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In 2020, romantic comedy, Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards, written by Ozioma Ogbaji, rocked cinemas as well as the global streaming platform, Netflix. Ogbaji is an Accelerate Filmmakers Project alumnus who has gone ahead to establish herself as one of the industry's players to watch out for. Interestingly, she's not just a writer, but also a producer, director, and CEO of Hillcrest Studios.
She wrote, directed, and produced Stuck, her first short film on YouTube in 2018. In this interview, she talks about writing for film, Nollywood, and how she's making a name for herself, one story at a time.
You were part of the 2018 Accelerate filmmakers project, where you produced your short film, Stuck. Was that how you ventured into Nollywood?
No, I started my film-making career long before that. In 2016, I took an online course titled an Introduction to Screenwriting. Then in 2017, I went to the Royal Arts Academy (RAA), a film school in Lagos where I studied acting and screenwriting. I entered the Accelerate Filmmaker Project 2018 competition to learn more about directing and producing.
Cool. You have writing credits on Fate of Alakada, wrote Kambili: the whole 30 yards, and several others. What was your first project as a screenwriter and which of them shot you into the spotlight?
Oh Wow! You're taking me on a trip down memory lane. My first two screen credits are on IrokoTV. I'm trying to remember the title of the first one, but I think they were both directed by Daniel Oriahi and produced by Ijeoma Grace Agu… Over the Fence, that's the first one!
I wrote them in 2017 after film school. At the time, my screenwriting teacher would keep advising me to keep writing in order to have a script bank/library and I did. It was during that period that I wrote Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards as well. Then, in 2018 I was part of the writing team for a web series by Ndani TV titled Afrocity.
I don't know how to answer your question regarding being shot into the spotlight because I believe that some producers and directors were familiar with me. I had also entered other competitions and attended masterclasses so we were familiar with each other. But I guess having a film showing in cinemas or on SVOD platforms brings a different kind of audience and attention. Many people responded to Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards when it was released in cinemas and on Netflix so I guess that is the one.
Nice. So, Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards had been written since 2017
Yes, I actually had the idea written on paper in 2016 after the online course I spoke about, before I went to RAA in January 2017. In RAA, I showed a classmate and he liked it and advised me to continue writing it. I probably still have the papers folded in a book somewhere in my house.
Great. Many times, screenwriters are not given enough credit and hype for movies, unlike producers and directors. And these movies turn out to be big cinema and online hits. Do you agree with this?
Yes, you are right about that. It is no secret that screenwriters come out to complain every now and then about this. Honestly, I do not know or understand why they are sometimes not credited for their work. A producer, who is guilty of that, would be in the best position to answer why they would omit the writer's name in the credits. I have not experienced this, but I believe it is rude and disrespectful to credit every other person who worked on the project and somehow forget to credit the first person who spent hours, days, weeks or even months breaking their back over their desk, racking their brain, writing and rewriting the script.
I cannot speak for every writer, but I think the bare minimum that writers want is credit and acknowledgement; I do not know about hype. If hype goes hand in hand with credit and acknowledgement, then it is a welcome idea, but the bottom line, I believe, is respect for the writer and the entire team, really.
Sometimes I wonder if writers are sidelined because most of them are introverts and reclusive, but that is an assumption of mine and not a good reason. There is no good reason at all. The honorable and polite thing to do is to treat the writer with respect by crediting the writer. Imagine a writer telling their family, friends and future collaborators that they wrote a film and their name is not in the credits to prove it. It is embarrassing. Crediting the writer is a great push for the writer to keep going and of course, the writer needs the credit to get other jobs. I think I went off on a tangent there. Lol
It's fine.
It is not just a Nollywood thing, it is everywhere. It baffles me, but I believe that if there is a contract/memorandum of agreement between the writer and producer/production company, which covers all these concerns, this can be addressed or avoided.
So you would suggest that to combat this, writers adopt legal measures to claim their rights?
It is not adopting legal measures. Signing a contract at the start of a new project is the norm. For most of the films I have written, I signed an employment contract with the production company before work started and there were clauses that addressed screen credit. In very few cases, I have written scripts without a contract. It is risky and I would not advise writers to do this, but like I mentioned earlier, signing a contract is the norm so ask for one, agree to terms and if a production company breaches the contract, well, you have a contract to save the day.
Nollywood has been in the black books of many Nigerians. They'd rather watch Hollywood than our own stories, even with the level of growth we've seen. What improvements do you still think the industry has to work on?
Hahaha. Oh my! I know what you mean. We learnt film-making from Hollywood (still learning), so that industry is more advanced than ours, but one thing that we have in common is storytelling. What I mean by this is that we have had oral literature handed down through generations, but cinematic storytelling is relatively new and different. What is it about Hollywood movies that some Nigerians prefer them over our Nigerian movies? I think if we answer this question we can see why they have these preferences.
However, I think it is most likely the stories, plots, structure, characters, stakes, character arc, etc. It is a mix of many intricate details that major Hollywood filmmakers pay close attention to and then they may take several months or even years to write, several months or years to produce and several months or years in post-production. You cannot compare the quality of that to a project that is completed in a shorter timeline.
That being said, I believe Nigerian filmmakers are magicians because the work we produce within short timelines is unbelievable. Now imagine if we have the same timelines and budgets Hollywood films have, we would not fall short of telling stories as good as theirs. Regarding improvements, it would be arrogant of me if I say Nollywood is good as it is, there is no need for improvement. The day we stop learning and improving is the day we begin to die. I think there's a wise saying that goes like that.
I would say if we could make improvements in cinematic storytelling by creating characters in high-stakes situations, with believable character and story arcs, clear goals with clear obstacles, then we would be unstoppable.
Quite a profound angle!
Lol. Thank you.
You are not only a writer, you also produce and direct. If you had to pick one, which would it be?
Lol. I can't pick one. Maybe if you ask me a few years from now, I would be able to.
What three nuggets would you give someone looking to start a career in scriptwriting?
Keep learning. Read books, read blogs/articles, read scripts, watch YouTube videos that teach screenwriting, watch videos that analyse scripts and movies, watch movies, write, write, write, continuously.
Go to school, if you can. You do not have to, but film school will expose you to a network of like minds with whom you would collaborate in the future. If you cannot afford film school, you can enter competitions, take masterclasses, take online courses, update your LinkedIn profile, go to film festivals, you will meet people there as well. Just establish your presence in industry circles.
Live. Go out, have a good time, experience life, make friends, travel. These things will enrich your life and will inspire/influence your writing in more ways than you imagine, making it richer and relatable.
Interesting
Wait, I will throw in a fourth one: Do not be afraid, do not be timid to introduce yourself out loud as a screenwriter. If you decide you want to build a career in screenwriting, introduce yourself as such. Confidently tell people, "I am a screenwriter." Stop saying you are an "upcoming screenwriter" or whatever, because that way, you are subconsciously putting yourself down. It means you do not believe that you are a writer and people will not believe you as well. In fact, you will likely put yourself in a position where people would try to take advantage of you. You are a screenwriter. Period.
If you are concerned that you do not have screen credit yet, that's okay. If they ask for your work, you answer honestly, "I do not have a produced film yet, but I have a sample" and if they ask to see it, you share the first five to ten pages via email. When I was starting out, I never introduced myself as an upcoming screenwriter. What does that even mean? Just believe it, own it and people will believe you too.
And what resources would you recommend that they equip themselves with?
There are so many resources. Jeez! Where do I start?
Lol.
Studiobinder, No Film School, Scribe Meets World, Industrial Scripts, these are a few websites where you can find resources about filmmaking, not just screenwriting.
Usually, I Google what I want and I read from the different results that pop up. Studiobinder has a YouTube channel. Other YouTube channels are Lessons from the Screenplay, D4Darious, Film Riot, etc. Just search. If you want an article or video about the three-act structure, just search. And for books, there is Story by Robert McKee, Save the Cat, and more!
If you are a writer, this conversation could assure you that building a career in Nollywood is a cinch. Well, it is! Like Ozioma Ogbaji; with the right tools, hard work, and wearing your craft like a badge of honor, you can make a great career in the film industry. A lesson she drops, among many others, is that there is always a story, and a starting; so what story are you starting with?