See excerpts from Kunle Afolayan latest interview with The
Entertainer.
Can you tell us about the pirating of your latest film,
October 1?
It all started a couple of weeks ago when my distributor,
Gabosky and I were in South Africa. He had received a
message from someone in Nigeria of a threat by some
Alaba people that they had a copy of my film October 1 and
that they will pirate and release it into the market.
Immediately the message came, he showed me the text
which stated that the people would release the film the
following Monday. We panicked and started calling
necessary people. When we got back to Lagos, we
discovered that they did not carry out their threat as it
relates to October 1, but they had flooded the streets with
pirated copies of Phone Swap. Of course, Gabosky had
already released the original of that (Phone Swap). We
immediately informed the Nigerian Copyright Commission,
NCC, our lawyers and the necessary security agencies about
the threat and the release of Phone Swap. But it was not
until this Monday morning (last week) that they carried out
their threat concerning October 1.
How did you handle the initial shock when you got to know that
the movie has been pirated?
It was a colleague who woke me up with a text message:
‘Kunle, have you released October 1 because copies of the
film are already being sold in the traffic?’ I was shocked
because that call from my colleague came as early as seven
in the morning. Maybe things would have gone bad if not
for the issues that happened on the social media two weeks
ago where I had alerted the world of my experience with
some boys, mostly from a particular tribe, who were
hawking pirated copies of my movies. I called the attention
of some important people and appealed to them to do
something about it.
What exactly do you mean?
Of course, maybe that incident helped to keep my alive till
today. You can imagine what would have happened if I
didn’t have the information earlier about the pirates’ threats
a couple of days before this incident and someone’s call
suddenly wakes me to tell me my film, October 1 has been
pirated. Maybe I would have died of high blood pressure.
Despite that, since the news of the pirates got to me and I
confirmed those boys are hawking my films in the Lagos
traffic, I have become so disillusioned and highly
demoralised. Sincerely, I could not step out of my office for
a whole day. Even, as we speak, a company had invited me
to come and pitch for a job today but I couldn’t go because I
am not in a right frame of mind. I have been so sad and
depressed since this thing happened.
What steps have the authorities taken so far?
I don’t know yet, but I did all the needful. I informed the
government and necessary authorities immediately we
heard of the threat, but the film was still released. You won’t
believe that this is the second day and those boys are right
there on the streets hawking my films brazenly In fact, they
are so bold to the point of even threatening to beat up those
who challenged them for hawking a film that is yet to be
released by the owner of the work. It’s so frustrating.
Did you specifically point out this threat to NCC?
NCC? I believe they know those kingpins behind the
nonsense. They know who the pirates are. You need to
listen to Gabosky talk. The NCC officials have severally held
meetings with Gabosky and these pirates to resolve issues.
Can you imagine that NCC now negotiates with the pirates?
A body that is supposed to be the police of the creative
industry. That is what we are now facing and having to deal
with. When you are even lucky to get them to act, they will
give you excuses such as not having the resources and you
now have to provide them with funds. Sometimes they will
even complain of not having vehicles to carry out their
operations. Gabosky has spent over N1 million on a
particular raid before, and days after they have been
confiscated, you will still see the films right on the streets
again. Imagine. We can’t continue like this.
Do you think this could be a backlash of your tweets which
some people twisted to be a xenophobic campaign?
It could be. Even without that last tweet saga, they could
still have released the pirated work. But I want to believe
that the quick release of the film could have been provoked
by that social media saga. And on that issue, I just had to
call a spade, a spade. Between all of these is my distributor
who is Ibo and I trust him. He is deeply concerned. Gabosky
told me that he knows those people who are neck deep in
this piracy business. He said to me: ‘Kunle, I know the
people doing this and they are my brothers…I am not saying
99 per cent of the Ibos are pirates, but that 99 per cent of
those pirates are Ibos.’ That was what I re-echoed and if
this is what will come out of saying that truth, it’s so sad.
But we have to tell ourselves the gospel truth. We don’t
have one film industry in Nigeria. There is no need looking
at it from the perspective that I am saying all this because it
has affected me now. I have been saying this way before
now. I shouted when Half of A Yellow Sun was pirated. I
was one of those on the raid, collecting pirated copies of
Half of A Yellow Sun from those boys and we destroyed
such copies. When AY’s 30 Days In Atlanta suffered the
same fate, I was shouting that we do not know who the next
victim would be. Today, it’s me, and some people are quiet.
But tomorrow, someone could face a severe heart attack if
nothing is done about this problem now.
Do you have any suspicions about the source through which
the film got leaked into the pirates’ hands?
We are already conducting an investigation into it. I always
discreetly watermarked copies of my films. The watermark
on copies that go to the cinemas is different from those that
will be with other levels of distribution platforms.
What about online platform since the film has been released on
Netflix?
It didn’t leak from Netflix because it is not possible. But like
I said we are already conducting an investigation into the
source of this whole mess.
How much would you say this thing has cost you financially?
This film cost me about $2million (that was over
N200million as at then). Recently, I announced that we have
gotten a return of about N100million, which is still a far cry.
So, how am I going to get the remaining balance not to talk
of making profit? The only joy in all of these is the rave
reviews, accolades and awards that this film, October 1 has
garnered and is still getting. I would find solace in the fact
that the film has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria and has
already been tagged as one of the greatest films coming out
of Africa. That is all we have to show for it now. So,
imagine the money of the banks and also investors’ money
that was sunk into all of these. Look at what happened to
Half of A Yellow Sun? Do you think anybody will want to
invest in film business here again? What even amazed me
about all these is the magnitude of the piracy. I have never
seen this type of thing before. You can’t imagine the amount
of pirated copies of this October 1 released and distributed.
It was so huge. The pirated copies were so well circulated
across Lagos that you could say if only real distributors
could deploy such energy and resources to marketing of our
works, then filmmakers would be multi-millionaires. You can
imagine having about 500 people simultaneously selling a
particular pirated film on the streets of Lagos. That’s what
the pirates have done to my film, October 1.
Will this not affect your next project which we learnt is also
huge and already at the pre-production stage?
The truth is if the next thing to do will be to be going out of
Nigeria for shooting, maybe I will consider that. Already, I
have been getting such offers. Even with my new film
project, The CEO, I was already getting offers from other
parts of Africa from those who want to do co-production
with me. And the funny part is that I have been telling these
people; no, as I still want to shoot majorly in Nigeria. I took
those decisions because I love this country so much. That’s
why I have been putting all this energy and resources into
doing all these projects here. But will one not begin to
consider all these offers? Why should I insist on shooting
majorly in Nigeria? Maybe the time is now to wake up to
reality and go where I will not work and die young all
because of patriotism.
So, you are seriously considering shooting outside the
country?
Even though it is a sad situation I won’t let them break me. I
won’t let them stop me from being creative. It is an
experience and maybe I will only need to change my
approach to the business side of filmmaking.
How best do you think this problem can be tackled?
Honestly, I am confused. Like I said I do not believe we
have one film industry in Nigeria. Without a united industry,
I doubt if we can honestly and collectively fight this
cancerous problem. I think the onus still lies on the
government to come to our aid right now. We have
expended money in making the film, we have done our bit to
make sure the film represents and promotes our culture
within and outside Nigeria and Africa. This film October 1
represents this country. Everywhere this film travels to, it
represents Nigeria. The film has become Nigeria’s pride as
you know it is now on Netflix. This is unprecedented
because there has never been an indie film on Netflix
before. So, if this is what one gets for being a patriotic
Nigerian, putting almost all of one’s life into making quality
films, and also making sure that everything is balanced as
all the major ethnic groups are well represented and
portrayed, then it is unfortunate. If at the end of the day,
you had such work pirated on a large scale like this, then I
won’t blame all those who feel this country is not worth
dying for. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL AND TOUCHING NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES BIOGRAPHY AND SCANDALS
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