I’m An Advocate Of Igala Film Industry – Makolo Jnr

 What motivated you to make a foray into acting and movie production?

It was basically my childhood foundation.Growing up as a primary school pupil, I was actively involved in Drama, debating and current affairs and I always turned out to be the best. I became a celebrity sort of, even though I was the youngest. So that exposure remained in me through to my secondary school and up till today.

 At what stage did you start acting full-time?

I remember immediately after my secondary school, I met with friends of like mind and we formed a Drama group. We started moving from school to school. At the time HIV was at its peak in Nigeria, awareness was seriously needed. We cashed in on the trend and began creating awareness through drama within the secondary school students. By the end of 2005, I got to know what they called Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and the nearest chapter to me was in Makurdi, Benue state. So I moved there to become a member. From there, I went to Nasarawa where I met one Zak Amat who at the time was producing a soup opera called ‘Winners and Loser’, and I approached him as a writer. When Zak saw me he said ‘why did they allow this little boy to come out of the house?’ I said no I was not a little boy, I knew what I wanted.  He said ok, what did I want and I told him I wanted to write a movie. He said ok, sit down and give me a plot. After he gave me a storyline and I plotted, he also said what else i am  capable of   and i told him i could act. That was actually my professional beginning.

How many films have you been featured in so far?

I think I have more than 50 films to my credit. In Nollywood films, I featured in almost 20 while in Igala films I featured in more than 30 films. With this, I can relatively say am one of the popular faces in the Nigerian film industry.

What project are you currently working on?

Yeah, I am working on an Igala movie project called ‘Cha’aduwa mi’, meaning ‘Pray for me’. It is about the first movie from the Igala film industry that can be put side by side with any film done in 2016, whether English or Yoruba. It will come out on the 26th  September, 2016. I played a major role and the movie also featured some of the major Nollywood actors who are from Kogi state origin. The story is that of an illiterate farmer who has sent his only son to the University for his Self-glory because he heard that the neighboring villages are sending their children  to school. He wants to be recorded as the first person from his village to do that. The  man does not see any need why he should send his son to the university but  because his fellows were doing it. According to him, a woman shouldn’t go beyond primary school or secondary school which he has been able to give to his two other daughters. But these 3 children see life beyond the village in which they are. Also, their mother, who sees all things from her husband’s (their father) point of view, believes that there is insecurity, prostitution and all other vices in the city. The son admits all these but seeks prayer from his parents  so that he will overcome the vices.

What other thing do you do aside acting?

I also produce movies.

Did you produce ‘Cha’aduwamai’?

Yes. ‘Cha’aduwamai’ is my 6th film as a producer in the space of less than 5 years.

What could you say are some of the qualities that ‘Cha’aduwa mi’ has that can rival other films from other stables?

Now, a good film starts from a storyline, quality of equipments like camera, light, sound, costume, make-up, actors, directors and location. These put together is what will result into a quality film, and we were able to assemble all of these in the film. I did not want to compromise on any of these. Recently, we had a mini-event called ‘Top 50’ which gathered 50 prominent personalities from the media, political, and business sectors in Kogi state to watch the film. The reason was because of the importance of the media to the film industry in terms of publicity, political sector in terms of goodwill from the government, and business sector in terms of investment into film industry. These people were amazed at the dexterity of the masterpiece. They  are all looking forward to support me in one way or the other.

What was the experience you gotproducing ‘Cha’aduwamai’?

First of all, let me say that a producer is an entrepreneur. He takes the whole responsibility of raising fund, managing the fund, marketing and production of the film. So the experience has been very challenging. As a young man it had put me on my toes because I needed to raise the money and there was no time for a tea-party. My experience has been that of a CEO who wakes up with his company in mind and goes to bed thinking of his company.

What were some of the challenges you faced along the line, since you played a dual role as an actor and a producer of the film?

As you know, the pressure of a producer is resource management while that of an actor is to deliver his lines. What I did was to give some of the responsibilities of a producer to my Manager so as to allow me concentrate as an actor, because it was indeed very difficult producing and acting. Another challenge was basically that of finance. ‘Cha’aduwamai’ is a self-sponsored project of mine; I used my life savings to produce it. Though there were financial commitments here and there, they were not forthcoming. I had to improvise other means to make this dream come true.

How are you going about marketing the film, since Igala film industry has little or no marketing strength across the country?

Yes it is true that the Igala film industry does not have a good market structure. But this time around, with the quality of the film we have at hand, the marketing is a promising one. Above all, a Nollywood marketer just signed an agreement with us to market the movie. So it is going to be marketed and distributed nationwide by Oking International Ltd. Alaba, Lagos. Furthermore, we have just entered into a distribution deal with Courier Services so that people can buy online. With that, we are creating an online store, www.cdworld.smemarketinghub.com so that people can also buy online and get it delivered through Courier to their doorsteps, once they place an order.

So, between Igala film industry and Nollywood, which one do you like to be identified you with?

You know, film is film and an actor is an actor. If I am a Chinese and am acting in English, I should be able to act like an English man. For me, I am balanced in anywhere, English or language films. However, I am actually an Ambassador of the Igala Film Forum, which is a body that streamlines the activities of the Igala film industry. So I consider myself an Igala to the core. I am an advocate of the igala film. In those days, it bothered me that the Igala people do not have a product in the national market. I hoped that the Igala film industry becomes one of such avenues that can bring a product to the national market. I am happy to tell you today that the Igala film is a national product, and I am proud to be identified with the Igala film industry.