Born to a Nigerian father and Ivorian mother in Guymon, Oklahoma, Gladys Edeh has always been a lover of the arts right from the age of 13. Her love affair for film blossomed after watching the 1980’s movie classic, “The God’s Must be Crazy” with her dad. Her dream was to attend film school and begin her life as a filmmaker, but her father had other plans and wanted her to pursue a degree that would provide better job prospects. She moved from Kano State, Nigeria to Atlanta, GA in 1995 and attained a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems with a minor in Film Studies at Kennesaw State University. Upon graduation, even though she worked in IT full time, she became an active member of the film community in the Atlanta area and participated in every film or video project she could find and performed in several roles such as a boom operator, background actor, production coordinator., production manager, etc. But in 2008, she formed KokoAtDawn Productions and produced her very first short film, ‘But Mamah’ which was screened at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema in Atlanta, GA during the 48 Hour Film Project that year. In 2009, the film got selected to be part of the ION Film Festival which was hosted in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
In subsequent years, she went on to produce fictional short films such as A Day in A Life, Go Fish, Lost Memory and Solemates.
In 2012, she began to focus more on the documentary style of filmmaking which led to her directing, producing, filming and editing short form content for the web. This led to opportunities to capture celebrities such as Afrobeats singer and songwriter Lagbaja, AfroJazz/Folk Soul artist, Tosinger, British-Nigerian actor Wale Ojo, and Deyemi Okanlawon, a Nollywood Actor, and a host of other artists. Her latest short film, Mr. Gele: The Man.The Story.The Craft gave her access to profile the talented African headgear mastermind, Mr. Hakeem Oluwasegun Olaleye, also referred to as Segun Gele. “Mr. Gele” which is currently in the film festival circuit has been an official selection in the Sidewalk Film Festival, Cleveland Film Festival, African World Film Festival, CineOdyssey Film Festival, African New York Film Festival and the BronzeLens Film Festival where it received a nomination for Best Short in the Short Documentary category. It is also now airing on the Africa’s first Global Black Entertainment & Lifestyle network, EbonyLife TV to over 49 countries in Africa
As a filmmaker with an African heritage, one of her goals is to produce documentaries that showcase the multifaceted lifestyles and untold stories of Africans living in the diaspora. Her films are meant to capture, celebrate and share these stories that normally do not get the light of day on the global stage.She is currently working on creating a 13-episode documentary TV series, a fictional short film and a feature documentary.
Gladys Edeh has been a resident of Atlanta, Georgia for over 20 years and currently lives with her husband and two kids.
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