Olukorede Yishau
Some years back Samuel Olatunji was a reporter with The Sun. Day in, day out, he combed the streets of Lagos for stories, especially entertainment stories.
In the process, his path crossed with many of the players in the movie and music sectors. He met them on red carpets and movie premieres, among other places.
The introvert called Big Sam had no choice but to mingle with this loud set of people. The job came first.
They were subjects of his interviews and exclusive reports. Were Olatunji practising journalism in the United States or the United Kingdom, his organisation would have given him paid sabbatical to write books on the industry. But this is Nigeria where almost everything, including the media, is gasping for breath.
Olatunji eventually got fed up with the media. So he quit. One of his bosses, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, who is now Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, admired his gut and wished him well.
I am sure Egbemode is proud of what Olatunji has been able to make of his life since bidding the newsroom bye-bye.
When Olatunji left, he set up a public relations firm – BBB Media. His first set of clientele was celebrities. He also runs 007 Global Limited.
Today he manages the career of one of the country’s most sought-after actor: the crazy Edo babe called Toyin Abraham.
Like a restless soul, Olatunji is ever looking for new challenges. Aside from burnishing celebrities’ images, Olatunji is also the brain behind Broadway TV.
I choose to write about him today because of his new love: movie-making. It started when he co-produced The Ghost and The Tout and Seven and a Half Dates.
Not sated with being just a producer or executive producer, Olatunji honed his skill in movie directing and this coming St Valentine Day, Olatunji’s debut as a movie director, Dear Affy, will hit the cinemas.
The movie parades A-list stars, such as Chiwetalu Agu, Jide Kosoko, Kehinde Bankole, Toyin, Williams Uchemba, Teni the entertainer, Odunlade Adekola, Kola Ajeyemi, Abimbola Ademoye, Eyinna Nwigwe and Timini Egbuson.
The movie seems set to join the league of the highest earners of 2020, or of all times! At the moment, Ayo Makun’s Merry Men 2 holds the record of the highest-earning movie, with over 200 million in revenue.
It is trailed by Mo Abudu’s Your Excellency and Jade Osiberu’s Sugar Rush, a feel-good movie, which a critic says ‘makes the audience laugh but does absolutely nothing else’. For me, at times, all we need is just the opportunity to laugh for two straight hours! And the Sugar Sisters ensure that.
Nollywood has really come a long way. Though it has not been able to eclipse the love of Nigerians for anything foreign, it is holding its own.
On the average, statistics show that 20,000 people watch Nollywood weekly. On bad weeks, the figure is said to drop to 4,000, according to the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN).
Interestingly, the report shows that some 70,000 people see movies weekly in Nigeria, but 50,000 of them still opt for foreign movies.
In the second week of December last year, Nollywood movies on display made N57.8 million. A foreign film, Jumanji, alone pulled in N55.9 million.
Things looked up for the industry in the last week of December, with a record high of 165,307 people watching Nollywood films that week while only 79,314 people saw foreign films.
Nollywood also won the week before when 118,808 went in to see Sugar Rush, Your Excellency and Merry Men 2.
Read Also: Sanwo-Olu celebrates valentine with Lagosians
I expect Dear Affy to benefit from the successes of these three films. The movie’s cinema premiere on St Valentine’s Day is apt. The movie has enough love and romance.
It also has lessons for the season, which not a few, especially the young ones, sees as the opportunity to get drunk and have sex.
Alcohol is good, but like everything else, too much of it is bad. In this movie, you will see what alcohol is capable of doing to a lady.
When what should be done with clear eyes is done with ‘dirty’ eyes, there is always trouble the morning after. If you are expecting me to tell you the story, my response is: far, far, far, foul! You need to go see it to fill in the gap.
I must not fail to point out the fact that the likes of Olatunji would have been able to do more if only they have the financial muscle. You need to hear him talk about raising money for this movie.
I have no doubt that a number of players in the industry are eager to turn great novels written by Nigerians into movies, but the money to acquire the screen right is not there.
If Nollywood has enough resources, it would have been able to option Americanah, the amazing love story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
The 2013 novel tells the story of a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who leaves for the United States to attend university.
She is in love with Obinze, who eventually relocates to London but finds life as an illegal immigrant difficult. He is bundled back home and fortune later smile on him.
Distance breaks them up. Ifemelu starts another relationship and then another one, but her heart remains with Obinze, who also moves on by getting married and starting a family. But for the two of them, what goes up must come down.
Like her Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah is set to go on the screen. Over the years there have been many Hollywood movies with Nigerian characters played by people from other nations and their interpretations of the roles have always been subjects of disagreements.
People will watch out to see how Lupita Nyongo, who is from Kenya, will pronounce Igbo names. Will she speak Igbo? Biyi Bandele’s adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun was enmeshed in a similar controversy.
Not a few felt the twins should have been played by Nigerians instead of Thandie Newton (Olanna) and Anika Noni Rose (Kainene).
If Nollywood had the resources to buy the movie right for Americana, it would have been able to call the shot and our stars, such as Genevieve Nnaji, Stephanie Linus, Rita Dominic, Omoni Oboli, Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD), Olu Jacobs, Adesua Etomi-Wellington, and many others, would have dazzled us.
My final take: The Federal Government, through any of its arts-related agencies, should help movie makers to churn out more quality movies all year round.
With help, the industry will be given a lifeline. I dare say it is gasping for breath now and badly in need of oxygen, which will enable it to produce grade one movies all year long and not just for Valentine, Easter or Christmas/New Year.
Leave a Reply