Business
Profile: Femi Oguns CEO and founder of Britain’s first ‘black’ drama school
Femi Oguns. PHOTO/Femi Oguns
In 2003, with just a few hundred pounds, actor Femi Oguns set up Britain’s first ‘black’ drama school. It is now a powerhouse in the promotion of black talent to the entertainment industry in Britain and abroad.
Sandwiched between a hipster pub and an empty shop front, you are likely to hear the Identity drama school in east London before you see it.
Inside, a class of students line up, their backs pushed up against the walls of the studio.
All the students present are black. Set up eight years ago, Identity is Britain’s first “black” drama school and, partnered with its talent agency, Identity Agency Group (IAG) in Covent Garden, and a sister school in Birmingham, is fast becoming a powerhouse in the promotion of black and minority ethnic talent to the entertainment industry, both at home and abroad.
Oguns, 34, who grew up in west London, is convinced that there is a deficit in the minority talent being picked up by mainstream drama schools, and that which is left remains untrained.
