Chibuikem (Chike) Oforka (FFD 2007; LGS 2014) is a BAFTA-nominated producer known for his work on powerful documentaries such as Forced Out and Surgeons: At the Edge of Life. Chike shares how his path into television was anything but conventional.
Reflecting on the years he spent at LGS, Chike says it wasn’t just academic knowledge that stayed with him, it was something deeper. “There are skills and there are values,” he reflects. “Ambition and the ability to go after things that might seem unattainable – that was instilled in us early on. We were celebrated for trying our hardest.” That belief would become the backbone of his journey from science student to BAFTA-nominated producer.
For Chike, the drama department was where everything clicked. “That was the earliest point where I was thinking about audiences,” he recalls. “Why are we doing what we’re doing? What do these little things we say mean to the audience? What feelings do we want to invoke?”
He credits two teachers, Miss Christie and Miss Boon, with giving him the confidence to express individuality. “They ooze that individuality they were encouraging in us,” he says. “They pushed me to be ambitious and to feel like it was okay to be an individual.”
Despite his love for storytelling, when Chike left school, a career in the arts didn’t seem realistic. “I wasn’t able by the end of Year 13 to see creative pursuits as something that could end up being a viable career that could pay my bills,” he says. Medicine felt more secure. He studied Anatomy, Developmental and Human Biology at King’s College London, on the path toward postgraduate medicine. Yet even as he advanced academically, creativity kept tugging at his sleeve.
As part of the University’s African and Caribbean Society, and eventually becoming President, Chike took a leading role in its annual Culture Shock variety show, directing it for one year. “It was a big variety show that happened every year,” he says, describing a mixture of plays, fashion, and live performances. “We had big artists like Stormzy perform.” That’s when things clicked for Chike. “That was the space whilst I was at uni where I felt like I was using all of my brain and using all of my innate skills. The challenges were challenges that I would be willing to like stay up all night to sort.”
That passion eventually eclipsed his medical ambitions. “It was a scary time,” he admits. “My purpose from Year 9 had been medicine. That was the only professional purpose I had ever had.”
After graduating, unsure of what to do next, Chike moved back to the Midlands. “I didn’t know any of the job roles in film and TV,” he recalls. “I just started typing ‘entry level TV job’ and applying for anything.”
After a series of rejections, he discovered Creative Access, a social enterprise giving advice and interview practice for jobs in the creative industry. Through them, he applied for and landed an internship at Dragonfly Film and Television. “That’s how I got in through the door,” he says. Dragonfly’s focus on medical and science documentaries turned out to be the perfect fit. “What stood out about my application was the fact that I had that science background but was also interested in television.”
Chike remained at Dragonfly for six years, an unusually long time in the freelance industry. “The company I was working for was so supportive,” he says. “If they believed in you, they really tried to develop you and help you achieve your goals.”
Working as a producer on Surgeons: At the Edge of Life gave him unforgettable moments. He vividly remembers filming a lung transplant at a hospital in Cambridge. “It was the most adrenaline-fueled 24 hours of my life,” he says. “We got the call and just descended on Cambridge. We saw the moment the lung was placed into the patient and inflated. It just went pink, and you could tell it had worked. It was a moment I’ll never forget, and we were able to show that moment to the whole country.”
As a producer, he often had to juggle technical direction, patient liaison, and logistics. “You have to wear so many hats,” he explains. “Negotiating with hospital staff, comforting nervous patients, managing relationships, making editorial decisions – it’s a game of chess.”
In 2024, his work on Forced Out, a Sky Original documentary detailing the story of British servicemen discharged from the Armed Services due to their sexuality, led to his first BAFTA nomination. “That is like a pinch-me thing. Still, I’ve got it up on the wall at the bottom of my stairs. When I walk down in the morning, I see it. I didn’t expect it to happen so early in my career,” he says. “But when we were making it, it felt special. It was the thing I was most proud of being part of.”
The nomination changed things. “Your visibility becomes everything in this industry,” Chike explains. After the BAFTA nomination, people started noticing him. “People will be more likely to just want to meet you even if your CV isn’t perfect for the role.”
But he’s quick to note that such recognition shouldn’t be the only goal. “It’s easy to start chasing the next piece of visibility and lose sight of your own journey. Accolades are great, but they’re external. You have to stay focused on doing the job you love.” He has to remind himself of what drew him to the industry in the first place: “telling stories that matter.”
Chike’s true passion lies in documentary work. “It’s the genre that helps us understand each other,” he says. “Giving people a voice to share their stories. It’s helping people see and understand that their stories are worth being heard.”
Chike had a full-circle moment when he returned to LGS this year to judge House Drama and saw the room where all his dreams started. He shares how he was quite emotional after seeing the next generation of pupils take to the stage. “There was such a nice environment, they cheer each other on and want each other to do well.”
Chike shared some final advice to pupils who want to follow a similar career route: “Don’t worry about standing out and keep trying. If it doesn’t go well the first time, don’t allow that to stop you from going after it again. It’s all about self-belief.”
Today, with major new projects on the horizon that are currently under wraps, Chike remains anchored by the values he learned in school and credits LGS for giving him the confidence to take risks. “Self-belief has always been there,” he says. “I’ve always believed that somehow, things will work themselves out. It might not happen in the way you think it will – but they will – and that’s what motivated me.”
