigerian |
| Other Names: | LowlaDee |
| Occupation: | director, screenwriter, producer, editor |
| Alma Mater: | Covenant University |
| Years Active: | 2011–present |
Dolapo Adeleke (born 6 September 1990), also known as LowlaDee is a multiple award winning filmmaker from Nigeria.[1]
Born on September 6, 1990, in Kano State Nigeria, Adeleke began writing at an early age, publishing two literature books before university.[2] Adeleke had her secondary education at Dansol High School, Lagos State. She graduated with a second-class upper in Mass Communication from Covenant University in 2011.[3]
In an interview with Busayo Adekoya of ThisDay Newspaper, she stated that she began directing films at 21.[4] [5] In 2012, she was included in Vanguard list of young Nigerians making significant impact, and was noted to have won Best teen writer of the year award by Angles Magazine for writing Flesh and Blood and The Little White Hen.
With her break out short film Brave, starring Adesua Etomi and Wole Ojo, She was nominated under the Best Film Director category of the Nigerian Entertainment Awards (NEA 2015). The short film went on to win Best Short film at the Best Of Nollywood Awards and also nominated in two categories at the prestigious African Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) for Best Short film and Best Actor in a Drama. In 2015, she went on to produce her first critically acclaimed Television Film A Place Called Happy merging Nigerian and Ghanaian actors.
In 2016, she released her first highly acclaimed Mini Series This Is It on her YouTube Platform merging Nigerian and Kenyan cast. It instantly gained popularity gathering over 8 million views in its entirety. The series successfully launched in various Television Broadcast stations across Africa and went on to win the Best Television Series at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2018. LowlaDee Wrote, Directed and Edited the 20 episodes while working as the Show Runner.
In 2016, LowlaDee was also nominated for the EbonyLifeTV Sisterhood Awards Africa for ‘Film Director Of The Year’ for her achievement with the Mini Series, ‘This Is It’. In 2017, she was nominated for the prestigious ‘Future Awards Africa’ for the prize of New Media and in March 2018 she was listed as Leading Ladies Africa's ‘100 Most Inspiring Women In Nigeria.’
LowlaDee Wrote, Directed and Edited the 60 minutes Valentine's Day Digital film, PLAN B, a Kenyan-Nigerian story which became an instant hit, garnering over one million views in its first two weeks without paid advertising. The movie went on to win the Best East African Film at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards 2019.
She currently runs LowlaDee Productions Co. (formerly Doreen Media) and shuffles between Lagos Nigeria and Nairobi Kenya.[6]
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Be My Guest [7] | short film |
| The Call [8] | short filmstarred Eldee, Paul Utomi and Adesua Etomi | |
| 2014 | Brave | short film starred Adesua Etomi |
| 2015 | A Place Called Happy | Television Filmstarred Blossom Chukwujekwu and Kiki Omeili |
| 2016 | This Is It | Web/Television seriesstarred Nick Mutuma and Chy Nwakanma |
| 2017 | Entangled [9] | Television Film starred Mawuli Gavor, Ini-dima Okojie |
| 2019 | Plan B | Web/Television Filmstarred Sarah Hassan, Catherine Karanja and Daniel Etim Effiong. |
| 2020 | Just In Time | Feature FilmStarred Sarah Hassan, Mawuli Gavor, Stycie Waweru, Pierra Kenna and had its premier on Netflix Worldwide. |
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Best of Nollywood Awards | Best Short Film | Brave | [10] | ||
| 2015 | Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Director | Brave | [11] | ||
| Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards | Best Short Film | Brave | [12] | |||
| 2016 | EbonyLife Sisterhood Awards Africa | Film Director of the Year | This Is It | |||
| 2018 | Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards | Best Television Series | This Is it | This Is it | ||
| 2019 | Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards | Best East African Film | Plan B | |||
| 2022 | Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards | Best Picture Editor | Just In Time | [13] | ||
| Best Movie East Africa | ||||||
| Best Overall Movie |
At 16 years old, on 20 August 2007, on her way to get certain documents from school, after gaining admission to Covenant University, Adeleke was involved in a brake failure accident that resulted to multiple surgeries and scars on her forehead. This led to her signature fringe/bangs hairstyle. According to her, it is more than just a hairstyle but empowers her to rise above the trauma and effects of the life changing accident. On an Instagram post, LowlaDee revealed she once struggled with depression but watching American-Indian TV show runner and Actress Mindy Kaling's TV show, The Mindy Project, gave her joy and awakened a fun creative side. This connection gave birth to her highly successful Romcom web series ''This Is It.''