Lagos is a safe place to shoot movies —Niyi Towolawi

From Investment Banking to producing movies, Director Niyi Towolawi has seen it all. He recently came into the country to finalise plans for the premiere of his latest flick, Turning Point, a movie that stars both Nollywood and Hollywood acts. He talks about the idea behind the movie, life as an army brat, the daunting task of putting together a Hollywood/Nollywood cast and sundry issues.

AFTER premiering Turning Point in London, did it go on to the cinemas?

It is nice for films to come out in a lot of places at the same time or around the same time. We are here to arrange all that. We can release in the UK at anytime. It is a Nigerian story so, naturally, a lot of the people will watch the film in the UK and everywhere else.

How soon do you hope to do the cinema release?

We are planning to premiere in Nigeria in March. Essentially, it is the distributors that will make that decision, but if we premiere in March, I am guessing that the earliest the film will come out will be April or there about. It is not my decision, unfortunately.

What exactly are your expectations bringing the movie to Nigeria?

I did the film Twisted in 2007. People now talk about a new Nigeria cinema and they reference that as being the first Diaspora movie because the film was made before there were cinemas in Nigeria. It was the first film to actually do a UK release and it was a very small, humble film, really, but that showed the possibility. Other people built on that platform. In terms of expectations, obviously I am hoping that everybody sees it and it makes lots of money so I can buy a Hummer.

How did you cope working with a star-studded cast?

It was very delightful. I would without a moment’s notice actually work with all of them again. When I work with people I have not met before, I focus very much on the story and the character as opposed to the actors, but having worked with all of these people, they are the type of people now that with my experience, I can actually write characters for. The production style of Hollywood and Nollywood are very different. We had Hollywood days and we had Nollywood days and obviously the chemistry was different. There was a difference of culture.

What is the idea behind having a multicultural cast for the film?

Film generally is a mirror of reality. I lived here as a child so there is that comparison that I actually have. Something is very much prevalent in Europe and America now. It is like the plight of the black person in the Diaspora. Setting the film in America gave us an extra dimension because there is a disparity between Africans and other black people. In America, Africans like education and we get rich from that, but a lot of African-Americans are apparently more likely to end up in prison than in college, so they look down at Africans. They see Africans as immigrants who are meant to be dirty so there is that tension and that conflict. If the film had been set in Europe, the tension would be on a racial level.

Do you consider it a gamble using an unpopular face as your lead character?

I think every single person, myself inclusive, does agree that definitely it was a gamble but obviously, it was one that paid off. We had about five press screenings in the UK before the premiere and people said Jim Iyke would have played that character better and I would make more money from it.

That is true, but ultimately it is about the stories, the character and getting it done the way it needs to be done and these were the actors that seem to be most qualified and they were the most visual depictions of the characters that I dreamt of.

Did you enter the movie for the upcoming AMAA?

Sure I did. I entered the movie and I am very hopeful that it will pick some awards.

What drew you to the script?

I wrote it myself. Writing the script only took three weeks. Twisted took about six months to write and they were done five years apart. There are millions of Africans that live in Europe and America and they are extremely under-represented in the media. If you Google Africa today, chances are that you will find pictures of an Ethiopian child with kwashiorkor. That is the image that is being created of Africa. There are loads of people that are obviously not represented.

Was it difficult getting the Hollywood crew to come to Nigeria?

It was difficult. I know very little of Nollywood and I thought I did know a lot now because as of 2008, I thought there was a place called Nollywood. I went out looking for it and I ended up in Surulere. Making this one, the first character I tried to cast was Jackie Appiah’s character. I described the type of character I am looking for and people mentioned Mercy Johnson.

I did a Google search of Mercy and I saw pictures of Jackie Appiah and I thought it was Mercy Johnson. I then met up with a lady who had worked with Nollywood people and she corrected me. Mama Gee character is the only Nigerian on the set that I had known before, so with that character there was no second choice. That was moulded around her. It was so much more difficult because the Americans, for instance, they all had agents and managers and they all belonged to very strong unions and we had access to them.

Weren’t you worried about the security implications?

I wasn’t in Nigeria at all in the 90s. I was an army brat as well. I knew when the Buhari coup happened, I knew when the Babangida coup happened. I was at school then. I can name a lot of the barracks in Lagos for instance. Lagos for me, has always been a safe haven.

I came into Nigeria in 2006 with 30,000 pounds and I didn’t know a single person. From the airport, I took a taxi to Surulere with a Ghana-must-go bag full of money and nothing happened to it. I have always felt very safe in Lagos. I have gone to a lot of countries and Lagos is actually a very safe.

When they were getting their visas, they were told not to go. The CIA has a very comprehensive website that talks about the risks in Nigeria. It says something like they were 70% more likely to be kidnapped and there are tons of diseases and threats. It took me two months to convince these guys that Nigeria is a safe country.

How did you finally convince them?

One of the crew members knew someone who came to shoot a commercial here and he said it is the best place he has ever been to. That convinced them a bit, but again, if the CIA told you that if you come to this country, you would die, you will have second thoughts. Besides that, the equipment that was brought into the country was worth $200,000.

They could not get insurance in the US to actually bring it into Nigeria and I could not get them in Nigeria as well. I had to convince them to bring them. They don’t think I am Nigerian anyway. Eventually, they came and they loved it. They ate Suya every day, went to Kuramo Beach and they enjoyed eating Indomie and fried eggs.

What issues would you say the film addresses?

There is a lot of ethnic prejudice in the film. I can be Nigerian when I want to be, I can be British when I want to be. Also, the whole arranged marriage thing is becoming prevalent now in the West. When you have parents who moved abroad and raised their kids there, they still want them to have some sort of identity back home and the easiest way to retain that is to make sure that they marry someone who is from there. I think that is the biggest issue in the film, but personally, it is not really my story.

Basically, every single person has it within them to be good and bad at the same time. For instance, Adolf Hitler killed over ten million people but he was a very loving father. I don’t know how that is possible. I am drawn to that sort of thing.

As an investment banker, how did you handle the transition to movie director?

I am constantly writing. I have grown a lot as a writer. The thing that inspired me more than anything else was the opportunity. I have spent the last 10 years working in Investment Banking as a software person so I understand how traders and investors actually work. Our lead character is that.

How much of your culture is still in you?

My parents basically speak Yoruba. Speaking English was banned in my house so I speak the language and I know a lot of proverbs and whatnots. My Yoruba is actually very clear.