Biodun Stephen Oladigbo is household name in Nollywood as her works are a viewers’ delight. A thoroughbred storyteller, she has made her mark with blockbusters like ‘Picture Perfect’, ‘Breaded Life’, ‘Sista’, ‘A Simple Lie’ and many other screen favourites. She reveals her path to filmmaking in a recent interview, while also revealing the challenges and misconceptions that besiege the business of filmmaking.
ROTIMI IGE presents excerpts...
Tell us some of the trends you have noticed in the Nigerian film industry overtime. One of the things I learned as I was working and understudying the industry was that the industry as at then was very reliant on the cast. I think we are still in that place.
Back then, the cast was powerful, and now they are even more powerful. I wanted to build a structure where the audience trusted me. It was very important that the audience trust me.
When you become reliant on the cast, then you can’t open the door for new people to come in. You keep using the same people because this is what everybody loves. The strategy for me was to build a brand that people trust for storytelling, quality and then it wouldn’t matter anybody I use.
Off the bat, we were taking chances when we did ‘The Visit’. We were taking chances when we did ‘Picture Perfect’ with Bolanle Ninalowo. It was always about me taking a gamble.
Again, I then realised as I was going that I really like to tell intimate stories with a not-too-large cast. But of co.