Nikky Akinwande (aka Nicole Rodger). Production World.
In the last week a job advert has appeared on many Facebook TV industry pages. The role is to work as a Production Assistant on an Apple TV Production, pay £500-600 per week.
So far so normal. But what isn’t quite so normal is what applicants discovered they had to do to be considered for the position.
At this point enter Nikky Akinwande (aka Nicole Rodger) who had advertised the job via her newly formed company “Production World“. As soon as people applied, they received an automatic email back thanking them for their CV and telling them that, to even be considered for the role, every applicant was required to take part in her two week “TV Production Training Course” first.
Whilst the course was free, this happening so soon after Akinwade set up her company does raise the suspicion that this process is more about being a marketing exercise to promote her company and its wares than being a legitimate way of recruiting for a job, not least because (by her own admission) Apple TV had not asked her to set up any training scheme like this as part of the job application process.
When asked, Akinwande was unable to explain why anyone should have to be trained in order to apply for a starter job in the industry, what the job involves, what genre of programming it is for, how long it’s for or what are the criteria are for selection (a “test” she will apparently set at the end).
Needless to say, all this is somewhat concerning. It is also the case that this training (based on the first one that took place) was pretty insubstantial at best, and only what might be expected from someone who doesn’t have much in the way of TV production experience, and what there is at a fairly junior level. An hour a day over two weeks would be spreading that experience and knowledge very thin indeed, all for the chance of maybe being in contention for this unsubtantiated vacancy (or even “vacancies” – Akinwande doesn’t seem sure on this point – having advertised one position, she is now claiming there are “several”, even though she isn’t specific about what those roles actually are).
Until Nikky Akinwade provides more details about all this and why anyone should trust that there is actually a job at the end of it, caution is strongly recommended.
**EDIT** Two things worth noting about this company/individual:
On the company’s LinekedIn page, Akinwande describes it as “The Largest Production Community for Freelancers and Companies” which does show a rather inflated sense of its own worth given that the company was founded only a few months ago, has no website and seems to consist only of her. Hardly a very honest start to the business of offering services to the TV industry.
Akinwande was once a pastor of SPAC Nation Church. It’s now closed down but resurfaced as Nxtion Family. It closed under allegations of financial exploitation by senior church personnel. It is not clear whether Akinwande has herself joined up with the new iteration of this set up.
**EDIT**
In case there was any wonder about how valuable the “training” is that Nikky Akinwande offered, here is the certificate that one person received from her after not attending any of the training but simply signing up to ask about it:
Feel free to download, add your own name and post on your bedroom wall. It has absolutely no value but might cover up any torn wallpaper etc if needed.