Entertainment, Culture & Sports Corner!



Monday, April 25, 2016

NABIL ALHASSAN MOHAMMED, A PASSIONATE EVENT PRODUCER

My first encounter with Nabil Alhassan Mohammed was somewhere in 2010, then a staff of Charterhouse Productions, a member of the Multiple Concepts Group. Nabil had come in to meet with my immediate boss, Ms. Juno Abena Turkson (now Mrs. Juno Abena Dadson) to discuss some ideas for media and marketing he had developed for the then MTN Ghana Music Awards and Miss Malaika Ghana. Being the media executive assigned to execute campaigns for those brands in that year, Ms. Turkson asked me to join in the meeting. Though his ideas were not approved by management for implementation, we would later work with him on other projects.    

Nabil can best be described as a cool and unassuming dude. He is accommodating and fun to hang with. Young, smart and multi-talented, Nabil is the Chief Executive Officer of Event Factory Ghana, a company which specializes in event management and production and also known to be the power behind the successful execution of some of the biggest events in Ghana for the last ten years.

His journey into the world of show-business began at the state broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, where he worked with the outdoor broadcasting unit. There, he usually found himself at various events as the major part of their job was outside the studio, doing outside coverage of news and events.
It was an exciting time for me as a young person entering into the media. Sometimes, you felt you were the luckiest person getting access to all the big and nice events in town by virtue of your work. Due to youthful exuberance, I would go beyond my limit sometimes doing other things that isn’t part of my defined roles as a result of excitement being on the job and seeing a lot of great and important people I admire a lot”, he said.

After working with the outdoor broadcast team for a while, Nabil wanted to do more and be exposed to other aspects of broadcasting. His next option was to move into radio programming and production.  That was another important period in his life during which he described as “a period of finding himself and identifying his direction in the industry”.

Nabil will soon start a business on the side, rental of equipment and other logistics for event management and production. Luckily for him, he found himself assisting one of the best Ghanaian event producers around, Fred Darko, then head of production at Charterhouse Productions and currently the Chief Executive Officer of Evolution International.

Meeting and working with Fred Darko was overwhelming. He is one of the best brains you can have around when it comes to event production and management. It was from him I learnt the rudiments of the trade and got the opportunity to work on some of the biggest shows to have been held in Ghana. I realized the need to work harder and be innovative with the grooming I had received from Fred and that has been my philosophy till date”.

That was the genesis of Event Factory Ghana and Nabil’s attempt at ensuring he kept himself and his company relevant within the industry at all times. He achieved this by strategically positioning himself to either work solely on projects or partner other bigger competitors at the time to execute projects. He either provided the logistics for the event or got paid for his services as a member of the production team.

On challenges he encounters on the job, Nabil outlined a host of them but his approach has always been to have a positive attitude towards everything to deal with each project and the challenges it may come with. 
One of the most challenging projects was the Shaggy Live in Ghana Concert in 2007 where I had to produce the event from scratch. MTV later come on board and had a totally new plan for the execution and also had high expectations from the production team. The bar had been raised and you cannot afford to disappoint. The thought of that alone placed a lot of pressure on me and the entire team working on the project.

Another challenging project was setting up for Crossover by International Central Gospel Church at the Accra sports stadium 3 years ago when we experience a heavy storm the night before the event day. We nearly lost all our equipment, from lighting rigs, lights to sound machines. We had to be in the rain climbing the rigs to pull down the hoisted equipment in a bid to save the equipment from getting damaged. Other big and challenging events I have worked on are the Mo Ibrahim Concert in Ghana as well as the Sonni Badu concerts at the Accra sports stadium and Baba Yara sports stadium”.

According to Nabil, his high moments on the job has to do with the satisfaction he gets after any great production. “I am always fulfilled after seeing how excellent I perform on the job and interestingly, almost all my jobs well executed have led to other jobs. I did an event for Stanchart Bank at La Palm Royal Beach Hotel which was code named Iron Man sometime in 2006, delivering my part of the event alone was fulfilling. Other I could say the same about are Lauryn Hill Live at the Afrobeat festival in Ghana a few years ago, Black and White Concert with Samini and Amakye Dede and what is now an annual event, the Lord of the Ribs Comedy show”.

According to Nabil who recently worked with other producers to successfully execute the 2016 edition of the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards in Nigeria said he is looking forward to executing his biggest project to makes headlines around the world.