Nollywood filmmaker, Kayode Kasum has revealed that what informs is story angle of filming is reality.
In an interview on Channels TV‘s Nollywood Uncut, Kasum said he likes to portray reality with filming, adding that when a story is narrated in a way that is real, people will fall in love with it.
He said, “My main angle has always been “is it true?” ..So, if I read a script and I see something that’s not possible, and a certain character that is doing funny things, I cannot translate it into real life because I don’t believe it.
“First, my process is that it must always be the truth. Your dialogue has to be true, and what the actor is doing has to be true. I always have it in my mind that any film I’m making must resonate with somebody else…”
Telling his rise to stardom story, the filmmaker who’s known for directing blockbusters like Sugar Rush, and Qualms Money, Kasum stated that didn’t debut his career as a director.
“Getting to where I am today has to do with a lot of hard work, and just believe in stories. I really love telling stories and I didn’t start as a director. I started as an editor at Wale Adenuga Productions. I edited there for a year, and then I picked a couple of skills in animation, and I worked for Africa Cable Television, it was a new decoder platform at a time. I was there for two years, and then I moved to an advertising agency….
“My basic strength is in filmmaking, but as a young Nigerian trying to find your steps, you kind of have to use the different skills you have to put something on your table to feed.
“So, I was gradually learning and trying to disciplined through this different form of stories. And one day, I just had to summon the courage to say I want to make my first film, and ever since, I have been making films,” he revealed.
When asked how he feels working with a-list actors and other filmmakers, Kasum explained that he doesn’t recognise people to be A-list.
“First, I try not to recognise it. I always just try to see myself as that first guy that wanted to make a film that noone believed in. In my head, I just work with people who love telling stories just like I do.
“I’ve never seen an actor or a producer as an a-list, I’ve just seen them as colleagues who want to make film with me. People say it, but I don’t recognise it. I just enjoy making films,” he explained.
