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| Steve Anu’ Adesemoye |
Steve Anu’ Adesemoye is a film Theorist and Educator. He
founded www.shoots.com.ng- a TV contents lab. Ha has directed Next Movie Star Reality
TV show, and also content-directed Supermom reality TV show Nigeria and Ghana.
He served as a screener on Best of Nollywood Awards and he is a fellow of
Knight Centre for International Media Workshop, University of Miami School of
Communication, Florida. He teaches Film Writing & Production. He has
produced more than 20 short films, and directs the Distance Leaning Dramas of
Nigeria Urban Health Reproduction Initiative (NUHRI). He is a resource person
to UNICEF.
In this exclusive interview with the Editor of BrandInfo,
OLUWAGBENGA BANKOLE, Adesemoye speaks on why he thinks Big Brother Nigeria was
not shot in Nigeria, multitasking in film production, how government can
transform the film industry and many other topical issues. Excerpt !
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
recently said that the Federal Government has taken steps to amend the Nigerian
Broadcasting Code to discourage the production of Nigerian movies and musicals
outside the country. What is your opinion on this sir?
Let us take it one by one for the benefit of Nigerians who
don’t know what Nigeria Broadcasting code is all about. The minister was not
saying anything out of place or that is new. The Nigeria Broadcasting code has
been enacted since 1992 and it is subject to review every five years. It was
reviewed last in year 2016 which is still a draft and is available everywhere.
It is not as if he is talking about something that is new. The only thing that
is peculiar to Nigerians is that we make laws but we don’t use them. Or better
still, we are selective in the use of law and interpretations. If you look at
the reviewed broadcasting code, the chapter 3, section 13 subsection 1D, states
categorically that for a musical work to be classified as local content that
must be shown on our terrestrial TVs,the musical must not only be written or
performed by Nigerians, but also be performed live or be recorded in Nigeria.
The code is there. Do you know that the NBC act,section 2 (1) (p) categorically
states that, to run any communication related courses in our tertiary
institutions, there must be accreditation and National Broadcasting Commission
must be involved in curriculum development and accreditation? But are we using that? The answer is No. So
the Minister has not said anything out of context. But that is not to say that
I am either against or support the Minister’s position. What I am just saying
is that from legal perspective the law is already there, is not as if he is
just enacting it or going to review it afresh. Maybe he was talking about its
implementation.
However, as a government functionary, what he should be
talking about is not the “military” approach of enforcing ideas on people.
Creating an enabling environment should come first. Nigerian government need to
change the way it is approaching the governance because we citizens don’t trust
them. Instead of telling us what they want to do, they should do it and let
everybody witness it. Thereafter, they can work on how to make people plug into
their programmes voluntarily and patriotically. Nigerians don’t trust their
leaders, especially politicians. Enabling environment is what should have come
first. Forget about how it is being done in America or anywhere else, let us
start domesticating our ideas and their operations. They should do
environmental scanning to know what people really want. Without an enabling
environment that law cannot work. Lai Mohammed has a noble idea or intention;
but he is channeling his energy wrongly. Between you and I, I am sure Lai
Mohammed was voicing a segment of that industry. I know he is closer to some
stakeholders in the movie or production industry and they would have voiced
this to him in one forum or the other. But the way they are going about it is
what is wrong, it has to be holistic. Now let me tell you why I think Lai
Mohammed could be sincere. If Lai Mohammed says don’t shoot outside the
country, he could be saying, let there not be capital flight and let the money
stay in Nigeria. Let us create wealth. Let us create employment.But the point
is this, there is no enabling environment. Do you know that it costs more to
film outside the country when you consider the exchange rate? Musicians or
entertainers who are shooting outside the country don’t want to do so because
it cost them more, unless of course the narratives and interpretations compel
them. The different between Nigeria and where they are shooting their videos is
that, they are paying for power that is available; they are paying for permit
that will not go through bureaucratic bottlenecks or bribery. They are paying
for timing. They are paying for quality service deliveries. They are paying for
professionalism. They are sure if they want to start shooting today and they
want to end it tomorrow, it will end less for natural factors. Now, how
do we replicate such things in Nigeria? Let me start to pick the Minister’s
head; perhaps is trying to say let there not be capital flight, he’s trying to
say let us promote film tourism by selling our destination which is called
destination marketing (through films, musical etc.). He is saying let there be
empowerment and employment, let the money stay here because we are the one
watching the content and let there not be cultural invasion. That could be what
the minister was talking about. But primarily, it is not about that. It is
about having and creating enough of such sceneries that can transform into the
expectation of the film makers? Look at the billions of naira spent on
Tinapa. Has the Minister liaised with the Commissioner in Cross River
state to revive Tinapa? Where are the tourist attractions for shooting videos?
Where are the landscapes? Where are the appropriate waters? Where would I film
today that ‘Area Boys’’ will not disturb me? If I want to shoot in Police
Station what seamless effort will grant me the needed permit? If I want to use
Army Barracks, will it not take me the whole year to get permit or would they
even give me permit at all? These are the things that must be put into
consideration. As I speak, even if you have all the police or soldiers around
you while shooting the law enforcement agents will still tell you to pay the
‘Area Boys.’ The challenges are enormous.
Why do you think Big Brother Nigeria is not being shot in
Nigeria, but South Africa?
I have heard people say so many things about this.
Personally I will not bother to probe the producer of the TV content. As an
entrepreneur, and putting myself into the shoes of the producer of the show, I
will look for how I can cut cost as much as possible. Don’t forget that Big
Brother Africa is also shot in South Africa and there is an existing structure
for it. They have rigged all their cameras and lights, they have rooms available
there and everything needed for the show. They have expertise there, power
supply is 24/7 and they don’t need to run on diesel. Just imaging, if the
producer of the show wants to build the kind of set they have for the show in
Nigeria from scratch, it will certainly cost a lot of money. Do you know what it
will cost in naira and kobo or time to rig? Just imagine what it will cost the
producer to get accommodation for the crew members when accommodation is
already attached to the building in South Africa. Just imagine liters of diesel
that could be needed for the duration of the show. That is why the producer
will never want to package the show in Nigeria. Nigerians may be consuming the
content but the environment here in Nigeria is not conducive enough to do the
business. Moreso, don’t also forget the content is for cable TV and not
terrestrial. This is not to say they were right or wrong in their decision.
What do you think the present administration in Nigeria can do regarding that so that the next edition of Big Brother Nigeria can be brought to Nigeria?
It is not all about Big Brother Nigeria alone; it is about
every aspect of our production. Be it TV Commercial, Documentary, Film Making,
Musicals, etc. The first thing the government needs to do is transparency in
dealing with the stakeholders. Although the government started some commendable
efforts since the days of Goodluck Jonathan, but whatever efforts the
government is championing should devoid of political and ethnic colourations.
They need to give more grants, not loan to stakeholders. There is a different
between loan and grant. If you give me loan don’t tell me what to do with it.
But if the government gives grant to the stakeholders in the industry
Government can direct their expectations. We have seen modern American films
selling America. We have seen different kind of films selling their countries.
I was told that a South African agency gave money to AY to film in their
country and reflect everything about their country, if that information is
anything to go by, we still have a long way to go. If you give me grant you can
tell me to shoot, reflect Abuja as the Central Dramatic Problem. Do you know
how many seas we have in Lagos state alone taking over by spiritualists, street
urchins and prostitutes? Nobody seems to be in control of all the seashores. Do
you want me to go and film there and ‘Area Boys’ take over all my equipment?
Grant is the first thing government should give and support it with loans where
necessary to permeate the film value chain.
Government should also breakdown the bureaucratic bottleneck
of getting approvals for shooting in Nigeria. What I mean is getting necessary
papers, getting approvals, getting licenses, using places etc. Don’t tell me to
pay the Local Government and ‘Area Boys’ will still collect money from me and I
still have to pay Police. Don’t also double tax me.
Another thing is this, if the government want film producers
to sell destinations and tourist attractions, they should make all tourists
attraction attractable. This is because if they are not attractable to cameras
nobody will shoot. Film is constructed mediated reality. We can replicate
America here, but when there is no enabling environment or things that will
make you do it, achieving it will become impossible. We have Art Directors,
Production and Set Designers who can do all those things. If I want to create a
scenario of a plane crash on the sea, do you know what it will cost me to bring
the carcass of the plane and put it on the sea? ‘Area Boys’ will even remove it
if you don’t pay them irrespective of the Police presence.
Government should also provide insurance. There should be
insurance on equipment. We are still not using grade A equipment. Arri will not
bring chain of equipment to Nigeria for use without insurance. There should be
insurance for the equipment, the film makers and every part of the film
industry. When there is insurance, a film maker does not need to spend huge
amount on equipment and can also take risk to better position his or her art.
You just need to write the companies that produce the equipment and return it
after finishing the job.
Our film industry is more or less an experiment that is
evolving and we had a transition from the travelling theatre, stage drama, to
film celluloid we got back to theatre, went back to home video and here we are.
We are still evolving and moving fast. Now we need capacity building in every aspect of film making. I am
talking about serious trainings. Raw talent is not enough, although it is
fantastic, but definitely not enough.
We must treat film making as real business includingthe
distribution chain. Direct To Home (DTH), cinema screening, special screening,
online distribution and mobile screening must be well structured. New technology
is taking over the distribution channels, are we ready?
Also, there is nowhere in the whole world you don’t have
piracy, but controlling it in Nigeria is the big issue. The Nigeria system
allows overflowing of piracy. If they arrest somebody for pirating my job
he/she ought to face the full wrath of law. There must be law and it must bite.
All these aforementioned issues are very critical and government must rise up
to the occasion.
The Managing Director of Jos based Nigeria Film Corporation,
Dr. Chidia Maduekwe said recently that Nigerian movies are among the best
internationally in terms of settings, contents and acceptability. As a film
theorist, do you think the statement is true?
I am not just a film theorist, am also an academic and
researcher. I always want to base my submission on availability of data. I must
have some scientific details before I can comment on that. Though, the MD said Nollywood
is among the best, that may not be far from the truth. I know UNESCO said in
2011 or 2012 that Nigeria is the 3rd producing country in terms of
film quantity. I am not talking the Nigerian film industry down because we are
growing very fast and I am happy for that. New Directors are coming up. Quality
production with big budgets are springing up by the day. Collaborative efforts
are paying off and we are enjoying more eye balls across the globe. I make bold
to say that others are not resting too. For example, look at the just concluded
AMAA awards; a moviefrom Senegal got the best film award. I don’t have data to
back up what Dr. Maduekwe said, but I know in terms of quantity we are not
doing badly.
What is your take on this issue whereby one man in film
production will be the Director, Screen Writer and the Producer?
Multitasking is not a bad idea. There are so many
intervening variables that are responsible for that, such as inadequate funds,
survival and piracy. If am not sure I will make my money I won’t invest a lot
of money on any movie. I will have to spend minimally. I don’t think there is
anything wrong with multitasking. We have seen some foreign movies in the same
direction. If you come up with a very fantastic story you won’t be discouraged
but the most important thing is that either you are multitasking or you are
giving every role to different professional, the end result matters. We cannot
afford to pretend that Nigerian audience are still not critical. We are having
army of critical audience.
Some years
ago you were the producer of a TV programme called Supermom, is the programme
still on air?
I was not producing Supermom, I was content-directing the
programme. I was not the owner of the programme. I realised in 2013 that there
was a need for me to give more energy to my academic career so I resigned as
the Director of the programme. I told myself that I need to pay more attention
to my academic career, write more research papers, attend conferences, pursue
other academic progressions and then come back to film/TV production. After
resigning in 2013, I learnt a year after that they have rested the programme. I
don’t know what was responsible for that. But the economic situation could be a
contributory factor.
Are you
directing any production presently?
At the moment I have a couple of personal projects. Till
tomorrow, I still direct the Instructional video materials on family planning
programme for Nigeria Urban Health
Reproduction Initiative (NURHI) and ARDA. It is being sponsored by John
Hopkins University in USA. I have been doing that since the last four years or
thereabout. Anything that has to do with family planning and instructional
videos, am the one directing it for NURHI and ARDA.
Personally I have a soaps coming up and is called ‘The
Pearse’ ,- a family TV content. I am
also presenting another TV programme called ‘Panpe Ofin.’. It is on civil laws/matters.
As we speak am working on two other soaps. The first one is ‘The Wet Clay’
which is for teenagers. We are trying to create content for teenagers. The last
is ‘Gbogbonise.’ Gbogbonise is a yoruba campus –based drama. Am also working on
a documentary titled ‘From Prescription to Addiction.’ And very soon am going
to start LASPOTECH @40.
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