Street Peeper Zimbabwe Street Peeper September 2017 | Page 29

How does it feel being married to
someone in the industry?
tics and every aspect of putting
together a full-length feature,
whereas when you’re just acting, I
It is nice to have someone who un-
guess you can focus 100% on just
derstands what it’s like to be in the
acting.
industry. Acting is no joke, it re-
quires a lot of sacrifice – it can be Naturally, it is a little scary moving
very intense. As an actress and
out of your comfort zone and going
CEO of Rok Studios, I play many
behind the camera and learning
key roles and that requires long
new skills, but I really relished the
hours, but my husband under-
transition. Rok Studios has now
stands the industry very well, so
produced over 150 movies and we
he is supportive and understand- just released our 13th series,
ing and encourages me to follow
‘Single Ladies’, which is a real feat
my dreams.
in just over three years. So whilst I
am confronted with new chal-
What made you start Rok Studios?
lenges each day, I do not regret the
move at all. It has given me a new
I’ve always wanted to be a story-
teller; to spread the gospel of Nol- lease of life and unleashed a whole
new creative side of me.
lywood, so to speak. I remember
when I was starting to consider a
What are the short and long term
move to behind the camera, a
goals of ROK TV?
prominent Nollywood actor told
me that my aspirations were too
2016 was a very busy year for us.
high. I was really shocked and
We took Rok to the small screen
went home and cried my eyes out not just across Africa on DStv 168,
because he didn’t believe I could
but also to the UK on Sky channel
make the transition from actress
344. Right now, we are working on
to producer. But I had self-belief – curating more content that por-
I persevered and got stuck into my trays our culture. We will be look-
first production, which was Festac ing at period dramas that date
Town. It was an epic project that I back to the 18th century and of
threw every last bit of energy into. course, we’ll continue to make
It was not without its challenges
more original TV series, as our
and pitfalls, however, the end re-
fans have really appreciated the
sult received really amaz ing adora- great strides we’re making in de-
tion from our fans, and that was
veloping character-led episodes
really what kept me going to build that they can really get into and
Rok Studios to what it is today.
follow the characters. Also, we
want to start producing content
Having started off as an actress,
that reflects the whole of Nigeria.
how does it feel to be on the other
There are over 500 languages spo-
side of the camera?
ken in our country. We’ll be start-
It’s a dream come true! I’ve always ing off with languages such as
Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Calabar and
been fascinated with the produc-
Edo, to name a few.
tion side of filmmaking. I started
acting at the age of 17, and have
The ultimate goal is to take Rok
been working in the industry ever
and Nollywood around the world –
since. I still act and have produced
online, on TV and on airlines.
so many TV series and films now,
We’ve conquered Africa and the
so I think this puts me in the
UK. There are plenty more coun-
unique position of being able to
tries that we will be looking to
assess the situation from both
take Rok channels too. Watch this
sides. I think that being a producer
space.
adds additional pressure to the
task at hand, as you are hyper
What would you attribute your love
aware to budgetary issues, logis-
of the movie industry to?
I just love telling relatable stories
with compelling characters. I love
telling African stories. The creative
process of bringing a script onto
the screen is really addictive – I
love being able to bring characters
to life, and entertaining millions of
people. I think people go to the
movies for escapism – I know I do.
I love getting lost in a story.
Do you think Nigerian producers
should release the DVD of their
movies after it stops showing in
cinemas?
Yes, I do. Don’t forget that only a
small percentage of Nollywood
films actually get to the cinema,
and even those that do, not every-
one is able to see them on the big
screen. There are many ways peo-
ple can consume Nollywood con-
tent, such as DVD, cinema, online
and on TV. As long as the content
is original and not pirated, people
should have a choice about how
they want to watch their favourite
Nollywood movies. It’s my role to
make sure that the content is
really great and that there’s plenty
of different, legal platforms, where
you can watch it.
With what you have achieved with
Rok Studios, would you say you’re
closer to actualising your dreams?
When I look back at yesterday, all I
can do is be proud of my accom-
plishments. I want to be the best
and that means that my dreams
and vision for Rok Studios has to
grow bigger. To achieve great
feats, you have to continuously
learn new skills and I apply those
learnings and ideas into the new
content that I produce. As I grow
in the industry, my dreams grow
as well. I wonder if anyone can ac-
tually sit still and say, ‘yes, I have
achieved my dream’. Most creative
or successful people just keep
building bigger dreams so that
they continue to have something
to chase.
?