Cosummate theatre practitioner, Shola Kosoko is the daughter of legendary filmmaker, producer and director, Prince Jide Kosoko, and with her sheer hardwork, she has phenomenally risen to become one of Nollywood’s excellent film makers.
She has established herself over the years as a Nollywood genius and earned herself place as a notable actress taking giant steps and making giant strides in the Nigerian film industry to the admiration of her teeming fans locally and outside the shores of Africa.
The highly resourceful thespian spoke to Emmanuel Ajibulu on her latest flick, “The Voice” stating that it is going to be another Nigeria’s blockbuster which will soon hit the cinemas in major cities of Nigeria very soon.
The enthusiast Shola feels incredibly great about the prospects of her latest production, ‘The Voice’, having got Tunde Kosoko as the Writer and Director of the movie, Lukman Abdulrahman as Director of Photography, Afeez Eniola as Production Manager and Timothy Enietan as Dialogue Director.
Apart from the technical crew, actors and actresses that featured in the movie are, Micheal Okon, Jide Kosoko, Odunlade Adekola, the producer herself, Sola Kosoko, Ibrahim Chatta, Adunni Ade, Bidemi Kosoko, Jide Ogunlana, Ewa Kalejaiye, etc.
“For me, I don’t compromise standard in movie production and if you have been following me you will realise this is absolutely correct. THE VOICE will positively shake the industry, and I can’t even anticipate what the turnout will be when we eventually hit the cinemas. We’ve been receiving calls from both far and near about this latest flick judging from the quality of female and male characters that we featured, as well as seasoned hands that we assembled to form the technical crew.” Shola stated.
Asked about her advice for the industry stakeholders and government particularly, she said,
“Firstly, government needs to help us make the industry look lucrative for real and potential investors, financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders through right advocacy and investment friendly policies. They should also help us mitigate against facility deficit in movie production. In United States of America and India for example, where the concept of ‘wood’ came from, they have physical locations for their Hollywood and Bollywood, respectively. In these places, they have studios where filmmakers make movies; but we don’t have anywhere like that in Nigeria.
“I don’t even know if Nollywood is a philosophy or concept. It is high time we had a place for Nollywood, where there will be studios and houses for practitioners. If we want to shoot a film in Nigeria, we beg people to give us their houses, and this is not ideal for the industry at all. So, in Nigeria of today, with the position of the movie industry, we ought to have a permanent location. We also need government support in so many ways. Government has really tried in thier own way in some aspect though, but I believe they can still do better for the industry.
Continuing, “I will also like to feel government’s impact in the area of copyright infringement, they need to help activate various instruments of the law to safe the industry from pre and post production challenges, ranging from financing and marketing. They need to make the enabling environment to be investment friendly such that those who commit their resources would be able to recoup their money within a predictable time frame.
She added, “We also need to train industry practitioners as most people are unschooled in film and television production. Most of our universities don’t even have a film department where students can be trained in film production, theory and practice. Shola disclosed.
Shola’s knack for telling a good story, her technical instincts and an incredible work ethic affords her the perfect grace to have these highly skilled, positive thinking and most sought after professionals around her when it’s time to produce her movies.
Shola occupies a special place in the Nollywood film making industry, curiously, her fans who are in anticipation of the release date of “The Voice” are being admonished to exercise a little patience with the assurance that as usual they will not be disappointed.
-Emmanuel Ajibulu
