Award-winning production designer and prolofic art director, Pat Nebo, is dead. He died on Thursday from a protracted illness that had left him bedridden, according to movie journalist and member of the African Movie Academy Awards jury, Shaibu Husseini, who confimed Nebo’s death.
“I have been reliably informed that foremost Nigerian Production Designer, Pat Nebo is dead. He has been bedridden for a while now. Journey well master of the craft of production design,” The Nation quoted Husseini to have said.
Nebo, a multiple award winner whose credits span across some of the top Nollywood titles, spent about 30 years in the Nigerian film industry where he displayed his knowledge and mastery of the craft of production and set designs.
He was particularly acclaimed for his ability to create dated sets and retros to near perfection.
He was arguably one of the few Nigerian production designers and set directors who ensured every aspect was taken into account when building a realistic set.
Nebo’s career in the movie industry started in 1993 with his role as a production designer in ‘Ti Oluwa Ni Ile’, a 1993 production. He also worked on the two sequels of ‘Ti Oluwa Ni Ile’ in the same year.
In 2009, he made his maiden cinema appearance with the film ‘The Figurine’, where he acted as the marriage registrar, and in 2016 in the movie ‘76’, where he acted as Colonel Ali.
He continued to work as production designer in several films, including ‘Araromire’, ‘Arugba’, ‘Alero’s Symphony’, ‘October 1’, ‘Being Mrs Elliot’, as well as the acclaimed ‘The Milkmaid’, ‘Lionheart’ and most recently, Kunle Afolayan’s ‘Citation’.
He won several awards including the 2017 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) for Best Art Director for his work in Izu Ojukwu’s ’76’, and ‘The Milkmaid’ was pushed forward for consideration for an Oscar nomination.
