Lekan Wasiudeen is the Creative Director and Chief Executive Officer of Libra Multimedia Limited. His streaming platform, LibraTV has become the toast of Nollywood movies, with a string of series and movies to his credit. He spoke to ROTIMI IGE about the current trend of violence-prone and gang related Nollywood movies and its impact on Nigeria and Nigerians, among other issues in the industry. Excerpts.
Your LibraTV has become a Mecca of sorts for Nollywood movies. How did you achieve this?
By consistently sifting through the chaff to promote and showcase the best movies against the practice of cronyism that was the order of the day.
We also make conscious efforts to invest in the production of quality movies and deliver content with the best audio-visual qualities. Most importantly, I will say the grace of God. These stand LibraTv out above the rest and make us gain and retain the confidence of viewers.
With the investment of Netflix, Prime Video, etc into Nollywood, what projections do you foresee for the industry in general?
It is one of the best things that has happened to the industry and the practitioners recently. It brings about the much-needed capital investment and technological know-how/deployment and it helps solves the age-long problem of distribution. I foresee a brighter future for Nollywood as it enters the global reach and seeks to attain the attention that our Afrobeats has recently attained.
Do you think that independent movie producers can match the quality of movies that the sponsored movie projects by streaming platforms release?
Maybe not immediately, but the effect will eventually trickle down because passion, people and money make good movies in the order mentioned.
You recently voiced concern over the gang violence-related storylines that are becoming the norm. Expand on this, please.
First, we must give kudos to all involved in the production of these movies because they have really upped the game in terms of production qualities and value but then, we must all also be worried because these gang related movies are becoming one too many. It seems that’s the only thing about us, and because these are international platforms, the world will meet us via these movies.
We can rightly argue that art is a reflection of society and also a form of entertainment but we must also be patriotic enough to project the right image of the country and what we all desire to see of the country.
But for our Afrobeat and Afrobeats, the nation hasn’t had a good international image for a long time, so Nollywood and its practitioners should be conscious and intentional in the kind of image we consistently portray given the opportunity. We must not let the quest for immediate gain override our patriotic duty to our nation. This is also a wake-up call to the government of Nigeria to put their money where their mouth is and not let ‘profit-only’ hijack the industry. It will be too grave.
Though many of these movies are age rated, we can still not deny the fact that not many parents are up to their duty as regards what their children consume in terms of content. So, the social-cultural effects this will have on our social development may not be palatable.
Critics at the time objected to the overreliance on comedy scripts in Nollywood. Now you are worried about action/violence-prone movies? Can’t it just be seen as art or entertainment?
Yes, it is an art/entertainment but I’m just pleading with practitioners to be conscious of the enormous social engineering power they wield and also have it at the back of their minds that we all owe Nigeria a duty and we are all partakers in building the nation we so desire.
What would you advise movie makers such as yourself about this trend?
Be responsible and balanced in our storytelling. I will also want to say Kudos to numerous movie makers that have put in their best in telling our stories for our good, and our perspectives. May God bless us all.
Casting roles are also quite challenging for moviemakers especially when most would rather engage popular entertainment characters to maximize profit margins. Do you agree that this may water down the quality of Nollywood scripts?
Truly, this is not a black/white situation. Every content creator will want to tell a good story and also maximize returns for sustainability. That said, with the high pool of inherent talents in Nigeria, I do not think it will be so difficult to find this balance.
You recently produced some series/movies? Tell us about them.
Yes, we recently concluded our 52 episodes series. Okoto season two. Building on the success of season one our production team went camping to again cook yet another interesting episode of the series, with the introduction of more compelling characters that will make the family programme more enjoyable. We shall soon start showing these episodes on our YouTube channel LibraTv and this time, we are happy to inform the people that the whole episodes will be available on Amazon video direct for purchase or rent for those who cannot wait for the weekly YouTube upload. It will also be on AfricaMagic Yoruba, a Multichoice Nigeria Limited popular digital channel.
What is your end goal when conceptualising/visualising a script/movie/series?
Telling a compelling story that our audience can relate with, positive social engineering, making new stars and making good returns.
At LibraTV, we are also intentional in helping several graduates of arts make easy in-road to the industry. We make it easier for the gown to meet the town.
What’s next for you?
Keep building capacity as we enjoy the business of storytelling.
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