BEVERLY HILLS, March 29, (THEWILL) – Before he was elected to lead the Actors Guild of Nigeria as their president, Emeka Rollas had paid his dues in the movie making business as an actor and a movie-producer. His wealth of experience in the industry spans over 20 years which is why he has successfully manned the affairs of the Guild for almost four years. Since his assumption of office, he has contributed his quota to the advancement of the association by establishing a Trust Fund to cater for the welfare of actors; putting a health scheme in place for members of the association and several other things that were never in place, to keep the association vibrant and to create a sense of belonging for the actors. In this interview with Shade Metibogun, he highlights some of the challenges he has had to face as the Guild’s president and other sundry issues. Excerpts:
Your first term of four years ends this year. How will you assess your work so far as the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria?
I will be very frank to let you know that some of the things we have put in place in this dispensation are things that were not there initially. For me, I wouldn’t count them as such a big success because they are primary things which were supposed to have been readily available before now. I do not consider someone who gives us water or electricity as having done anything because we should have a right to water, electricity, shelter etc. Whatever the members of the guild are having access to now are their rights. Until I begin to actualize my next level game, where some of the things we are going to enjoy are things we don’t have rights to, that is when I can now say that I have achieved something as the president of the guild.
How has Covid 19 affected the smooth running of the association?
We do not gather anymore as we used to. It is when we gather that we network among ourselves. We were already charting a new course last year with our award ceremony honouring members and so on. We were supposed to have gone far with activities lined up. But for the pandemic, a lot of things didn’t go the way we planned. I will say it has not been easy for us but with God, all things are possible
What are some of the challenges you have to deal with as the AGN president?
One of the major challenges is information dissemination. Once the right information does not get to where it should, it becomes a challenge. If the information does not reach members, they will find it difficult to key into some of the things we have for them. We are trying our best to ensure that we have people who give out this information at the right time and location. Not that those actors don’t like doing the necessary things but they are not aware of it. Another challenge is that people overrate actors beyond their rating and sometimes, they don’t promote what we do. In this make-believe business, people are seen in films as if they are rich but in real life, they are not. Sometimes people are hesitant about doing things for actors, imagining that an actor is a billionaire because of the cars he or she drives and what they wear. Those are the challenges we have.
There have been countless cases of actors having nothing to fall back on and relying on the public for assistance especially when they fall ill. What is the association doing concerning this?
We are doing a lot concerning the welfare of actors and you must know that we can only cater for actors who are our members. Unfortunately, some actors who are not members fall sick and they go on social media and begin to beg for money. It diminishes the image of the guild. So, we decided to reach out to them also so that we can help them. But we are warning people to become members of the guild so as to reap the benefits the guild has to offer. This year alone, we have been able to disburse over N2 million naira to sick actors in Kaduna, Imo, Lagos and Abuja, just to cushion the effect of their ailments but when you are not a member of our guild, we will find it difficult to lend a helping hand. Other areas of welfare we have attended to are some of the things we have instituted. We have a health management scheme where actors are allowed to pay a token for one year and they will have access to about six hundred hospitals in the country. It is now left for actors to key into the scheme so they can continue to get the benefits. We have set up the HMO trust fund which delectable actress, Joke Silva is the chairperson. The essence of the trust fund is that during their time of sickness, the guild will not be going round to ask for money from people but will go back to the trust fund and see how we can help our members. It might interest you to know that in in recent times, we have set up an internal fund-raising scheme for actors in need and the money is already in the trust fund. I can tell you authoritatively that we have almost six million naira in the trust fund.
Obviously, some practitioners are careless with the way they live, lavishing money on a flamboyant lifestyle without preparing for rainy days.
I don’t want to believe that. People just think or imagine that actors live flamboyant lives. The issue here is that an actor as a celebrity has different life lines from the fans or people who love him. For instance, as the president of AGN, if I travel to Abuja and the people I am going to meet there say they have accommodation for me at Hilton hotel, I will not say because I don’t want to live a flamboyant life, they should take me to another hotel. That is why people think some actors live flamboyant lives. What is happening in Nigeria is that we do not have a responsible support system for people. A wealthy man who instead of helping an average celebrity would prefer to use his money to stage a party worth millions of naira. We want to change that narrative.
Besides setting up an internal fund-raising plan to help ourselves, we are calling on well-meaning Nigerians to help actors if they really love us. Actors are always moving from one place to another, they get carried away and forget to set up plans for themselves. They are not well informed enough to know that while they are working, they need to prepare for the future, put something away for the rainy day, just like how management consultants do to help people make money.
What is the guild doing in terms of upholding professionalism with regards to auditions, insisting on non-members not getting featured in movies and also ensuring actors work with agents as it is done in other countries?
The use of agents hasn’t quite started in Nigeria yet, we are just about introducing that and a few other things, gradually. Secondly, about auditions and ensuring that only members are featured in movies – while it is good to enact such laws, we must also realize that there is hunger in the land and people are eager to be featured on the screen. We are working at overhauling the system but we are taking things and dealing with them one after the other.
It is alleged that some newcomers are told to bring their exotic cars which are used for props without getting paid for it as long as they feature them in movies. What is your association doing about it?
Nobody has reported to us officially that they were asked to bring their exotic cars to location. if you take your car for such, the producer should be able to pay you for using your car for prop, except there is a gentleman’s agreement between the two parties. Once we get such a call, we will treat it immediately.
There is a new trend in Nollywood especially with Asaba made movies where new comers desperate to join the industry, pay movie producers to get featured in movies and play lead roles. Some don’t mind not being paid, as long as they get featured.
The way you are hearing it is the way I have also heard it. We have set up a special number and a special email address where people can report such cases to us. As I am talking to you, I am glad to inform you that no one has reported on such issues. If you know these issues and you are not comfortable with them, why not report it instead of going behind to gossip about it. They should help us do this work well. Immediately they are asked to pay, they should alert us.
But you granted an interview recently where you admitted that some actors pay producers to give them roles instead of it being the other way round but now you are saying the issue is new to you.
People actually pay producers to give them roles. Does that imply that I am a witness to the incident? We at the AGN keep hearing about it. We have been saying that people should come up with evidence so we can prosecute culprits but instead, people cover up for them because they are getting the roles. It shows that it is paying them. After a few years when it no longer pays them, they will begin to complain. That I make it look like it is factual does not mean I have witnessed any. As the president, my ears are open to everybody. It does not mean I am confirming it. We hear this every day and we are on the prowl to see how we can catch those doing it.
What are your thoughts about Nollywood being an all-comer’s affair?
The acting industry is the same thing all over the world. It is powered by talents. Mel Gibson for example who shot Passion of Christ, did not consider if the person who played the role of Jesus Christ is a Christian or not. The person who played the role of Jesus Christ was not a Christian as at the time of casting. Also, the acting profession is not determined by the education that you have. If the executive producer feels your act can give him money, he will cast you. There are no moral development issues around it. If any actor’s appearance will fetch money for the producer, that is okay but if such a person contravenes the laws of the Guild, the person will be punished. Be that as it may, if we come very hard on people because they don’t have XYZ, then you will be killing their God given talents. What we do is that as you become a member, you go through training that will help you out. We also organize master classes for our celebrities to help sharpen their skills, maybe in the area of global administrative skills. Just like the music industry, you cannot tell people that because they didn’t go to school, you will not be a musician. Your talent is your talent. If you have sung in a choir before, you may not know the four walls of a school but your talent will make you sing in the best part in the world.
On the issue of morality, movies should teach morals so why feature people like say, Bobrisky in films, what is featuring him teaching the audience watching the movie?
The people who play different roles in movies are not originally who they play in movies. They can play armed robbers in films but it does not make them armed robbers in real life, no.
What is the reason behind making Adamawa senator, Elisha Abbo a patron of AGN despite the fact that he openly assaulted a pregnant woman?
I think this issue has long been trashed and treated. Coming back to the press again one year later would not help anybody, not even my organization or your own organisation. We have dealt with this matter, it’s off the radar. I do not have any answer to it.
How were you able to address the issue with your colleagues who called you out for it?
My colleagues who went on Instagram did so to attack the guild not me. We need to separate Emeka Rollas from the position of the President which anyone can occupy tomorrow. When they went on that wild rampage, it was as a result of how ignorant they were on the position of things. They are not supposed to have gone on the social media to wash our dirty linen outside. When I convened a meeting of certain veterans to discuss the aftermath of the situation, it was clear at the meeting that they were misinformed. The guild is an organization that has a process for all issues. Even if the process is faulted by some members, the guild has channels whereby you can address issues. But these people didn’t want to use that channel. As the president of over one million actors in Nigeria, most of the things I do are on approval level. Sometimes, I do not get to the root of certain recommendations before approving them. Sometimes, we use logic to address approvals in the line of duty. For instance, sometime back, the President of the country was accused of approving some dead people for some positions. It is the fault of those who suggested those names. They were supposed to cross check and ensure the people they recommended were alive; it is not the fault of the President. It is the same thing with my position. My duty is just to approve the process using either simple syllogism or complete logic to adduce the fact that this is the right decision taken.
Are you planning to contest for a second term?
When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. Everything will be determined by the level of work we are able to do before my first tenure ends. It is actually ending this year. Like I said, it depends on the level of work done.
When next will you be featuring in a movie?
I have featured in like three movies this year alone. It is just that I don’t have time anymore to feature in as much movies as I would want to. The vision I have for the Guild will not permit me to be chasing shadows.
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