Ray Kroc, the American businessman behind the McDonald brand once said that luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get. Kiumi knows this too well. He was lucky to have found his current space after a long location search because he was given an initial lease of five years despite affording a one month deposit and rent. This was a big win for him.
Kiumi’s push to start a film school was not only due to his desire to give back his 10 year experience, but to try and fill the local gap of what he terms as low film production skills required at the international level.
“Every time I used to work with interns from various colleges, all they had was theory. So I was forced to start training them afresh so that we can work together in my various contracts. After doing this for a while, I decided, why can’t I start a school and share the knowledge I have to these students?” he says.
Some of the projects he has managed to participate in, is in the shooting of Soul Boy, a local film where he worked closely with the renowned international German Film Director Tom Tykwer.
His current desire is to create high class production professionals who can make films that will not only grow the untapped sector but represent Kenya’s talent globally.
But even as he rises to the top, one of the virtues he wants and always tries to keep, is humility.
“Having gone through so many hardships, my grandfather always told me, ‘never forget where you are from’. And this has kept me going. Sometimes I look at some students who struggle to raise school fees and I try to look for ways of how they can get money. There are some students here who have actually studied ‘for free’ and are now finished paying. I can look at a students in the eyes and tell if they are honest or not.”
Together with his partners that who have joined him on the way, the school is planning for a major rebranding in March this year.
Kiumi also plans to partner with a US Film company which will big be a boost for the institution.
