Veteran Nigerian production designer and art director, Pat Nebo, has died.
His death was announced on Thursday, September 14, 2023. Nebo, who was in his 60s, passed on after a protracted illness snd surgeries that had left him bedridden for a while.
Nebo, who earned huge credits for set design in many of Nigerian films over 40 years curated the production design for movies including Kunle Afolayan’s Figurine and October 1; Izu Ojukwu’s ’76 which won him an African Movie Academy Award in 2017, ‘The Milkmaid’ which was pushed forward for consideration for an Oscar nomination in 2020 and many more over a career that spans over 40 years.
He was particularly acclaimed for his ability to create dated sets and retros to near perfection.
He started his career as a young set designer on television productions by the Nigerian Television Authority but gained prominence as a production designer after the release of the video-film, Ti Oluwa Ni Ile, which was directed by Tunde Kelani in 1993.
In 2009, he earned more accolades with Afolayan’s film, ‘The Figurine’, where he also acted as the ‘Marriage Registrar’, in addition to being the Productioon Designer.
He continued to work as the production designer in several other films such as ‘Arugba’, ‘Alero’s Symphony’ and ‘Being Mrs Elliot’.
Apart from production designing, he also worked as the art director on films like: ‘The Figurine’, ‘Phone Swap’, ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ and ’76’.