Born Rita Uchenna Nkem Dominic Waturuocha to medical
practitioner couple from Mbaise in Imo State, Rita Dominic is a
household name in Nollywood, having featured in over 100 movies. Rita
had her secondary education at the Federal Government College, Ikot
Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, before she headed for the University of Port
Harcourt, where she graduated with a BA (Honours) Degree in Theatre Arts
in 1999. Though she started performing as a child, appearing in school
plays and children’s television shows in her home state, the screen diva
came to limelight in 1998 when she starred in her first movie, A Time
to Kill. From there onwards, it has been a success story all the way.
Having made name in the industry, Rita in the year 2011, made
a bold step when she teamed up with her longtime manager Mildred Okwo
to set up a production outfit, Audrey Silva Company, with The Meeting as
their first attempt. Following the huge success of the movie, which won
several awards at the AMAAs and AMVCA, Rita and her partner embarked on
their second feature film Sururlere, which was recently released in the
cinemas across the country. In this interview with CHUKS NWANNE, the
award-winning actor spoke on her new project, being a producer and life
as an entrepreneur.
Your recently released a new movie, Surulere, what’s the movie all about?
The movie Surulere is set in Lagos and focuses on Seun Ajayi’s
character – Arinze’s life as an insignificant graduate trainee in a
fictional agency, a serial debtor and a desperate young man eager to get
ahead. It’s a story a lot of Nigerians, especially Lagosians, can
connect with. You have a lot of young people out there, who are trying
to make ends meet; they hustle everyday to take care of themselves and
sometimes their families. For me, what makes Nollywood what it is today,
are the simple stories that we tell. That’s what we try to do with our
production company; to tell these simple stories on a higher level. The
movie also features Beverly Naya, Kemi Lala Akindoju, Linda Ejiofor,
Tope Tedela, Enyinna Nwigwe, Gregory Ojefua and Bikiya Graham- Douglas.
How long did it take to get this movie out?
Well, production proper took ten days because we had months of
planning; we were organised and we knew what we wanted to do a month
before we went on location. Unlike in The Meeting where you played a major role, you chose a minor role in Surulere? Well,
my partner and director of the movie just wanted me to play the role;
she said we would need my face to help sell the film. Yes, it’s my
movie, but I don’t have to play the lead role, that’s the point. I will
always play the roles that I fit into; that’s the way I work. It seems the success story of The Meeting encouraged you to make another feature film? I
felt elated with the response we got with The Meeting and that’s
actually what encouraged us to go ahead and do another project.
What’s the budget of this new movie?
No, I can’t give that out. Most big budget movies released in recent times suffer in the hands of pirates, are you worried about Sururlere?
I
think the government needs to enforce these laws; we have laws to fight
piracy, but they are usually not enforced. If you look at it, there’s
piracy everywhere in the world; it’s not a Nigerian problem. But we need
to get the laws active; enforcement is very important in curbing
piracy. On the other hand, I think government should also create
enabling environment for filmmaking to operate. Once we do that, both
filmmakers and government will start earning revenue from movies,
especially with the dwindling oil economy. As for Surulere, we will do
our best to ensure it’s not pirated.
Most of your colleagues are comfortable being just actors, what informed your decision to try your hands in production?
First of all, I’m still an actor. Since I came into the industry and
started acting in 1998, I’ve always wanted to try out different aspects
of filmmaking. I wanted to be a producer; I wanted to be behind the
camera and see how it’s done and how I could contribute in telling good
stories. So, some years back, Mildred Okwo, who manages my career as an
actor, had said to me… in fact, she presented the idea of setting up a
production company to make movies. To be quite honest, I liked where she
was coming from; I liked her idea. I liked everything she wanted to
because that’s what I wanted to do in the industry as a producer. So, I
decided to go into partnership with her; that’s how we got here.
How far have you gone with Audrey Silva Company?
So far, so good; we’ve been able to produce our second movie, which
we just released in the cinema as follow up to our first project, The
Meeting.
With the state of the economy, how do you mange as filmmaker to produce films?
The truth of the matter is that the Nollywood audience still loves
Nollywood. Just for that reasons, it encourages us producers to keep
working and put movies out there for them to watch.
How has been your experience as a producer?
To be quite honest, anybody who has been able to go behind the camera
to produce a film and get it to the public to see, he/she deserve a
path on the back. For me, I feel that if your cast and crew are happy,
they give you their best. However, you have to be firm. So, it’s about
finding a balance to ensure that your cast and crew are comfortable
enough on set to shoot for you and at the same time, you must know when
to put your foot down. Luckily, I don’t do that alone; my partner Milded
Okwo is very much involved; it’s teamwork. Being an entrepreneur in an environment like ours is not an easy task, could you share your experience with us?
That’s
why I’m very much grateful and thankful to God and my business partner
because, she encouraged me to go on this journey with her. If she wasn’t
there, maybe I won’t be here today doing this. As much as I wanted to
be a producer, sometimes you need somebody to encourage you, somebody to
tell you, ‘it’s okay to take a leap.’ I’m just grateful to her that she
encouraged me to go all the way in terms of becoming a producer. To be
quite honest, it’s not easy to produce a film in this our climate, but
everyday we learn; we keep pushing, hoping that we are on the right path
towards taking the industry to where it should be.
Your movie is showing at the cinema right now, what’s next?
Well, for people to go and watch the film. Hopefully, they are going
to see me and cast members at different cinemas talking to the audience
and selling tickets; it’s a way of engaging with our fans. At the same
time, we plan to shoot another project this year, which we are not
revealing right now.
