I became like the videos I watched online – Gilmore

Content creator Muhammad Opeyemi aka Gilmore has 906,000 followers on Instagram. He talks to TOLULOP FASUAN about his career and other issues.

Can you tell us about your family background?

I am a native of Lagos State. I completed my secondary education in Ibadan, Oyo State. I then graduated from the University of Lagos.

What inspired you to start creating content on TikTok?

I started in 2017 and I will say it was due to boredom. Then I watched a lot of videos, so subconsciously that I started to become like the videos I was watching.

Do you have experience creating content or social media?

No, I just started using Instagram in 2016 and started posting.

How did you choose your content niche?

I have done different types of content and public interviews. Around 2022, I started watching some guys who were creating content that I was interested in, and then I realized that I could take advantage of it. So, I also started making interesting videos.

What type of content do you enjoy creating most?

I enjoy creating content that people can enjoy. I also enjoy creating skits based on real stories.

What’s the hardest thing about creating content for you?

Before this, the hardest part was creating content while in school. In addition, limited resources can become a problem, for example when you want to create something and the money you need to create is not enough. You have to spend a lot of money to create certain types of content.

How have you been able to effectively increase engagement with your content?

You just need to keep rebranding and bring something new every time. I continue to give people excitement through the element of surprise.

How do you deal with criticism or negative feedback?

I don’t think many people criticize me. Some people just want their comments to be seen. However, in general, this is not that serious.

Do you have any current projects you’d like to share with us?

Yes. I just finished my YouTube intro that I released on October 10th. I also post other videos on YouTube.

What’s the video about?

Some people who watched the intro on YouTube were confused. This is just an introductory video for my YouTube channel. Over time, other interesting videos will appear, longer and of higher quality. This will be reinforced with more intention and detail.

How do you come up with the names you use in your skits, like “Ogunmepon”?

These are not real characters and not real people. Ogunmepon was once the nickname of someone’s principal at the Federal Government College. Then this guy came to my school and told us that they used to call their principal “Ogunmepon.” One day I remembered this name and started using it.

What tools or resources do you find most useful for video editing and production?

Inshot is the most useful tool for me.

Have you faced any challenges or setbacks while building your presence on TikTok?

Yes, I created football content back in 2020. Over the years I have created different types of content. My accounts were flagged four times. I went through this up and down.

How did you survive this period?

I just focused on the positives and didn’t dwell on the negatives. This also happened by the grace of God.

How do you create content for everyday life?

I do this by experiencing things. Whenever I experience something funny or something that I can do, I just note it.

How are you going to adapt to the ever-changing TikTok trends?

The future of TikTok depends on the sounds available. I believe in mostly using trending sounds rather than just releasing any content.

Can you tell us about your creative process when creating TikTok videos?

Sometimes I don’t make too many plans. I just tell my team what we want to do and we do it freestyle. Sometimes we may have real life experience of what we’re about to film, so we just put our own experience into it. We don’t have a script every time.

How do you deal with competition from other TikTokers?

I don’t take anything on the Internet seriously.

How do you relax?

I don’t think I have any free time. But sometimes I just relax, relax or have a good time.

Do you have anything to say to your fans?

I just want to tell the fans that no matter what they go through, they should make sure that they are getting closer to the creator. They should also connect to the Creator in order to then show their purpose on Earth.