Jolade Olusanya gained a place on the Amos Bursary in 2009 as the only media student and quickly grasped the importance of networking and seizing every opportunity especially from spaces that had nothing to do with his path. In 2010, whilst at university studying film, he made a documentary on Leroy Logan, one of the first mentors on the Bursary. It was used to promote the Bursary and the benefits of mentoring. Eleven years later, Jolade is a director and owner of a production company Rxnin Co (pronounced Ronin Co). He said, ‘I had the privilege of filming Leroy back in 2010. It was my first production as a director. He was still a superintendent then. The man is a living legend’.

Since Graduating in 2012, Jolade has travelled the world telling stories and creating content for the likes of Canon, Calvin Klein, WePresent/WeTransfer, Kodak, Red Bull, Red Bull Music, Nike, Google, Musicalize, Pantene, SXSW, Procter and Gamble, ClearView Research and many more. In 2013 he travelled to Gambia with fellow alumni Lequan Johnson to create a documentary for the Bursary in conjunction with Imperial College London. In 2019 he was selected as the photographer on the production of the TV series ‘Enslaved’ featuring and produced by Samuel L. Jackson.

“So the person that inspired and still inspires me is former parkour and free running coach – my mentor in the sport, actor – about to do great things and like an older brother to me, Brian Appiah Obeng. He was well known and respected in the Global parkour community as a very kind warm man, quiet most of the time but when he spoke it was impactful. He believed in serendipity and putting your best foot forward. In thinking, how do I encourage other people? How do I share? How do I also live life to the fullest at the same time? We have this quote which is ‘be more Brian’ and that is to say be good, be kind, be selfish with life in the sense that you want to get everything from it, but also be selfless in terms of giving it all away again. So Brian Appiah Obeng is someone who inspires me, a North London legend”.

Jolade’s creativity expands into the realms of the spoken word and he was a finalist in the first Young Poet Laureate for London 2012, as well as the winner of the Outspoken Prize for Poetry in 2017. More recently he has been published in their 100th issue of the Poetry London journal and won 3rd place in the Poetry London Prize. He is also working on a documentary series which he directed across Africa for FIFA. If that wasn’t enough, he is a media strategy consultant, poetry/media facilitator, Barbican Young Poet alumni and the trustee of three charities. 

He said ‘I tell stories. In a world that cares more about what is viral , I’m just trying to get us to feel something again, remember what it means to be human and to connect on that level. I want to create space for people to be the artists they want to be. Nobody wanted me to be what I am so I am trying to help make it easier for those who want to be. Somehow, someway’.