Tony Goodman Ezenmadu, alias Uncle T, is a Nigerian film actor, producer and director. In this interview with Daily Trust Saturday, he explains how the film industry can flourish in states across the country, especially Plateau, noting that the film industry is a money-spinning industry, adding that it is the next crude oil in Nigeria.
What is your take on the impact of the film industry on the nation’s development?
Boosting the film industry will attract investors and reduce the rate of unemployment. So many youths have been gainfully employed through entertainment. Some have even established themselves in personal businesses. And where did the funds to establish themselves come from? Entertainment!
How then can the industry be developed across the states, especially Plateau with lots of talents?
First, investors have to be on ground and the market must be breathing. There should be an avenue where people can be selling their entertainment products to the outside world, like film festivals and the likes. It will attract investors. Many Plateau businessmen leaving Plateau to invest in other states are wrong. How can you leave your state to go and invest in other states? You must take care of your own house first. And there is good entertainment investment opportunity in Plateau State. My first encounter with television film serials, apart from the foreign ones, is “Cockcrow at Dawn”. It was shot in Plateau State.
So, what is your call to the relevant authorities in this respect?
If the state government can first of all sensitise the local governments on the importance and need for entertainment, the outcome will be fantastic. And then youths should also be carried along. If you run a government that does not give priority to the youths, you will chase them out. I will give you a short story. People like Vincent Oburo, Lucy Ameh and Susan who left their base in Kaduna and took their talents to Abuja and Lagos started making it. That woke up the consciousness of the youths of Kaduna, and they started coming out. After that moment, Kaduna youths woke up into the entertainment industry. And they started pushing with stuffs like film festivals, auditions and location shootings. So, the entertainment industry is juicy and a money-spinning industry. It is the next crude oil in Nigeria.
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But why is the industry not really thriving in some states, apart from Lagos and a few others?
This is because the states are not investing in it. Just like the Igbo people who understand the secret of parting with money to get more money. They give out and collect more and then it booms for them. It revolves with innovation. Formerly you can only sit down at home and watch soap operas on NTA. Then came the video cassettes and later Compact Disc (CD). But now the social media has come up and people are leveraging on it. Through social media, it has become much easier to make more money than the old way of video cassette or CD. Now you can use your phone to do daily business. See how people are monetising their channels and cashing out. For example YouTube. These are what make the industry thrive. And the role of film festivals too is vital. The last one we had in Abuja was massive; people came all the way from outside the country. The one of Jos too is picking up.
How can business men come in?
Businessmen are already taking advantage of the investment opportunities in the film industry. You don’t have to be in the film industry to invest in it. Sometime ago if you told somebody to shoot a film with N4m, they would scream and say why should they shoot just a film with N4m. But today, people are shooting films with N50m and N100m and all that. Why are these people increasing the money they put into films, and what is giving them that courage? Nothing more than the fact that they are getting serious returns from their investment. From history, people invested N10m and got up to N100m.
Any example?
Yes. Sometime back we shot a film in Abuja and we approached a businessman (I don’t want to mention his name) to invest N5m. He promised to invest, but first of all would want to know how the money would be spent or deployed. We told him to bring in his accounting officer and keep the money in his possession and then we would write to him for whatever we needed and he would document it. That was how we won the confidence of the businessman. When we finished the film and it hit the market, only at the launching of the film, the man got over N2bn. This was because his business associates, friends and other dignitaries who were connected to him were present at the launching. They came out to support him.
So, the next time we approached him with a budget of N50m for a film, he gave us the money instantly, and the story continued like that.
How can the industry then thrive in Plateau?
The state already has the prepared ground for films. The talent is there, the market is there, the hospitality is ripe, there are splendid hotels and all that. And then the airlines are there in terms of partnerships. It’s a whole lot. And the government must be ready to come in and play a very big role so that other investors can have confidence in it. The best way also to encourage the industry in Plateau is to reach out to the businessmen. Organise a business forum and bring in an expert to talk to them and let them know what the business entails. This is because if they don’t understand the business of film and entertainment investment, they cannot throw their money into it. Many of these men have money in their accounts that they are not touching, but looking for a place to invest. The government house or local government councils and banks know such people. One can partner with them in organising the business meeting. And once they are convinced, give it a first shot and get good returns, you will see people rushing into Plateau State to come and do film business.
You are one of the pioneer film makers who developed the Abuja film industry. Tell us about it?
When we began the Abuja film industry a few years back, nothing was happening in Abuja. The main film destinations were Lagos, Enugu and Asaba. Formerly you would shoot one film, before another is shot it takes more than one month. So, when we came to Abuja we began to push it “fire for fire”. We paid courtesy visits to the FCT minister, business individuals, senators and the rest. Today, Abuja is busy with film work. And right now as we speak, every day films are being shot in about five sets at different locations. Now, I even reject some jobs in Abuja because I am always busy. Jobs are even coming from Lagos in their numbers the same time as those in Abuja are picking up. And DSTV and Iroko (TV Channel) have recognised the film producers in Abuja, and have also given them money to be producing contents for them. But everything began from one day and very small until it became big.
You mentioned that film festivals can play a vital role in the development of the industry. What is your take on the film festival on the Plateau?
The convener of the film festival on the Plateau, Debrah Jalmet, is seriously trying and giving the film industry in Plateau a facelift. She is dogged and doing great, and all she requires is overwhelming support in order to develop the industry in all ramifications. So, let’s support her with a positive energy so that success can be achieved.
What is your advice to film makers or producers in their quest for partnerships with businessmen, the government and other stakeholders in film production?
They should not fail the investors. The players in the film industry must apply all the wisdom, creativity and initiatives to ensure that they make profit from money given to them by the investors so that they can get their returns on investment. Otherwise they will not get the confidence and subsequent trust of the investors.
And I do advise them that when they get such initial/first investment, they should be more concerned with making interest for the investor than for themselves, because by so doing they are setting up themselves to better subsequent deals with the investor. A disturbing case in point is that of a senator who gave a lady in the industry about N70m to shoot a film series. Guess what she did, she rather took her boyfriend and two of her girlfriends to Dubai to go and enjoy. But when they saw that the money was almost finishing, they ran back to Abuja and quickly organised an audition and the place was filled up. But when it was time for negotiation, they started telling the people that there was no immediate money for the job, and that they were running on a low budget. They only promised to pay the people as the job progressed, but the people refused and abandoned them. The girl then began dodging the senator and became a fugitive in her own country.
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