Niyi Epega is a spiritual master, a great Dad and British/Nigerian and African film producer.
He says “My head swells every time my children tell me that I am good looking, not only in the superficial physical sense but also in the deeper, mystical aura kind of way”. Niyi lives in Lagos Nigeria.

MyWeku: Tell me a little bit about your background and the industry you work in vis-à-vis the African Film Industry.

NE: Africa has always offered film makers exotic danger and visual beauty. My familiarity with Africa has bred fearless film-making. I have the Nigerian nationality and this gives me license to make judgments about my people. The people and the politics are the subjects i like to get to grips with in my work.
I do spectacle and spectacle costs a lot of money. Film making is a very expensive process. In fact it is war. War against the elements, war against entropy and disorganization, but ultimately the greatest battle of this war is the battle between the business and the aesthetics. This is the war I am fighting to win.

MyWeku: Was it difficult, getting into the film production industry?

NE: As a child I grew up in the same small neighborhood as some of the country’s leaders. There was a civil war going on in the country at the time. Listening to my father and his friends discuss affairs of state was my favorite pastime. In addition to which I was a natural show off, fondly nicknamed Professor by my father’s friends. At the age of 10 I produced a play entitled “This Is Our Chance” by Ene Henshaw for Nigerian T.V. with my elementary school classmates. I guess you could say it was easy for me to get into the industry because I was in the Nigerian industry before there was any industry, as we now know it.

“Producing is like being in charge of a mob of unruly children. You know that there are some people who you have to be gentle with to get the best out of them, and people you have to be quite rough with”

 

MyWeku: Predominantly, are you brought into projects or do you find projects?

NE: The desire for interesting experiences is my guiding principle for committing to any project. Top draw films, with brand value stars, appropriate financing, and well resourced release strategies have the best chance to sell well and succeed in the global marketplace. I produce my own films with an eye to appealing to a broad based segment of the movie going public both in the top market- U.S.A., as well as the rest of the world.

MyWeku: If you were to summarise it, how would you depict the job of a producer and the cycle of the production process?

NE: Producing is simply the will to get something done, and figuring out a way to make sure that thousands of people help you every step of the way. From concept to story idea, to development, pre, during, and post, after completion then there is distribution and the auditing of revenues, hopefully for decades to come!

MyWeku: At what point does the producer disassociate themselves from a project? At what point do you say my work here as a producer is done?

NE: Hopefully there is never a point where a producer’s work is done. I imagine that the descendants of the producers of a film such as “The Sound Of Music” are still gleefully rubbing their palms all the way to their banks, even today. Since there is no upper limit to what a good film can earn, someone has to keep a keen eye on the bottom line. That someone is usually the producer.

“A film project is like a very sick patient who is dying in the emergency room, and you the producer is the doctor who needs to keep the patient alive. Except that the patient wants to die and is not interested in fighting for its life per se”

MyWeku: Producers in general tend to have a reputation as cigar chomping heartless professionals more concerned with the intricacies of running their purse strings than they are about the artistic side of things. Is that an accurate characterization?

NE: The Producer is the most creative person on a film project. He is the instigator, the cheer-leader, and the chief fire-fighter. If he is also a good writer who wrote the project then he is close to god. A producer has to be very sophisticated in terms of management and finance issues. Going off and managing a difficult film in a foreign country where you will have technical problems and diplomatic issues with every single person you encounter is not a bowl of cherries for everyone. Finding a suitable property (story), bringing in a writer and a director, looking for actors, working out deals, sorting out the money, talking to sales agents, seeing a film in production, keeping the cast, crew, directors and investors happy, watching the dailies, commenting on the edit are all very challenging.
Also producing is like being in charge of a mob of unruly children. You know that there are some people who you have to be gentle with to get the best out of them, and people you have to be quite rough with. Also, a film project is like a very sick patient who is dying in the emergency room, and you the producer is the doctor who needs to keep the patient alive. Except that the patient wants to die and is not interested in fighting for its life per se. This for me is the most accurate characterization of a producer.

MyWeku: “Electricity! Number one. It is so hard to charge even a mobile phone sometimes. So can you imagine how hard it is to charge the batteries of a 35 millimeter camera? And then all the lights we use? It is just the same stuff everybody else goes through – the traffic, the bad infrastructure – just like any other human being that lives in Nigeria,” said Epega.- Voice of America 2008. Have things improved since you made this statement and if not do you plan on using your work to bring the plight of film producers on our continent to the fore?

NE: Nigeria remains a very difficult place in which to conduct any business at all. I am absolutely amazed at my fellow Nigeria producers, and at how far the industry has progressed in its less than 20 years of existence. We just keep proving what our government and other so called leaders fail to realise. It is the plight of official stupidity that we keep bringing to the fore.

“Advice? Show me your ideas and let us find the money!Investing effort, time and money in good films will bring you plenty of love, happiness and respect”

MyWeku: What do you think best sums up your involvement in films? What unique element do you bring to the table?

NE: There are so many varied different kinds of film, and of telling even one particular story visually. The most important thing about a film is that it is understood by the least educated person in the world and that it makes its desired impact. So much tension surrounds a film producer because so few people understand what he really does and what is expected of him. When I work on a film, any film, it is my film because it is my reputation that is on the line.

MyWeku: What about your latest project? How did it come about and how can we access it?

NE: I have just completed photography on a film entitled ‘Operation Happiness”. It follows the premise that Nigerians are the happiest people in the world. I need more money to give it a befitting launch and global distribution. I have more films in the pipeline. The flagship project is an action adventure that is a bargain at a budget of U.S.D $12 million. This is the story of the Philosopher King that Nigeria so desperately needs. Again this project challenges the blunders of toxic leadership.

MyWeku: Myweku.com was established to provide original content on art, literature, culture, entertainment, fashion and business – in one hub. We hope that by showcasing the talent amongst Africans and those connected to Africa, many will draw inspiration and be able to use that to reach their individual goals. What is your next project and how can our readers support your work?

NE: MyWeku readers and the community can access and support my work by becoming my trusted friends. My enlightened enterprise is focused on giving. I run a company that gives pleasurable entertainment. All you have to do is ask, and I shall give according to what each one needs. That said, I must add that I have covert secrets for screening out drama queens, psychos, and other low self esteem losers.

MyWeku: What advice do you have for aspiring film producers?

NE: Advice? Show me your ideas and let us find the money!

MyWeku: Anything else you’d like to add?

NE: Investing effort, time and money in good films will bring you plenty of love, happiness and respect.

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