One on one with Yemi Solade

In this interesting chat, Veteran Cross over Actor, Film Maker and Director, Yemi Solade opens up to A Metropolitan Ideas’ Copy what can reshape the movie industry, the influence of Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka on his major decision in life and other issues.

Nollywood has really grown tremendously over the years, but regrettably along with it some thorns. As a trained Thespian what do you think can be done to remodel or re-shapen the industry?

I would align with your school of thought that Nollywood has actually grown over the years, some slightly over three decades. Obviously, with the hiccups, ups and downs, I will tell you what I think and what I know.
The cankerworm that has been the spanner in the wheel of progress has been the entry point. Nollywood has become an all-comers affair where you find all kinds of characters from the good to the bad and of course the ugly. It’s one industry that accommodates all sorts and we do not have an industry without a proper template to serve as checks and balances. I’ve always screamed that as much as we want a lot of people to come on board, to contribute to Nollywood, we should not kid with training. Training is key; the first step is training and even on-going training should be encouraged. It gives so much worry to see people stroll in and out of the field for whatever reason, I really do not know. A lot of people these days just come in to hide under the umbrella “Nollywood” to perpetrate all sorts of nefarious activities but we still have the good ones, we still have very brilliant talents exhibiting their skills.
I would tell you with all sense of modesty that Nollywood has really come of age and we are still evolving. I want to believe that we are heading towards the right direction but the entry point has to be checked. I want to also add that the problems therein in Nollywood is more like a microscopic problem of Nigeria as a nation, wherein the country is a multi-ethnic one, too many tribes, too many cultural affiliations, norms, values, traditions, and that is what Nollywood looks like.
We have the three major tribes- Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa and then we have the minorities. In all of these clans, there are budding talents who want to jump aboard the Nollywood ship and even the existing ones who are trying to model and remodel, shape and reshape the course of navigation and here we are.
But We are not faring badly though, we just have to tighten the boat here and there and oil the system so we can all gravitate towards El Dorado, we are a work in progress, Nollywood is really a big deal.

Society itself is what most scripts attempt to portray at the end of the day. How has society influenced the Arts and practitioners alike?

One cannot underestimate or overestimate the influence of society in the portrayal of what we turn out in Nollywood, our movies are a reflection of the society at large, what we see around, what we think, what we imagine. But what we see mostly form the bedrock of the scripts that we produce into movies.
The nature of the story and scripting that we have in Nollywood is a reflection of society at large. So many issues that are negative and the ones that are not so negative, the good ones, abound.
We can’t close our eyes to issues of Boko Haram, to kidnapping, to high-handedness in high places, government officials, corruption, maladministration, religion, bigotry, fundamentalism, banditry, prostitution, armed robbery, what have you.
These are things that we all witness and encounter in our daily lives and these are things that we talk about in our movies. Nollywood is what we say in our works, just a reflection of society. The society is a determinant factor to a large extent, yes, scripting can be imaginative sometimes, one could create an adventure, one could fantasize, one could even do a lot of some illuminating and some could be a comedy, it could be satire, it could be burlesque, it could be buffoon, it could be a tragedy.
But in all of this, the society has a very conspicuous space in the heart of Nollywood because when you look around the special environment you get what you need, some you have to read up but a lot we witness, we encounter, and all these things form the ingredients that we pen down in our stories.
So that is that about the influence of the society in Nollywood, we can’t divorce society from what we do. The essence of drama is to mirror the society, all we do is to re-enact, and then to entertain, to inform, to educate and of course it’s business too, we survive doing these things, it’s our means of livelihood, we have to make money, investors will have to recoup on investments and we impact the society; we place Nigeria favorably well before the world at large. So that is it about the impact of society.

Is it true that one of the hazards of the profession, (even Internationally), is divorce?

Divorce is a global phenomenon, I want to believe that even within the rank and file of the animal kingdom, they will have reasons to come together among one another and then to go different ways among one another.
Now, human beings for all we are and for what we are, we are very instinctive; everybody wants what works for one, everybody wants good things, everything that will make life meaningful, successful, and impacting.
I don’t want to subscribe to that notion that the field encourages divorce, I want to say that most practitioners probably, do not look deeply into who they want to bring on as spouses. And now, it all ends bitter, sour for some reason that I cannot really deduce or affirm.
But the thing is when two persons are friends and they understand each other, they will be able to tolerate the weaknesses therein and be able to support each other and be able to stick together come what may. That is the essence of marriage, so I would not align with that notion that divorce is one of the hazards of the profession- film making, theatre arts.
I will only say that yes artistes all over the world are very selfish people, we are very selfish people, we think about ourselves only in most cases to a large extent about 90-95% of us are very selfish not because we do not want to extend the love that we harbor within ourselves to our spouses but it’s just the nature of the average artiste to want to hold oneself like, all together, do things alone on oneself by oneself, for oneself and it does not work like that in a relationship, in a love relationship or in a marriage.
Marriage is about sacrifice, about being open to a large extent, it’s about understanding the other person, it’s about giving the time, being supportive, it’s about sharing, it’s about love, affection, and doing things together. But the life of the theatre artiste, film maker is more like we live our lives in isolation even within the family unit we mostly withdraw to ourselves, I think it’s just for the sense of allowing the creative impulse to prevail, and to get the job done. So we end up mostly like we do not appreciate marriage, I don’t think we don’t. It’s a global phenomenon, it’s not akin to Nollywood, it’s in Hollywood, it’s in Bollywood. So whoever it is that has come in contact with a filmmaker, a theatre artiste will have to marry the profession and all attendant situation so that there can be an everlasting relationship ditto marriage and living together.
But it’s a lot of challenge, I have my own challenges but I want to believe that my wife is so much an understanding type that she sacrifices a lot emotionally, materially, her time and a lot because she wants to make it work but not everybody can really live with that, this is why we are human beings and this why we differ. Different strokes for different folks but all in all, I don’t want to believe that divorce is one of the hazards of the profession, it will work for whoever it will work for.

We have examples abound, there are shining stars in their marriage and these are people we should emulate, we should reach out to them for counseling, let’s compare notes and share experiences, all of these things.
To round off on the hazard of the profession as against the divorce situations that are rampant, I just think that practitioners should be a lot patient in their relationships and strike a balance with work and their love lives, their marital lives so that one can end up very well in the fullness of time.
No matter where we turn, North, East, West, South; we turn home and home has to be a comfort zone, one needs to have a spouse that will understand what one does and support the profession and even love it but in the same token we should understand that we have to divide our attention and do that justifiably and reasonably so that we can end well.
For those of us that are aging we can’t afford to have a broken home now, one needs one’s rib, one needs one by one’s side to complement the existence, and going by the design from God, Eve was added to Adam’s life as a helpmate. So in order to allow the fulfillment of God’s prophecy and design, we should promote marriage in our lives even as much as we love our job and we are that busy we should understand that we have to balance the love between work and our family life.

Do you think life happens by chance or by fate?

I don’t know whether to say life happens by chance or by fate but we can actually design it. There are people that are very methodical and meticulous in this world, people want to do things accordingly, who want to design life on their own, people who want to get married at a particular time, who want to have children at a particular period, who just want to do things and that works for some people but for a lot of people too life can just be happenstantial, can just be by chance.
Well whichever one that happens life is just life, whether it is by fate or it is by chance, by design, divine arrangement, whatever it is that we hold as belief, life is life and I would always want to believe that evolution of life is what we know, life continues no matter what happens.
I came into this world, I don’t know whether by design or by chance, by a stroke of love, fate (chuckles) but I’m here to live it, I’m breathing, I’m doing my thing, running my life. I would submit that yes, life can be by chance or by fate.

Do you think the measure of solidarity or connection one enjoys can determine their level of success in life?

Solidarity and connection can propel one to greater heights if well connected, if well harnessed. Nigeria of today, we hear people talk about not having connection, not being known, not having the link and all of that but largely I would say for budding talents, for people who have been endowed with special skills, would always find a headway.
Talking about the creative industry, talent can never be quantified, whether one has a link, connection, or solidarity, when the art is good the world will see, the world will applaud, the world will accommodate, the world will celebrate such artiste. I’m talking based on my world, I’m being subjective now but objectively it is really amazing to say the world we live in encourages godfather-ism, solidarity, connections that one can amass just to let things happen for oneself but I don’t think it’s really healthy.
One may not be as strong as one ought to be but having the connection, the right links, support, and the solidarity one can get to a level that ordinarily shouldn’t be and it is not so much of a good story to tell when we look around the society and we see a lot of people who are well qualified for some positions and because they do not have the wherewithal, they are not people of means, they do not have godfathers or godmothers, they don’t know the Bishops or Imams, they don’t the Generals in the military, they don’t have the Professors in the academia, they don’t have the Obas, the royal fathers, and money bags; they are there to rot away. That is the reality of our time, it is sad, tragic but it is what it is.
Nigeria as a space has too many egg heads, so many people running to acquire University degrees and certificates and then coming out these Tertiary institutions and not having jobs, what comes after that? The energies would have to be channeled somewhere and that is why we have scams here and there, cybercrimes and even there are the dastardly acts of kidnapping, armed robbery, drug addiction, prostitution, thuggery, these are the fallouts of not having things to do even with the academic qualification and certificates.
The society will have to be remodeled to accommodate trained people, it’s sad that if you look around even the political space you find some political office holders and you marvel at their behavior and attitudinal patterns, you begin to ask questions, “why God, why are these ones the favoured ones?”
But like we say in this part of the world, we arrogate everything to the Supreme Being that God will favour whom he will favour, and if you can leg it too, do it and then you get the results. But merit should always be a consideration, it should even be the consideration but Nigeria is not a just society.

The Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka had a big effect on you becoming a Theatre Practitioner; Do you think the craft is wholesome in Nigeria? Talking about Stage, Poetry and how people tend to generally prefer movies

It’s true that Professor Wole Soyinka had a huge influence and effect on me studying dramatic arts, I will say. I was actually given admission to study Law, I was a Law student for about four weeks and I switched over to Dramatic Arts all because I wanted to learn from the great master the iconoclastic, the Kongi, Wole Soyinka, well all that is history now.
I would say that movies have become very big in Nigeria and they have actually over shone the stage productions, it’s faster these days for budding talents to express themselves because of the technology available for film making as against the very rigorous, grotesque and very cumbersome stage crafts. Even some of us who started from the stage will tell you that it’s more economical, it’s more beneficial economically to feature in movies than going on stage because of the strain and stress involved in stage productions.
You will not fault any practitioner who prefers movies to stage productions, we are talking business here, everybody wants to do well, It’s no longer art for art’s sake, anybody who thinks art is for art’s sake will end up dying in penury, this is Nigeria where inflation is just skyrocketing and artistes can barely feed themselves, they hardly can run family lives and afford the basic things of life.
This is the reason movies will be preferred to stage productions, if you ask me I prefer stage productions because it allows for professionalism at the highest level and it is even fulfilling having to perform live for a live audience. It’s just like the musicians who play in concerts, if you ask them it’s a different feeling from when they do the video recordings and they are aired, viewed all over the world.
But then, the survival instinct would propel the average practitioner to want to do movies. The mileage is wider, the remuneration is better and it brings in more of the goodies, if you permit me to say. But for me, I prefer stage production.
In furtherance of my position on the preference for movies as against the production, the audience is more sophisticated now they will rather go to the cinema for the sophistication. And again for those who are that conservative would rather want to stay in the confines of their homes and watch the movies on screen rather than hit the road where a lot of stress is encountered, traffic situations, and even the state of security in the country is another factor. Nobody wants to endanger himself or herself because he or she wants to go to watch drama presentations on stage. But then I think the lure of the screen and the technology therein, a lot of people can afford cable stations, subscribe to cable TV, we have so many these days, Netflix and what have you.

People would just rather want to stay indoors and watch the screen, watch movies. So that is that, and then, there are more people coming on board movie productions and it’s getting wider and bigger every day while the stage productions still have the ardent live theatre, live performances. But it won’t take away the glamour the movie productions give, it will continue to give it a higher-end preference to stage productions.