King Ray features reputable Hollywood actors performing with the cream of Nigerian film industry. Since most of the story is set in Nigeria, the flick would be shot on location in Nigeria. The producers also hope to use King Ray as an opportunity to invite Hollywood’s technically experienced crew working and sharing their expertise with Nigerian crew. Entertainer got Aderinokun and Ose on a conference call, and both talked on the new film. Here is an excerpt of the interview.
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Otunba Aderinokun, what attracted you to King Ray?
I think it’s a combination of three factors. The first, of course, is the story. It’s a great story. I know a good story when I see one and this one will take a lot to beat. I believe in it. I think, in our context, it would be a blockbuster. In a Hollywood context, I believe it would not only do well financially, it would also export our culture. It would sell this country. It would balance out the negativity about us in the foreign press. Of course, it’s a film but it’s a beginning, a very good beginning.
The second thing is that Ose is like my son, really. I’ve known him since he was a teenage prodigy reporter with Concord. He is very talented and experienced in filmmaking. As we talk, he’s making films about other people and cultures, even as far as Palestine. When you look at his qualifications and exposure, there are few people on this continent that can match him. I think people like him should be encouraged to tell Nigerian stories and expose Nigeria. If people like him don’t, who will?
Third, is that the film would honour my late baby brother, Tayo. He was a great supporter of the arts. He loved Nigeria. I know if he was alive today, he would be the one pushing this film. By the grace of God, Tayo will live on with this film.
You are in Lagos, Ose is in Los Angeles. How did this all come about?
I talk to him more than I talk to some people here (laughs). I called him once and he was in a hurry, which is not like him. He’s one of those kids who will let the elder end the call. I thought that was strange. The next time he called he apologized that he had to rush off the line because he was in Israel, his line was roaming and the bills would be crazy.
Naturally, I was curious what he was doing in Israel. He told me he was making a film, a documentary. I was shocked. I mean, I was happy for him that he was international in his filmmaking and I don’t expect less from him. But, one day, it’s Israel. The next it’s Haiti. Another day it’s Germany. What about Nigeria? Is it not his country? Why is he not doing films in Nigeria? That bothered me. We can’t keep losing talents like that. Then, he explained that he had tried but Nigeria is a tough place. He told me how he had traveled here a few times to put a project together, went to the very top to get support but somehow he was frustrated. He told me how he convinced his producing partners to invest almost N10m of their money in developing a documentary that was commissioned by a very top politician in this country, and how the man just dribbled them, did not pay the money he owed them until he almost lost funding for another project. In the eyes of his partners, that solidified the stereotype about Nigeria.
Is Ose giving up on Nigeria?
He didn’t tell me he was giving up, but you could feel it in his voice. Now, if you know Ose, you know he’s a unique talent. You don’t want to lose him. By the time he was 21, he had won all the big journalism awards in Nigeria. He was the anchor for MasterSports. When he moved to America, he went to film school at the University of Southern California, which is heads and shoulders the best film school in the world. As a Nigerian, he was able to land a spot in a programme where there were maybe two other black people.
Today, Ose is the only African member of the agenda-setting education committee of the Writers Guild of America. He’s doing stuff with many studios and networks including Fox. He’s doing his own thing with his production company. He and his company have worked all over the world. But, he tries to come into Nigeria and its wahala here and there.
So, I asked him what project is he trying to do in Nigeria, and he told me he has a couple. But, I really bought into King Ray. The other project is like four times the budget of King Ray , so I told him, let’s start with the smaller one, not because it’s smaller but because as an artiste, it made me laugh and as a businessman, I crunched the numbers and it’s a good investment. So, I said, by the grace of God, I’m going to put this film together for you. I’m going to get the most progressive brains in this country behind it as investors, because they think long term and that is the way we should think in the film industry.
So, Ose, why did you abandon your journalism family?
I don’t think I have. Maybe, in the past when I was in school and just starting out in film. I wrote a column in The Sun for a while. Now, I do for another newspaper. And, it’s mostly for my ex-colleagues who badger me to keep writing. I love journalism. Journalism set me on the road to where I am today. And, as a journalist, it was easy to make the transition to filmmaking because it’s all about stories. Once, I reported it. Now, I create it. But, the muscles are the same.
What is this film about?
It’s about a Hollywood megastar who falls from grace and comes back home to Nigeria to restart his climb back to the top. He starts by running for the governorship of a state. He comes with a small entourage that includes his agent and political consultant.
The Hollywood star is a Nigerian?
He is but never claims it. He’s never been to Nigeria. He’s one of those foreign-born kids who lost their fathers early and decide to have nothing to do with Nigeria. But, when he runs into trouble, his agent convinces him to come home all for very selfish reasons. It’s a film in the vein of ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ meets ‘Tropic Thunder’.
This is not a Nollywood film?
Ose: It’s really a Hollywood film with a Nigerian setting and supported with the best of the best in the Nigerian film industry.
Aderinokun: That is one of the things I love about the film. You know, to get people interested in you, you have to include bits of things they like. That’s the way it happens everywhere in the world. Coppola did The Godfather and everyone wanted to know more about Italians. Mira Nair did Monsoon Wedding and everyone wanted to know about Indians and that is how Bollywood became what it is. I am very hopeful that after King Ray more people will see Nigeria differently. More black people will be encouraged to visit. And, tourism will boom in this country. This film will include a few Hollywood stars and some of our actors. Because of the Hollywood stars, people from Hollywood to Hong Kong will see the film and they will see our actors. Hopefully, after a film like this, international casting agents will start casting Nigerians in international films.
Also, another dimension of the thing I talked with Ose was that a film like this would bring a foreign crew. Ose has a plan whereby the foreign crew will work with the local crew and train them informally. By the time we do a couple of films like this here, foreign production companies will know there are professionals in Nigeria they can work with. They will start bringing some jobs here and actually shooting here because this film has proven it can be done.
Ose: I think film and TV are also areas where the government can create a lot of jobs, especially for the youths. I think it’s sad that folks in charge are not awake to it yet. After sports, if it’s well managed, I think entertainment is the next field that can create a lot of employment. Unlike other businesses that the recession and poor economy affects, entertainment is the one industry that thrives even in a recession, because people want to step away from their problems and gloom and just relax. Every economic data reflects that.
The other thing is that if Nigeria really encourages film, there will be an influx of filming here and the theater business will boom again. People film Nigerian scenes in Ghana, Sierra Leone or South Africa. If the right production environment is created, those films will come to Nigeria and, with them, will come jobs. Whenever I am in London or South Africa, the one thing that strikes me is that there are lots of Nigerian productions and creative jobs in these places and the government can change that quickly with support for the industry and legislation.
Aderinokun: Like they said in America during the Obama campaign, “change is coming”. My friend, Dr. Bamanga Tukur is in the vanguard of strengthening all sectors of our business with the African roundtable. He actually met with Ose in New York during the Nigerian Investment Forum and he is very pleased with the project and supportive of it. With people like that, we will change Nigeria again. I am very certain of that.
I’m sorry I have to go down an emotional lane. Your late brother, Tayo was a great art lover and supporter. How do you think he would have reacted to a project like this?
I can say with all confidence that if he was alive, he would be pushing this. All I would have had to do was introduce it to him and let the young ones take over. He would have celebrated this film. Tayo believed in Nigeria so much, his love for the country was like an extra vein in his body. He believed in the Nigerian dream and he pushed it. This film is selling Nigeria, the dreams in it and the possibilities. If Tayo was alive, he would have been a huge promoter of it. But, you know what? I am going to promote him with it. Films live forever. If you go to some libraries abroad today, you can find films from before the Second World War. Every name, every title and every sponsor is preserved till eternity. Their descendants can pick a copy and know their forefathers did something. That is my dream with this film as it concerns Tayo. Tayo will live on with this film by the grace of God. I will push it. His family, his friends and admirers will push it.
Now, what is the plan for the production?
Ose: First, we have to get the funds together, then we go through the pre-production, which involves assembling your cast, crew and securing location. Our goal is to have the funds locked in by the end of the year (2011) and start shooting sometime in spring. We hope that we’ll be ready to launch this film within the next year.
Have you decided on a place to shoot the film in Nigeria?
Aderinokun: It would be a combination of scouting and the kind of support we get from the state government. At the moment we’re thinking of either Lagos or Rivers State. Someone mentioned Cross River State the other day but we’ll see. It’s a film with significant cultural scenes in it so it would be exhibiting and promoting those cultures. It’s entirely possible that when this film comes out, people will think of Nigeria in terms of the culture in our film. The thing that really gets my heart racing sometimes is the tourism potential of a film like this. It could be huge.
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