Biography
First-generation American writer/director/producer/actor OTOJA ABIT (pronounced "O-toe-jay Abbitt") is best known for his award-winning debut short, Jitters, in which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred. Otoja expanded on his short Jitters' theme with A New York Christmas Wedding, which entered the independent film festival circuit with runs at the American Black FilmFestival, UrbanWorld Film Festival, Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival, among many others. The first-of-its-kind urban-leaning holiday film touched on some of the themes involving the LGBTQIA community, 21st-century views on love, religion, family, and more. Acquired by and exclusively premiering globally on Netflix on November 2020, the film was highlighted in the New York Times for it's uniqueness. Otoja's past credits include Guest Star on CBS's BULL, HBO's The Night of, NBC's Blackish, Marvel's The Defenders and NBC's limited series The Slap. The only son of driven Nigerian parents, Abit was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens, NY. Otoja got his start in the industry interning at The Labyrinth theatre company, his first big project was working as the assistant director on Broadway's 2011 revival of That Championship Season, directed by Gregory Mosher and starring Kiefer Sutherland, Brian Cox, Jim Gaffigan, Jason Patric, and Chris Noth. Otoja then went on to book roles in both television and film. His list of film credits includes The Humbling, directed by Barry Levinson and playing opposite Al Pacino; "Paris" in Aleta Chappelle's Romeo & Juliet in Harlem; and gay liberation pioneer, Marsha P Johnson in Roland Emmerich's Stonewall. Otoja is a recipient of 2019 "Rising Star Award"provided by Bushwick Film Festival. With the success of Jitters, Otoja founded his production company Willful Productions.
