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 noticed something and spoke to a veteran in the industry, where Nollywood movies are now being dubbed in foreign languages…
I heard about it but I have not seen them. Although, I know there was some sort of a campaign against it sometime ago.
What do you think about that trend, do you think it will favour the movie industry?
Citation has been acquired by Netflix but it’s going to subtitled in like 50 languages and it’s going to be dubbed in 27 languages. This means that some people will be watching Citation and the actors will be speaking German, some will be watching and they’ll be speaking French, some will be watching and they’ll be speaking Portuguese. Now this thing that has been done to Nigerian film is called dub.
I don’t see anything wrong except if there’s no authorisation from the content owner. If there’s authorisation from the content owner and the person says I’m selling you the right to these content and you can do as you are pleased or you can make other factions of it and dub it indifferent languages that you like and it is paid for, I don’t see anything wrong in it. But I think most of the times it happens that the pirates are the ones doing it. So, there’s no remuneration to the content owner.
I know Startimes was involved in this kind of thing. Did they have authorisation from the content owner? These are the question you should ask. You know, Nigeria, a lot of the time, you see information without knowing details. Somebody will say I gave my film to Netflix; people will now ask how much did the pay you. And when you even mention, they don’t understand the details of the deal. They don’t know if Netflix own it forever, they don’t know if it’s just one year. I think people should not just generalise because in that space, you can have 10-100 different negotiations between the content buyer and the content owner.
So Speaking of the Netflix deals, would you like to shed some lights?
Lailai (sic), but like I said, all I can say is that it’s going to be globally released. It’s not all the films that they pick that goes global and it’s going to be subtitled and dubbed. So, when people see dub, they shouldn’t panic. I gave the authorisation for it to be dubbed.
Let’s go down memory lane a bit, you are a popular artiste as early as age 11, 12, 13 you’ve been traveling West Africa with your late father. according to some reports. What I find a bit interesting is that, although, you studied business administration, but you worked in the banking sector briefly. One would have thought you would just jump into the acting scene and the likes , but it took you a while, you first worked at the bank before you now became the man that you are. Is there any reason why you worked as a banker?
I said something earlier, I said I am not in charge of my life; I’m not in charge of how it plays out. I will play my role, I’ll aspire, I’ll dream, and then I will work at it. I think God has his own plan for me. It is true that I studied business administration and I worked in a bank briefly, I worked there for 7 years, but while in the bank, I had already started acting on the side. I knew that I wasn’t going to stay there for too long and also because, I joined the bank.
Mind you, at that time, I had already started thinking and working towards making movies, which was what pushed me down to the likes of our fathers and uncles Tunde Kelani, uncle Tade Ogidan and the rest of them. I watched a lot of movies and I really love them. You know, as a filmmaker, you have to watch films because I mean not because you want to copy the film, but the good ones help you to understand how to make a good film. And the bad ones open up and teach you how not to make a bad film. So for me, I think I am just destined to be here.
What are some of the fun memories you have of your dad, you seem quite close to him?
We were not that close o! In fact, that’s why I’m always telling my children that they are very lucky. My father was quite distant because he was like a king in that space, and I have said this before, we are many children (20 something), how many children will he be pampering or disciplining. And then of course, many wives and the business at that time, they are never in one place, you hardly see them because they do theatre and they do films in the whole continent especially West Africa. So it was a period where anytime you see him, you’re always very joyous to like look at him in the face and stay close to him. He was a disciplinarian and he was very cultured and one thing people always remember him for is his integrity. To crown it all, he was such a creative human being and I think most of us took that from him
When you started out, you said he was a king in his space. When he started out, I won’t just say you filled his shoes because you’ve also carved a name for yourself, you are not more seen as the son of Ade Love, you’re seen as Kunle Afolayan. Were you at any time pressured because of the name?
It was a bit easier, because he passed away before I started. There was no case of let me talk to somebody on your behalf, let them put you in the film or let me talk to somebody to give you work. My father was never there but of course some people opened up their hands, I’m talking of people like Tunde Kelani, who spoke to me only because I was Ade Love. Although, TK as fondly called is open to a lot of people, and has worked with my father in several projects and of course he knows me, at least, which I think gave room for the conversation to start. The same thing with Tade Ogidan. Same thing with a lot of people in the bank who gave me an edge. While I was working in the bank, I was in the cooperate affairs communications and I started surrounding myself with friends who are into brand development and all of that, these helped me to reshape my thought around creating a brand for myself and around myself. But people would first say that he’s Ade Love’s son but when I did my first film, they were like oh! This is Kunle Afolayan. The narrative starred changing and when we did Phone Swap, they were like maybe he has a small brain. Then, we did October 1. This was when people started to realise that he seems to know what he’s doing but for me, I just have to keep going.
Can you say the journey was that smooth for you?
Did you mean smooth? I guess it’s because banks have not yet started publishing my name. I am always having to borrow money from banks to actually do most of the things that I do. And sometimes, you would have projections, which won’t click. And when that happens, you have to find a way to ensure that “oruko o baje” meaning that you protect your name and find a way to pay back so that you can continue to enjoy those kinds of benefits and facilities.
In fact, let me quickly state clearly that I took the entertainment and creative industry loan that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced last year. So, I have a clear understanding of the fact that I am a creative, and at the same time an entrepreneur. For me to have sustainability and for the business to continue, I have to always balance the art and the business side, which I would say has not been smooth.
I think I remember a while back, you premiered your movie on the plane. It was Nobel at the time, but what actually inspired that?
It has a lot to do with brand association, I was invited for a meeting, and we started a discussion and they decided to make me their brand ambassador. I am still their brand ambassador up till now even though they now change the tag to Friend of the Brand. But that has been on for 4 years. We collaborated, we made the CEO film. At that time, we thought about the thing we can do that nobody has done and we decided to premiere the film on the plane. This was so huge because we dedicated a whole flight to that event, and we branded the whole airport, it was like a movie theatre and with danced all the way into the plane, we flew to Paris and then we flew back the third day. Having experienced this, what more can you possibly ask for? I think it’s a collaboration of mutual benefits and that is why there’s continuity, because up till now we still do stuff, a whole lot.
Sometime I got to be on Instagram and I see places where you were in a good mood and you sing and the likes, would we see going to the studio to sing, releasing an album or the likes?
I don’t know. Actually, we have a studio here. Since its establishment, I’ve never asked them to set the mic for me because I want to sing. I sing in my bathroom and all that, I make noise, and I think I’ve been blessed to have children who are really good singers, even if I don’t get to sing maybe they would professionally or not, but I think they are really gifted. They are presently working on their singles, but I don’t like to put pressure on them, they would do what they want as far as career is concerned and we can only help where necessary.
Speaking of your children as well, you know the movie Mokalic, I was privileged to be there when they were shooting it somewhere on the mainland. Your child too was also in the movie, how do you feel seeing that you followed your father’s footstep and your children are also following your footsteps?
I think that’s how God want it. If I don’t see my children in movie-making, I won’t even dare to enforce it on them, If they turn out to want to toe the same part, God be the glory but if they say no they want to do something else, I would never make fuse about having my children continue what I started or anything no. if it is their calling, and they choose to, so be it.
How have you been able to balance fatherhood and your career?
I think God gave me that strength to be able to balance that side. They are here now; what I do is that I ensure that I don’t give room for them to just be idle, even in this time of COVID, they have been very with online classes, and once they are done, they get engaged with something else. I put them in different department even if it’s just to be carrying paper up and down, instead of just leaving them at home. I get to understand them because we talk a lot, and sometimes when I am on set, they come especially if they are not in school, but if they are in school, they face their education squarely and we still find a way to talk in between.
How is your fashion-designing career going?
Well. we started with Kunle’s Kembo. As you can see, I am wearing one of the products. But we have rebranded, now the brand is called Ire Clothing. We resolved to rebranding because the name Kunle’s Kembe is not enough to sustain multiple collections. Since we established, we have been part of multiple fashion shows, including African fashion week in London.