Biodun Stephen

"Acting was actually my first love, but for some reason, that part of my life never really took off; so, I went back to film school, London film academy, studied film production/screenwriting and my whole film making career kicked off. What spurred me? I had always wanted to tell and share my story with the world."

"It’s both. I think one of my biggest fears is accepting money to shoot a movie though I do get several offers. In as much as content is king, the demand for it is getting higher but the remuneration is getting lower. Producers, who have made huge box office returns, check out what they have put in and their returns. If you say you make N100 million in cinemas, split that in three ways first before you start considering returns on investment from the one-third that comes to you."

"“I’m a writer, producer, director and sometimes I want to be an actor because my original dream since I was a teenager was to act but life directions didn’t really take that course. I studied Philosophy in OAU and when I graduated I went into radio. I was on Star FM for a while as a newscaster. I then moved to MITV to be a TV presenter and then I went on to Insight Communication Agency to be a copy writer and afterwards went back to radio, Rainbow FM for about 4-years."

"My husband is a young man and very conservative and he had one worry which is quite valid. The trend of people getting married and breaking up was his worry. And also the African perspective to how people will be ‘touching his wife’ and all that but by the time we crossed that bridge, there were lots of rules like ‘ don’t let them hug you’ and the likes. He’s comfortable now that I am the producer and so I’ll know how to write it to soothe our conditions; and by the time he even agreed the flair was gone. So it was more of me just wanting to be a film maker and I found peace."

"You can count on two hands the films I’ve made. That is to tell you that it is not as lucrative as it seems. What makes it lucrative is also spending a lot of money on making the film, promoting the film and making sure everyone hears about it. So, small screen film makers like me (because there are some filmmakers that only come out to make films for cinema) bank on the numbers. As long as you keep working, you’ll be able to balance out. But if you’ll be going to the cinemas, you’ll need money to go in the first place and you’ll also need to wait a long time to be paid and to be licensed. It’s not a return that comes at once, it spreads over time"