Mr Macaroni Skit for Yoruba Wikipedia

On the 1st of July 2022, the Yoruba Wikimedians User Group collaborated with Mr Macaroni, a multi award-wining Nigerian comic skit maker, actor with millions of followers on various social media to produced short comic skit to promote the Yoruba language Wikipedia. The shooting arrangement, releasing, and other agreement were finalized and a draft of the script was sent to us on the 15th of July 2022. This effort is part of our awareness strategy, and campaign to promote the Yoruba language Wikipedia. See the Yoruba Wikipedia Awareness Campaign for additional information.

Production

Development

Mr Macaroni Skit for Yoruba Wikipedia Video

The project idea came up in 2021 when we reviewed the movement strategy recommendations that focuses on increase the sustainability of our movement.

< Increase awareness about the Wikimedia Movement, its values, achievements, projects, and communities worldwide – to secure the attention, trust, and interest of knowledge consumers, volunteers, partners, and donors.
— Movement Strategy recommendation #1: Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement

To sustain the Yoruba language Wikipedia and related projects, there is a need to increase awareness about it, the community and its works. These include creating videos or organizing campaign, and advocacy to promote the project and introduce the Wikimedia projects to new audiences and groups. This will ensure the sustainability of interest in the movement from people like readers, partner organizations and donors, as well as bringing new volunteers.

We did not have a budget for it at the time but we aimed at using funding from our annual plan grant to produce the work. Again, we were concerned about the choice of skit makers, as we wanted an influencer who has millions of followers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Cute Abiola, Oga Sabinu, and Mr Macaroni were shortlisted but Mr. Macaroni was selected because of the number of followers he has on social media and other criteria predetermined by the Yoruba Wikimedia User Group management team.

Scripting

The script was developed by Mr. Macaroni and his team. This is a special type of production, and Mr. Macaroni have a clear understanding of the nature of contents that would interest the audience or viewers. The script was shared with our team, and we set up a three-man team of reviewers to review the script, and provide the necessary feedback to the script writer (Mr. Macaroni).

Critical reception

The skit was critically acclaimed at Wikimania 2022 remote event in Nigeria. It was praised for its choice of cast, producer, top-notch cinematography, it's engagement on social media, and the number of new editors that joined the Yoruba Wikipedia as a result of his released on social media.

Public presentation

On the 12th of August 2022, the video was presented at the Wikimania 2022 Remote Event in Nigeria. It was discussed in a panel session facilitated by Isaac Olatunde, and Dansu Peter and moderated by Kayode Yussuf.

Work plan and timeline

Work plan & timeline
Month(s)	Location(s)	Activities	Resulting deliverables	Remarks
4th July 2022 - 15th July 2022	Lagos	Production meetings, script writing, shoot days scheduling	Every arrangement will have been finalized	Done
18th – 7th August 2022	Lagos	Video production (shooting) & post-production (editing, color correction, sound mixing, subtitling; etc.)	One quality video produced (2–5 mins).	Done
10th August 2022	Lagos	Uploads to Commons	The video is uploaded to Commons	Done
11th August 2022	Lagos	Video promotion on social media and among community members	Video promoted	Done

Communication plan

We have designed a simple communication plan to manage all communications relating to this project.

Communication type	Objectives of communication	Medium	Frequency	Audience	Owner
Production meeting	Review of production date Script review Review of choice of actors	In-person	one-off	Mr Macaroni Isaac Olatunde Mikaeel Sodiq Peter Dansu Other crew members	Project manager (Isaac Olatunde)
Post-production meeting	Recap of the scope of the video Recap of deliverable Conclusion on final delivery date Final review of the planned location Discussion on colour grading, graphics, post-treatments Agreement on file format	Online	one-off	Mr Macaroni Isaac Olatunde Mikaeel Sodiq Dansu Peter Editor Other crew members	Project manager (Isaac Olatunde)
Video Licensing	Type of releasing license Commission work agreement format	In-person	one-off	Mr Macaroni Isaac Olatunde Mikaeel Sodiq Peter Dansu	Project manager (Isaac Olatunde)

Deliverables

Video production
File type	No. of files	Format	Duration	Approximate size on GB or TB	Status
Video	1	WebM or .ogg	2 – 5 mins	20 MB	Delivered

Social media promotion
Social media	Proposed No. of Viewers	Achieved number viewers
Facebook	500,000	Delivered
Twitter	10,000	Delivered
Youtube	100,000	Delivered
Instagram	200,000	Delivered

Social media engagement

Core team

Mr. Macaroni(Producer, and director)
Isaac Olatunde (Project manager and script reviewer)
Mikaeel Sodiq (script reviewer)
Dansu Peter (logistics manager)
Dorcas Abidemi (program officer
Olaniyan Olushola (advisor)