Arguably one of the most influential and revered filmmakers on the African continent, Kunle Afolayan has been in the game almost all his life. He started his career as a child actor and has directed, written, produced, and even acted in many plays, TV shows, and films. On top of this, Afolayan is a successful entrepreneur. Recently, he had an interview with The PUNCH online where he discussed his soon-to-be-release movie, Citation, fatherhood, his Netflix’s deals, amongst other things. eelive.ng brings you the first part of excerpts from the interview as monitored by DAMILARE FAMUYIWA
I congratulated you on your birthday which you celebrated two days ago, sir looking back at most of your birthday, I am sure you invited friends over and the likes, but as we spoke earlier 2020 is a dynamic year, how did you celebrate your birthday?
I work and typically my workplace is not a white collar one, we are into entertainment people, so this is a place where people walk in on daily and a lot of people figured it was my birthday and turned up. We decided to celebrate in the workplace; it was fun, because a lot of my friends, family members, amongst other beautiful people came out, and of course we had reason to celebrate. But like you said, it has been a funny year so far and thankfully, we are all still standing, and to those who must have lost someone in the cause of the pandemic, I would love to drop my condolences.
If you have the opportunity to turn the hands of time, is there anything you would have loved to do differently? Is there anything you thought you would have done better, or you wouldn’t have done?
Nothing really. I didn’t create myself; I happen to believe that whatever it is that I have done, I’ve been ordained that I will do that. So, I really don’t have regrets and I thank God.
Now speaking of the pandemic, did it affect the production of the yet to be released movie, Citation?
Yes of course. Post-production was a bit affected, we managed to have completed photography before the pandemic started, there are certain elements of a post-production that you normally do. I usually will travel to do those things, but of the pandemic did not allow me do that. But the good thing is that we still managed to get it done.
READ MORE: Kunle Afolayan’s ‘Citation’ to Exclusively Premiere on Netflix
The film was meant to have done some runs -private screenings, even premiere and all of that, but as it is, because of the pandemic, we are still not sure if that is happening or not.
It will be good to express hope in all the forms that we have filled, especially those that government agencies ask that the industry fill and submitted. We hope that these forms will still be some sort of consensus to the industry, because we shut down cinemas for almost seven months. And we are just hoping that the government will do something to help subtle the hardship.
What goes on in your mind when writing a story?
The thing is, if you have a bad image, right or let me say if you work in a space where it takes collective efforts to achieve what you do, the final result is always tied to your name. And if the final result is bad, you get all the blame and then if the final result is good, you get all the kudos and pats on the back.
The films I make isn’t just all about me, it is usually a collective effort. A lot of people don’t know but every time we are filming on set, we usually have over 100 people, and you have different people playing different roles. The success of the film should also ties to those who are catering, those who are in charge of logistics, the runners as you know, and everybody, not to talk about creative people and in creative.
Of course, I produce, I look for the money then I direct some time involving in the story conceptualization, partly writing but there are people who sit down and to the screenplay. There are people who come up with the original stories. In lightening department alone, you have about five to six people, you know in camera you have about five six people, you know in costumes and makeup in production design. So, what I’m basically saying is that when I get an idea, I reach out to all of these people and then we all start thinking about putting heads together and then we execute.
READ ALSO: Watch Kunle Afolayan’s ‘Citation’ Teaser
I want to use this medium to celebrate and thank all of those people who have worked with Golden Effects and KAP Motion Pictures, to turn out all of those masterpieces we have done. I want to say thank you to all of them because without them, we might have not gotten to where we are today. Yes, people will say it is Kunle Afo film, but I cannot carry camera, and act at the same time. More so, I want to express gratitude to all the actors that we work with. I want to say thank you to all of them. I think a lot. Yes. I come up with concepts, but all of those people are the ones that make those films happen.
In some of your movie, we have witnessed people debuting their acting careers. I think it’s a risk you’re taking because if these people don’t do it, well it will turn on you as a bad producer. And why do you take such risks?
For me, it is not risk, they didn’t come to me to say they wanted the role, or they wanted to act. I reached out to them because I saw something in them. I am a big fan of Chidinma’s music. I’ve always been as a matter of fact, and the first time I reached out to her to work with us was during October 1. You remember there is a character in October one by the name Chidinma. She’s a daughter to Kanayo O Kanayo in October 1. I wanted Chidinma to play that role but at that time it just wasn’t possible. Simi is also my delight; I walk out with her music. Essentially, I see talents and when I see one, every other thing follows.
There are a lot of people that I work with who are not known yet, so you can say one of my films brought them to limelight. Some featured in only one or two films before Figurine. So yeah. I like to look out for talent and I also like to have a blend of both the upcoming, the existing, and then the veterans.
So, what did you see in Ibukun Awosika of First Bank for you to feature her in Citation and how were you able to secure her availability for the shooting of her roles?
I saw her in my dream. I’m a follower of her energy and what she stands for. She’s a woman of integrity and high esteem, Particularly, she is an advocate for everything -dignity, gender balance and all of that. But trust me, I never thought she would work on my film until one day that I slept and she was in my dream, and we were talking about film. In the dream, I was explaining her roles to her. And that was how the desire to have her on this project, started and I was committed to have her on it by all means. Thankfully, like we do say, the rest is history.
She’s a very busy woman, and that was the only thing I had to contend with. Imagine locking her down for 5 days outside of Lagos. I think it took divine intervention.
Your movies have touched various aspects of the human life, and there is a saying that says that if your dream is not so big that it scares, then it’s just not big enough. So which story are you yet to do that it is so big that it scares you?
Well, nothing scares me. But there is a project that we have been working on for about five years now and its set is like that of the Oyo Empire, I mean like the 16th centuries. It’s a series and this is a project I’m committed to. It is huge, I mean really huge, I’m talking of something a series like Game of Thrones, you know that kind of level. Each year, it’s becoming clearer, but It’s something that I feel until I do it, I will not be at rest. I think it’s going to create new discuss, and at the same time, encourage people to want to go all out in achieving stuffs.
When the project comes alive, I understand people might not understand how much has gone into, which is why I am even putting it here. Look, we have been on this for like four-five years and we still are not done.
It is a norm in the movie industry that we see producer and directors acting in their movies, you have done a few acting but you prefer staying behind the cameras. Is there a reason why you don’t like projecting your face?
A lot of times I only feature if I see myself see myself in the film. If I don’t see myself in the film, I don’t force it. This is not something that is only peculiar to Nigeria, it is a global thing. You look at Jackie Chan’s film; Jackie is the executive producer, he is the stunts man, and the actor. He plays many roles and there are quite a number of so many other people like that.
For me, if I think there’ll be creative conflict. I’ll rather just stay behind the camera and do my job. Because that is tasking enough, but if I feel like I can pull it off, why not?
Let’s speak about piracy. You were very vocal about it. And looking at the Nigerian movie industry, do you think ever since you’ve been speaking about it, enough has been done?
Well, when we say enough, nobody can do anything except the government. Have they done anything? No! They haven’t. It’s still the same thing, the law has not been changed, and the copyright law has not been improved. So, a lot of people, all the culprits now that is what they try to idol. They know the law, but they are like what will happen to them, worst case they will fine them 100,000 or send them to 2 weeks in jail. Whereas in other countries, if you are caught doing that, you can be executed. In some countries, you go to life imprisonment. It’s a serious thing that’s really affecting all of us. But I think technology is beginning to help us change the narrative.
In 2014, when we released October 1st, the core distribution platforms were cinema DVD and then we put it on television like, DSTV, African Magic and since that time, streaming platforms started coming like Netflix. They came, and they started building catalogue. And when you talk about African cinema, Nigeria plays a very key role, a lot of people make films that will only go to Netflix. Also, people are making films just for Youtube. As a matter of fact, piracy is a little more electronic now because when a film is out online, it’s very easy to copy, and when it is copied, people put them on Youtube even though they don’t have authorisation to do that. Then they also put on their own website. These are the areas that the platform needs to work, and I think the government need to help cut down loopholes.
….To be continued.
