Rogers Otieno

Growing up, Rogers Otieno always knew he wanted to be an actor. As a young boy,he would go before his class and act by repeating what the teacher did a few minutes before, during lessons.
Otieno has had roles in over 10 movies and series. In the past six years, he has focused more on teaching, directing and producing than acting. However, he still finds time to do at least one screen play and two stage-plays a year.
Over his long career in the arts, Otieno has transformed from an actor, director and now producer of the thriller television series Jambaz, airing QTV, one of Nation Media Group's television stations.
Running for 40 minutes, Jambaz was the first production of company, Interacteam Media. It tells the story of a young man who wants revenge in the murder of his brother and find his mother's kidnappers.
Otieno's career is made up of many small 'big breaks'. He is, however, remembered for his roles in successful local television series The Agency, Block D and Higher Learning. The most notable break, Otieno says, was training with The Theatre Company in 2006. He later became a director of the company.
Before the training, he performed in churches, estates and got roles in set book plays for schools. Now, he is qualified to teach The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) curriculum: He teaches drama in seven schools and runs drama classes for children, adults and budding actors.
Desiring to gain more knowledge, last year he applied and got accepted in the East African Directors Workshop organized by Sundance Institute - the organizers of Sundance Film Festival - the leading independent festival.
He has also found success with writing for theatre. His play My Moving Home ran for one year in 2010 and toured Kenya and Tanzania. Since then, he has written 10 plays, including Demore Prince of Islando, Beach Boy, The Great Ritual, Githaa (co-created by members of The Theatre Company), False Passenger and The Epic of Gor Mahia (an adaptation of a book by Adrian Onyando by the same title).
 
Source: www.businessdailyafrica.com