My name is
Iquo B. Essien
The Short Story
Iquo B. Essien is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and business consultant with 15+ years of global experience. She specializes in using writing, photography, and video to help mission-driven brands tell stories, market themselves, and raise money.
Her multimedia collaborations produce unique experiences and content for clients as diverse as musicians, dancers, and visual artists, to startups, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies. Iquo’s expertise runs the gamut from content writing and videography, to marketing, fundraising, and business consulting. With a background in film, Iquo seeks to find the narrative in a brand’s story. It is here that a compelling message is born.
The Long Story
The daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Iquo B. Essien graduated from Stanford University, where she directed Kuumba Dance Ensemble, managed Talisman a cappella, and studied abroad in Accra, Ghana and Bahia, Brazil.
As a biology undergrad, Iquo conducted primary research as a fellow with the National Institutes of Health. Upon graduation, she moved to New York City where she worked at a strategic consulting firm helping influential global clients—such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program—mobilize support for critical health issues among policymakers, the media, and the public.
Driven to combine her passion for social justice and the arts, she received her MFA in film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She later served as Communications and Marketing Director of Culture Project, a nonprofit theater, and Hook Arts Media, a cultural organization that transforms the lives of youth through the arts. Iquo currently consults on storytelling, content production, marketing, fundraising, and creative strategy.
Through her Crowdfund Your Dream online course and consultancy, she teaches fundraising and marketing strategies to artists, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and nonprofit professionals.
Ms. Essien has written and directed several award-winning films. Her work has screened in 12 countries around the globe at festivals including the Durban International Film Festival, New York African Film Festival, Cascade Festival of African Films, African Diaspora Cinema Festival, CinéSud African Short Film Festival, Ecrans Noir, Zanzibar International Film Festival, and Africa International Film Festival (Best Student Short winner).
Her short film Aissa’s Story was a regional semifinalist in the 2013 Student Academy Awards and was an official selection of the 2015 Pan African Film & TV Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) and the 2015 African Movie Academy Awards.
Ms. Essien adapted the short into a feature screenplay while writing a memoir, Elizabeth’s Daughter, about losing her mother to cancer and finding herself through writing. She is currently in development on two feature films and hosts a weekly podcast, Creative IQ.
Her production company, Editi Films, is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a charitable organization that helps artists and art organizations create engaging, publicly beneficial work.
Iquo is a 2013 Spike Lee Production Fund winner and a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow Finalist in Screenwriting from The New York Foundation for the Arts. A recipient of a 2009 Hedgebrook Writers’ Residency, she has contributed to Gawker, OkayAfrica, Shadow & Act, Guernica, and Essence.com.
From creatives, to startups and Fortune 500 companies, I help businesses connect authentically with audiences.
How can I help you?
Creative Business Consulting
Are you a new writer starting a blog? An artist or creative monetizing your work? Or an experienced professional who needs help optimizing your time and productivity?
Marketing
Are you an artist, creative, or entrepreneur who needs help marketing your work? Do you need to refresh your website, social media, or promo materials?
Multimedia Storytelling
Are you an artist, creative, or entrepreneur who has a hard time telling your brand story to potential clients or patrons? I can help create your brand guide, website, social media pages, videos, podcasts, and more.
Fundraising
Do you need help planning and launching a crowdfunding or annual giving campaign?