Not so long ago, he was simply known as Padmond to a select few and was 1/2 of the Annor twins. Today with over 47,000 subscribers on social messaging app Snapchat, “Nana Mitch” is the tag most refer to him by and deservingly so after his contributions under the said alias.
But who is this trendsetter, and what has all the hype been about? Well, a quick glance at the digital newsstands will reveal who Nana Mitch is. He is Ghana’s first Lens Studio genius and probably the most prominent among its current crop of creators in the country. In simpler terms, he was the first to help personalize the Ghanaian snap experience you have come to love. Still, if unpopular questions are what you seek, you’ve probably wondered or asked a friend: “Who was he before all this,” “When did he achieve all this”?
Chances are they might’ve been as clueless as you, or answered per hearsay. Lucky for you and the countless lot, we managed to get up close and personal with the man himself, and have all the official facts about his pre-fame era.
Let’s go!
Born on December 20, 1997, Padmond ‘Nana Mitch’ Annor like most Gen Z’ers of his time grew enamored with the then-budding world of social media by the time he was 12. Before all this excitement, Nana Mitch had one of his most heartbreaking experiences a decade prior: “My father died when I was a child. My twin brother and I were about 3-years-old when we relocated to Sefwi Bekwai to join our mother and her our stepfather’’, he shares.
This period, one Nana Mitch likens with feelings of “isolation” and “loneliness” led to his enrollment in two boarding schools – Grace Preparatory School in Sefwi WIaso and later Great Faith Preparatory School at Santasi Anyinam, Kumasi – when he was 7-years-old, culminating in the start of his Junior High School years in Better Best Academy in Greater Accra’s Tema Municipality at age 12. There, he completed his BECE in 2013 and began his social media quest.
By the end of his time in Ofori Payin Senior High School (2016), Nana Mitch’s social media gamble had paid off. His reputation as the “most followed” student on campus was a feat unlike any other thanks to his staggering audience of 60,000 on Instagram. With educational ambitions still his priority, he would go on to pursue a BFA in Film Editing at the National Film and Television Institute while shooting content for SchardoTV; a social media venture he and his twin had created after SHS.
In December of 2015 – a year after Snapchat’s highest user growth to date – Nana Mitch joined the social messaging app and was quick to realize an inconvenience in the years to follow; there were limited lenses representing big Ghanaian cities. This new intrigue and zeal to help curb the inconvenience led Nana to experiment with Snap Incorporated’s Lens Studio in 2019: “Once I discovered the app I knew I was on to something and 2020’s lockdown presented me the best time to explore this opportunity. I joined a virtual Lens Studio class and dedicated myself to it for about a year, because per dialogue with my friends and most Snapchat users here the need to diversify and better represent Ghana on there was urgent”.
It has been a successful venture since, with Nana Mitch having made a plethora of unique lenses available for events and celebrations, next to his first ever creation “Ahuofe” (beauty) filter which has helped him earn an unprecedented 100 million views on the app alongside his many creations.
You can subscribe to his Snapchat here: nana_mitch or https://www.snapchat.com/add/nana_mitch?share_id=NTIyRjJC&locale=en_HK and never miss out on his new and most exciting lenses.
