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After many years of waiting, theatre practitioners in Nigeria now have a natural location to strut their stuff

 

By Yemi Olakitan

The dream of a film village seems to be the aspiration of many movie producers in Nigeria. It is said that such a village will among other things provide a conducive environment for the production of movies, documentaries and music videos. The film village, according to its promoters, would be equipped with the best infrastructure in the industry.

Currently, the common practice among Nigerian movie producers is to hire private homes of wealthy individuals to shoot movies. These, according to experts, are often not the best environment because of outside noise that interferes with productions. A film village, they averred, would provide locations, sets, lights, sound and post-production studios, as well as a standby source of electricity so that movie productions would not suffer from the incessant power failure which is a regular experience. This would soon become a a reality going by the revelations of Obafemi Lasode, a renowned radio, television, music and movie producer.

Apparently following the footsteps of the late Hubert Ogunde, acknowledged as the doyen of Nigerian theatre, the former Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, PMAN, president has embarked on the establishment of a film village at Lekki Peninsula in Lagos. While the late Ogunde established his own village in Ososa, Ogun state, Lasode is establishing the new one at Majekodunmi Farms on the Lekki-Epe Expressway. According to Lasode, the film village, that will be located on one acre of land, is being supported by Sony, an international electronic manufacturing company; Desmond Majekodunmi, a renowned environmentalist; and other private investors.

Tagged the ‘Nigerian Film Village’, Lasode said the place will be opened to members of the public this year.  His experience during the shooting of the epic movie Sango, he revealed, led him to believe that a film village is an inescapable infrastructure for the industry. While he was shooting the Sango movie, Lasode said he built sets all over the country. ‘‘We spent more than N2million naira to build sets alone which were later abandoned since they could not be moved from place to place. We wanted to capture the past periods and locations of the story as much as possible, so we travelled to Ilorin, Badagry, Ikorodu  and other places to build our sets, all of which were abandoned after the movie was completed. On a film village, other producers could have made use of the same sets to shoot their movies,’’ he said.

Based on this experience, Lasode felt that there was a clear need for a film village where Nigerian film makers can come and do their work without stress or tension. Where sets could be set up, dismantled and reused. According to him, the greatest need of the Nigerian movie industry is infrastructure.  On the issue of noise pollution, he said that the generators are installed far away from the film location; sound studios are also being built to curb the problem of noise pollution in movie production.  Speaking further, Lasode said his company is also taking advantage of the Nigerian entertainment Fund, having applied to the Nigerian Export and Import Bank, NEXIM, to access it.

‘’We need all the support we can get on this project. We are not ruling out the Entertainment Intervention Fund,’’ he said.

‘’In other parts of the world, a film village is an entertainment and tourism centre. It is a place where movies are made. It is also a place where people can visit and be entertained. Part of the plan is to make it an historical place, a kind of Nigerian movie centre. There is also going to be a movie screen where people can watch some of the movies that are made there. However, the emphasis is to create a village where film makers can obtain the entire infrastructure that they need to make a great film.’’

Lasode said the film village needed to be in Lagos because Lagos is where the film companies are. He was convinced that a film village outside Lagos would not attract as much patronage as one that is located in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria. Speaking further, he said that technology would also make the difference.  He noted that ‘‘having the latest production equipments is essential to the making of a great movie. This is why we are bringing Sony into the scene.’’

 In a chat with Desmond Majekodunmi on the importance of the project, he said, it is very important for Nigeria to showcase her talents to the world. At the moment people look at so many issues in Nigeria and call us fools. The situation of Nigeria is like someone in the midst of water and yet remains thirsty. Nigeria is in the midst of oil and gas and does not have electricity. The Film village is a way of empowering our film producers so that they can bring out the best in them so that the world will not continue look at us as fools. It is a contribution to Nigeria and coming from Femi Lasode is encouraging because of background in the industry,’’ he said

In that last 25 years, Lasode has been in the vanguard of promoting Nigerian arts and culture through music and movies. He studied Business Administration in Washington, United States, and did a Masters degree in Radio, Television and Film Production at Brooklyn College of City University in New York. Lasode was a promoter of African Music in the United States; he was a broadcaster at WNYE Radio, New York. Through his radio show Africa N’ vogue, Lasode promoted Nigerian musicians in the United states and was part of the team that brought King Sunny Ade, Oliver De Coque and Sonny Okosuns to perform at the Apollo theatre in the United states.

He founded Even Ezra studios which became a refuge for artistes for many years, as he used the place to provide support to numerous Nigerian artistes. He provided audio-visual  assistance to broadcast, film and music professionals and used his training and experience to support young Nigerian artistes.  His contributions to the Performing Arts in Nigeria prompted Nigerian musicians to elect him unopposed as PMAN president in 2002. In 2010, he was a recipient of the Hip-Pop Lifetime Achievement Awards for his contributions to the music industry. Lasode is currently on location, producing a television serial called, Paradise Park, which would run on Nigerian Television Authority, NTA network on a weekly basis. According to him, Paradise Park is a narration of the daily experiences of ordinary Nigerians as they cope with the nation’s social and economic challenges.  Lasode said his greatest wish is to see Nigerian arts and cultural products being massively exported for the whole world to see. ‘‘In order for that to happen, we need infrastructure. We also need an independent distribution agency that would be in charge of our cultural works. At the moment, the Federal Government has left it in the hands of cooks and pirates. This is not healthy, ‘’ he said.

In a chat with Nollywood film producer, Mathew Nwankwo, the producer of Dangerous Girls, Delicate Matters and other films, on the significance of a film village to the industry, he said that the film village will help film makers to produce quality movies. ‘‘Developed countries have film villages. In a film village, there will be steady supply of electricity and other infrastructure. The producer does not need to move his cast and crew from place to place; he can do everything in the village. He can organise his rehearsals there. If he needs to set his sets on fire he can do that. He is free to create whatever he wants because of the convenience and provisions of a film village. He can be more relaxed and creative. We need such private innovations to move Nollywood forward,’’ he said.    Speaking on the same issue, Arinze Egezimba, producer of Yankee Boys, Yankee Girls and CEO Mega movies, he said, ‘‘a film village will bring succour to movie producers. Femi Lasode deserves all of our support. This is something that the government should do but since they are not doing it. It is a welcome development, coming from the private sector,’’ he said.