From studying Economics at the Lagos State University, LASU, Paul Utomi has taken steady and solid steps in the world of performance. Starting with modelling, he is an actor, producer and now, with the upcoming movie Country Hard, a director. He speaks with eelive.ng on his career and the new movie.
You have an upcoming movie titled Country Hard, tell us about it.
Country Hard is basically a hyperlink drama. It tells the story of seven individuals; and it focuses on a day in their lives where they try to overcome several hurdles and obstacles.
Where did the idea for the movie come from and what made you decide to do a movie that reflects on the hardship experienced in Nigeria?
I can’t say the actual moment it was birthed but I remember talking to two friends and longtime collaborators, Vanessa Nzediegwu and Tope Tedela. I wondered if it would be cool to explore the genre in my head and having spoken to them, I decided to sit down and write something interesting.
Is the storyline based on something you have experienced before or is it as a result of the economic situation of the country?
I do know several individuals who have experienced some of the stories we touched in the film. While there are some instances that I can easily relate to, I don’t think I have experienced all of them before. For example, one of the stories is about Chudi and Jubril, I do have friends who have been in love with people and friends who have had catastrophic relationships.
I have a friend who asked someone to marry him and it didn’t go the way he had hoped. I have several friends who have been robbed, I have also been robbed on few occasions. Some of those experiences are where I probably got the inspiration from when I was writing some of the stories. Some people will also say that they have a bitter-sweet relationship with some members of their family; so there is that also.
What were the choices you made in filming in Lagos?
We picked Lagos for two reasons, the first is because it is a town that we young producers are familiar with and our production team was confident that we will be able to acquire some of the places that we needed to help tell and enhance the story as best as we could. A lot of the cast and crew members currently live in Lagos so it was easier to speak and negotiate with them. We also felt we wanted the story to have an immense impact; we wanted people to be able to connect with what they see, that is an African cosmopolitan city and what better place to accomplish that than Lagos.
How would you describe the experience of making the movie so far?
It was fun, exhilarating and terrifying. We had to film in over 36 locations and they were lots of times where we had to move the cast and crew from different locations. Maintaining continuity was a bit of a nightmare and I am happy we were able to overcome it.
What were you most worried about while shooting country hard?
I was worried about the weather because we shot the movie late last year and it was a rainy season. About 40% of the scenes took place outside and we had to cope with the weather change and because the entire story happened in the course of one day it was hard to maintain continuity, pertaining to the weather. Sometimes it got sunny and the next minute everywhere looked dark. We had to work around the weather. Another challenge was logistics but I’m glad we had a great team and producers who made it easy.
Do you think our stories in Nigeria are doing enough to address the economic situation of the country?
I think only time will tell but we can always do more. Thankfully, a lot of young producers, film makers and writers are coming up with clever ways to tell interesting stories and share positive and uplifting narrative in these hard times.
How did you get into the film industry and what in your early days propelled you in that direction?
It was an accident. I was working in a media house and I was writing and presenting a show called AM Express, having done that for a bit, I left the company. Back then a friend of mine told me to consider commercial modeling so I decided to try it.
During my days as a model, someone invited me to take part in a radio drama and after recording the drama, some of the producers told me that they would like to see me take up some TV roles and that was how I started attending auditions. The very first audition that I attended, I did it reluctantly, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. As time went on, I met a lot of interesting people who kept encouraging and dragging me along. That was when I realized that it was something I love doing and I do not see myself doing anything else.
What influenced the choice of actors to star in Country Hard?
In Nigeria and Africa there are lots of talented individuals. I and my producers, Vanessa Nzediegwu, Tope Tedela and Timini Egbuson talked about how these characters should look physically. There were some healthy debates and suggestions, in the end and we felt that it would be nice to cast people who would look the part and interpret the role in a way and manner that captures the story in a whole and we were fortunate that some of the people we had in mind, who were our first choices jumped on board. We have wonderful talents like Kehinde Bankole, Omowumi Dada, Tina Mba and lots of talented people who gave us their best. We are grateful for their time and effort.
How long did you shoot the movie?
We shot for about seven days with over 90 set ups and over 36 locations.
Can you tell us about your work to date and your style?
I directed Country Hard and as a director I put a lot of work into the scenes and set up. When I get into the edit room, I have a clear idea of how I want the story to go but I’m also open to ideas from my editor. So far I have directed one feature length film and three short films. The short film is titled Relationship. I did part 1 to 3 and hopefully I will be directing one or two films very soon. I also wrote and co-produced What Lies Within. It’s a dramatic story and people still talk about how much they love it and it make us really happy.
I love working on things that the audience can relate to on the screen, which is having an emotional response when they watch the movies.
How do you juggle acting and directing and what is the most important thing to you as a director?
Right now, it hasn’t been much of a challenge because I have directed a couple of short films and Country Hard is my first major film and I also wrote it, but acting has been a major thing for me. Hopefully I get more opportunities to direct for other people and try to produce and direct more projects myself.
The most important thing to me as a director is communication and a positive attitude. I want people who believe in the project, I love honesty. If they don’t think something is working, you want them to say so and be positive about it. It’s not easy to direct in Nigeria because you will end up doing a billion things at once. You’re dealing with the extras, continuity, cinematography, the crew and actors in front of the camera who might have questions that you need to answer and you just have to put up a brave face and put your best foot forward.
Are you going to quit acting for directing?
No, I don’t think I would leave acting. If the right roles don’t come then I can focus on writing or directing. But if I get roles that interests me, I am always willing to step in front of the camera.
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What lessons did you learn from your first film, What Lies Within and why did you choose to become a director?
I learnt a lot. There were so many things that could have wrong when we were shooting, our audio wasn’t particularly great; and we had to do a certain amount of AVR.
We were very deliberate with the kind of audio to use when we were shooting Country Hard. We were careful because sound is basically 60% of what makes your film. Thankfully we didn’t have the same challenge with the audio when we were shooting Country Hard.
As a director, I think I have always wanted to tell stories, I probably didn’t realise it. It wasn’t deliberate but I have always wanted to do that. When I started acting, I had the opportunity to attend an acting workshop at the Centre for Film and Television Excellence which was being run at the time by the late Amaka Igwe.
After my acting course, they were looking for people who were willing to study directing, so I jumped on board and took a course in directing and I haven’t looked back since then.
Although it took me a while to eventually direct anything, but after taking the course, I knew eventually at some point that I was going to have to step behind the camera.
When is Country Hard going to be released?
We are currently talking to some possible distributors and once we have concrete information, we will share with the public.
What new projects are you working on?
As an actor, I’m probably going to feature in some films, as a director and writer; I have one or two things in the works. I am also looking forward to releasing a project I have been working on, it’s a psychological thriller.
Can you share a bit about your background, who is Paul Utomi?
I grew up in Lagos with four siblings and I studied Economics at Lagos State University (LASU). Afterwards, I studied acting and directing from Amaka Igwe. I learn a lot about acting, writing and directing from her which has proved invaluable. I’m grateful that I got to meet her in person. She was basically a bundle of joy and held so much knowledge and experience.
Advice for upcoming actors and director
Try not to put too much pressure on yourself, remember arts is objective. No more matter how good you think you are, some people might like your work and some might not. Have fun, do what is true to you. If you want to do an action movie; comedy or thriller make it happen but make it to the best of our ability. Try to tell a good story and strive for excellence. Mistakes will happen and you’ll learn from it and that’s the way to get better.
