By Mava John Joshua
From the day he broke into the Nigerian film industry otherwise called Nollywood about two decades ago, with the screenplay, Tom and Jerry, producer, Kingsley Okereke, CEO, Divine Touch Production, had not looked back.
Okereke’s journey in Moviedom began as a costumier. He later had stints as Location Manager and Assistant Producer before he wrote the script for the acclaimed movie, “Tom and Jerry“. The movie opened the floodgates for his rise in the industry.
Buoyed by the success of Tom and Jerry, Okereke produced the award winning movie “Eagles Bride” in the early 2000s that featured Nollywood great, Genevieve Nnaji. That was another hit that year.
Since then, Okereke had produced other movies such as Hot Ladies, He Lives in Me, Slave to Lust, Demon in Law, To Love and To Cherish, Dirty Secret among many others.
The producer for DSTV, IROKO TV and his YouTube Channel OrjiTv, Okereke, revealed how his career began and the inspiration for the screen play, ‘Tom and Jerry’. “The movie, Aki and Pawpaw inspired me, the need for a touch of humour in our homes, a departure from the norm were what inspired me to write the script and it was the same reason I used the same cast.”
He rates Nollywood from when it started and the present day. “Back when we started, Nollywood was a regional industry, some parts of Nigeria, the east and south, and it was mainly English. Now, we have Kannywood in the north for Hausa movies, the Yoruba practitioners also have their mini industry inside the bigger umbrella…in a nutshell it(Nollywood) has gone global; among the highest that churns out movies after Hollywood and Bollywood. It has become a big industry now, and I am happy I am part of it. Also, the brand Nollywood is recognized by other international companies wanting our productions: e.g. Netflix, Amazon, ROKTV among many others. I still remember the days of video tapes before DVDs, now people watch online, but we can’t run away from it. We still miss the old days.”
One of the major challenges facing practitioners according to the producer, is the inability to access adequate funding. “Access to funding to purchase latest equipment, with evolving technology is one major challenge we are facing in the industry.”
And looking back, what did the producer do then that he would have done differently now? “Back then, we worked based on what was available, I still savour it, though technology has changed a lot of things now. I miss the good old days anyway.”
On the new project he is working on, he has this to say: “The TV series, House Husband, we are in the final stages of production, it is a ROK project and about to be concluded. We have been filming for almost two months now, my first time, and I assure you its will not be like any other series,” he submitted.
