Nollywood actors Kanayo O. Kanayo, Patience Ozokwor popularly known as Mama Gee, and movie producer, James Oguejiofor have called for more researched scripts to further boost the development of the movie industry.
The filmmakers said this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.
Kanayo told NAN that Nollywood had done well over the years, but needed to do more in terms of research on movie scripts.
“The route to success is always under construction, and most people have given up. Some people quarrel with their girlfriends and write a story, which is stupid.”
“We need to research, we need to be futuristic. When I say research more, it means if you want to make a movie, invest in it. Go back and find out what it has to do with culture.” he said.
Kanayo cited an example of culture in his place of birth, Mbaise, Imo State where some rites have to be done after a person’s death.
“Someone whose father has just died can not eat cow meat at another person’s funeral, except he has done a send-forth for his late father within seven days of the parent’s death. So, there is the need to research that tradition if it is to be written into a movie.”
“One has to go to Mbaise, my place, and ask how long it has been happening and how true it is. Someone will hear what I said now and write it as a movie without any research. That is why I encourage Nollywood producers, writers, and directors to always investigate.”
“This idea of four days movie shoot is absolute nonsense. The industry cannot go forward with it. It is better a producer makes a movie and earns from it for years than rushing a movie with no in-depth.” he said.
Ozokwor also said that Nollywood should be applauded for coming this far and putting Nigeria at the forefront of movie production.
She called for support for the industry, adding that it would go a long way in helping producers churn out great movies from good scripts.
“We need to clap for Nollywood, look at where we have come from on our own. We are encouraging people to empower moviemakers to shoot great movies.”
“Come and sponsor our research on scripts, we have good movies and you will get value for whatever you spend on the movie industry. Empower us, encourage us and we will shoot movies that will make and break records all over the world,” she said.
Oguejiofor, a movie producer popularly known as Jamagold, said it was high time producers looked beyond money.
According to him, the message of a story should be a good legacy.
“Everything is not money, talking about good stories; we talk of Things Fall Apart. It is not about the amount of money the producer made, but the message.”
“Recently, we were asked to stop movies with ritual killings because that’s what everyone does which is giving us a bad image.”
“When you want to make a movie, digest it, look at the impact it would have on people’s lives, not the money you want to make. Let your movies be relevant in years to come,” Oguejiofor said.