Biodun Stephen is a writer and director amongst other things. She is making waves in the film making industry with her movies highly rated on Iroko TV. In this interview with Asian Nkutt, she speaks about her journey so far in Nollywood.
You are a writer, an On-Air-Personality, director and film maker. How do you cope doing all these?
I finished university and I was at home and my friend said, “Now that you’re back home, what are you going to be doing?” Radio (presentation) was born out of the fact that I didn’t have anything to do but I could speak English. We decided to go for the audition, so we called someone we knew at Star FM. There were about 50 people but I got chosen. I had zilch experience. I had to listen to radio that night, went to the studio and made a demo tape that we submitted as our audition tape. That was it. I didn’t find my purpose on that particular platform. I wasn’t really doing anything special. Radio was not what it is now. So, it was just to make sure you have the current gist and reigning music. I felt there was more to me. So, I got a job at Insight as a copy writer. I was there for six years and all that while I still wanted to act, to be on TV and all that.
The writing part of me had always been there from the secondary school times. At Insight I started a weekly story and it became pretty big. Eventually I left Insight after six years, had my second child and resigned. I knew I wasn’t doing what I was meant to do. My husband asked me what I wanted to do now because I had a bout of depression. He said acting wasn’t really coming through for me, not like I was failing auditions but I was being told “You’re too tall.” I’m six foot one and during my time I could count how many tall men they could cast by me and they weren’t that many. Long story short, I went to film school, came back and wrote my first movie, The Visit. What we were taught in film school abroad was different from Nollywood. So, I decided to work with Iroko TV for a few months. I was there for about nine months just building relationships, knowing more people, and knowing how to negotiate. The first project I did with them was Picture Perfect.
How do you maintain the relationships in your collaborations, especially with Iroko TV?
Mary (Iroko TV CEO) and I had a relationship from way back. We used to be co-actors on a TV series called Spider, she played my daughter. That’s where we became friends. When Iroko came alive I had always known about it. Concerning collaborations, it’s making sure that the content is good, not resting on my laurels and thinking we did Picture Perfect and it was great. Picture Perfect was the first project with her and it didn’t come out until a year later but I had done other films with them. Ovy’s Voice was the very first that was released on her platform. Till today it’s their best film in terms of ratings. It was the number one film for the year in review. One of the propellants for me is that I always want to do better. If my first start on that platform was a 100% that was the yardstick. I had to constantly chase to be more than that and so that was the way to maintain the collaboration. The fact that they see you as bankable, they know that whatsoever you are going to do for them is going to be worthwhile.
As a creator, even though you love all your works, which is your favourite out of everything you have done so far?
My favourite movie is not even out. It’s called Joba. I think it’s my favourite because of how the story came. I would have said Tiwa’s Baggage because it’s close to home and it’s special. All my films are special but Joba is more so because I was driving and listening to music, Jesu Joba and it was on auto repeat. I was just praying and right there I began to see the images, the story. When I got home I started writing that day and finished it the next day. I told myself I don’t have the money to make this movie, I need the miracle. I put up a post on how the story came and someone from South Africa said they would love to be a part of my next project and we’ve shot the film. I think that’s why it’s the most special. Artistically, it’s really challenging. Every film I do challenges the actor but this one took them to places dark for them and it exhausted them.
What is the most challenging thing you have experienced as a film maker?
The challenges are endless. There’s never enough money. You are working with the smallest of budgets and you have to produce the best quality of work. For someone like me who is particular on just the best, so definitely I’m not making any money. There’s budget, then power. Power is an issue. Where I film, all of my neighbours hate me because I always have to beg them not to run their own generators, to stay in the heat, while I quickly shoot one scene. If we had a film village it would be better. When I’m filming if you come here there’s a huge crowd, my neighbours will be like “Oh, they’ve come again.” They are making noise, people coming and going. I’ve provided myself my own film village, my own power.
The people are no longer buying, so content is crashing and you’re asking yourself, ‘can we still keep up with this quality?’ These are some of the issues we deal with.
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As someone who has acted, directed and has indepth knowledge about the industry, what makes a movie great to you? What do you look out for in movies?
What makes a movie great is the story. It’s not because I can direct or set the lights right, it’s the power of a story. Most of my stories are character-based, so every time, the actor shines and is not lost because the entire movie rests on the acting. There are some stories that rest on the aesthetics, the glam and glitz and you don’t really see the actor shine. If the story is not captivating enough, the movie goer won’t talk about it after. And you want a movie goer to keep talking about your movie after because it has impacted them.
Ovy’s Voice, The Visit, Tiwa’s Baggage, and Sobi’s Mystic are all suspense-filled. What goes on in your mind when you are writing such scripts?
To be honest, I don’t know what goes on in my mind. One thing I do with all my stories is that I put a fragment of me in them. I put a fragment of my happiness, joy or pain. So, every film I’ve done has a personal experience. For me the key is how they relate. The moment you make a film and people can begin to see themselves in it… and that can only happen when the writer writes from the place of ‘I’ not ‘you,’ you are on the right track. I’m not even afraid of predictability, I’m more concerned with taking the audience with me on my journey in the story. So, even if you know how the story will end, you should still be captivated with the journey to getting to that end.
Which do you think is harder as a film maker – starting or keeping it going?
Keeping it going, I think, is more difficult. You can start and disappear and no one would know. But if you start and win, you have to keep winning. I liken this to music artists. They sing and it’s a one hit wonder. How many of those one hit wonders are able to do it again the second and third time. There are very few of them. Keeping it going is harder. I go on all platforms my work is and read every single comment and review. I take in all the criticism and I want to correct it with the next one. I take what I think is relevant. It’s easy to become relevant but harder to stay relevant. I want to stay relevant, so it’s important that I keep improving.
As someone who went to the London film school, do you think it’s necessary for someone who is just starting to go school abroad for that sake?
I don’t think so. A lot of us do these things for the glitz; do a weekend course and automatically become a director. It doesn’t work like that. If you have a natural eye for film making, whether you go to these schools or not, you have to be a natural story teller. I went because I had already been doing it but I wanted to turn my hobby, talent into a skill. That was my reason. It can only become a skill when you go and learn how to utilize your gifts. I could write a story but I wanted to know how to turn it into a script. I could do it whether I went to the school or not I just wanted to know it better to have that structure.
Your movies all have good ratings. If you have an opportunity to go back to a particular movie, what would change?
It would be in All Shades of Wrong. My female lead character wore an all back hair style all through and that was intentional. I mistakenly omitted having her husband mention it that that is how he liked her to wear the hair. When we filmed in the woman’s room, I didn’t want to alter anything and she had an array of wigs. One of the critique I got was ‘So she has all these wigs and she’s carrying one hairstyle.’ If only I had adapted that one line, people would have understood what I was trying to project which was how possessive the guy’s character was.
If you have the opportunity, which Nollywood classic would you remake?
I would like to remake Violated. There is nothing wrong with the story, I would just like to retell the story.
