Is it possible to recover a huge part of the
money spent in the production of a movie few
days after its premiere?
Kunle : Yes it is possible, but people may not
understand why, but I will explain. A lot of it
lies on the cinema. The success of a film is not
determined by the number of publicity given to
it, or on whether the film is great or not, no; a
lot of the factor boils on, how the film is been
presented, by the cinemas. For instance, if a
film is so good and in a day, they give it four
(4) slots showing in the cinema; if the first slot
showing is 10: am, 12noon, 2: pm and 4: pm;
that film will not make money. But if the film
gets three (3) slots and the 3slots are; 5: pm,
7: pm and 9: pm, then the film will make more
money. So a lot of times the fate of an average
film is determined by how the cinema positions
the film. There are so many other factors like
publicity; for instance; if a film is not good,
word of mouth will kill it, while if same film is
good, word of mouth will help spread it. But
most importantly, representation by the cinema
is very important and if films are allowed to
stay longer in the cinema, cos there is a huge
gap right now in how the cinemas allow
Nigerian films in the cinemas, and these are
good films by the way,which should be
improved upon to help generate internal
revenue, but then, it is what it is.
Are you ever going to go into politics?
Kunle: No, I want a free life. It is just going to
be movie for now.
What’s your take on Rahama Sadau’s
expulsion from Kannywood? Do you think she
deserved it?
Kunle: We have different cultures. The Igbo
culture is different from the Yoruba and Yoruba
from Hausa. The Hausas are not saying they
are part of Nollywood, they say they are
Kannywood and so if you go to an association
and you sign an agreement, then you need to
follow the rules. Whether she belongs to the
association or whether she signed anything, I
do not know. But the trust is that she is such a
good actress, and she is popular and rising at
the moment, so I don’t think there is gonna be
a problem, I think she can function here or
anywhere. There shouldn’t be relegation,
especially when you are an artiste. But I am
gonna say this, we know that the North is
different, and we have to accept it, especially,
when you agree with and sign a contract to
abide by their laws and code of conduct. Then
it should be what it is.
Speaking of vision, what’s the next level for
Nollywood?
Kunle : I can only contribute my small quota,
which is to continue to make quality films that I
believe can inspire, educate, inform, entertain
and transform.
Rephrasing that question instead. What can
you do, to ensure that both upcoming and some
existing directors can begin to produce movie
that appeal to Nigerians?
Kunle: I have registered a movie academy,
called; KAP Film and Television Academy.
That’s ‘Kunle Afolayan Production Film and
Television Academy’. It is something I have
been meaning to do for a very long time, but I
don’t want to have a school that people will
graduate from and when asked to show their
skills won’t be able to deliver. So it has to be a
standard school, and I am looking for investors
and partners. We already have a space because
it is going to be like a film hub with a proper
sound set studio and we are going to be
teaching majorly the technicalities of film. For
instance, hands on camera, sound, production
design, make-up, Lighting; all of those things
but professionally. Recently I was in Toronto
where I visited a few schools because we are
looking to partner with international schools not
only for certification but also to create a school
curriculum.We want it in such a way that we
can do exchange, sometimes their lecturer can
come around and we also do the same in their
own countries. A lot of people miss out on
something though, many people who studied
film abroad, when they come here, it is difficult
for them to function or fit in, because there are
certain elements that are peculiar to Nigeria,
and the Nigeria style of film making. So if you
want to excel in Nigeria, you need to learn it
the Nigerian way.Oyibo will teach you
templates;‘how to make film the Hollywood
way’, you will now bring that to Nigeria and
say, oh, if you don’t have these equipments, we
can’t shoot. Here it is called the Gorilla film
making style. Again, here, things are different
from the Hollywood where everything is
structured. Also here, the business side of it is
also different from the Hollywood where things
are constituted, for instance,here; an average
film maker is the marketer, the producer, the
actor and so on. These skills when you merge
them together, it makes you a better film maker
agreed, but with its own price. So we are going
to facture these things in and bring expertise
from within and around to put those into proper
perspective. It is like a two years projects for
me, there will accommodation, studio and all,
because people are going to be engaged every
day, but we are looking for investors at the
moment.
