The Cameroon film industry is young but promising” -Erick Ntang, Callywood boss |
Friday, 21 January 2011 16:22 | |||||
Tiptopstars (TTS): What is Callywood?
TTS. What is your relationship with the Cameroonian film industry?
TTS: You are based in the USA, how do you go about with recruiting actors for your films?
TTS: Any words of advice to aspiring Cameroonian actors, directors and producers?
EN: Yes! That’s why we are where we are today.
EN: The greatest challenge now is to get global in our distribution. We may periodically face challenges from actors and actresses who are not dedicated and also from others who view Cameroonian movies as a joke and claim that we have a long way to go vis-a vis Nigeria or Ghana. We have so far proved them wrong and I’m glad those in Cameroon are proving the sceptics wrong too. TTS: How can you rate the Cameroon film Industry so far or the film produced in the country which you have watched?
TTS: How can you assess the performance of Cameroonian actors?
EN: We do a lot of advertisement on the ground and on facebook, youtube, etc, and we should have a magazine coming up pretty soon. In the most part our products are consumed locally in the USA, and Europe. We are yet to distribute in Africa. Some may have watched our films on Douala-based STV and some other channels in Africa, but as for now, we do not have ground distribution in Africa. I will be travelling to Africa early this year to establish the market. TTS: As an artist, how would you define your success? How can you assess your achievements so far?
EN: I’m a systems engineer by profession. I actually did survive in my school days in Nigeria doing still photography.
EN: My inspiration comes from God. Can you imagine that I taught myself how to play the piano? Well I think I’m just completing what my mum would have done. When she was living, she was a conductor in the church's choir so I think the drive is coming from that angle too.
EN: The themes of our movies are so didactic and I know it has a lot of impact on Cameroonians. If you watch Our in-Laws for instance, you understand that we can't just bring our mothers from Africa to the US and expect them to just sit in the house and babysit for us 24/7. In any case the primary objective is entertainment even though it is intertwined with messages that can help enlighten some of our youths. In some of the movies, we make youths to understand that America is not all gold as some may think. You have to work really hard to live in these western countries. Our target groups are the youths, but we try as much as we can for our movies to have a general appeal.
EN: An ordinary week day is like hell for me. After all my activities, I still rush back to the house to take care of family issues, the kids jumping all over me and the rest.
EN: I won't classify it as such but I will say that it evolves around the fact that so many Cameroonians are able to showcase their talents today thanks to Callywood.
EN: I was Jeff in Our in-Laws I also played the main role in Kitchen Near You and have rather maintained minor roles in most of the other films. I will this Summer however play the main Character in The United States of Africa. I like my role in this movie.
EN: The USA that is the base of our operations.
EN: Yes, they have some interesting productions out there. I have not watched all, but the few I have seen are good. With greater cooperation in the future I know some of the movies made in Cameroon will be distributed also in the USA and Europe.
EN: I’m inspired by the increasing demand for our movies and the fact that not only Cameroonians appreciate what we do, but Africans in general are consumers of our products.
EN: I admire American Robert Di niro and Will smith. In the African context, Nigerian Nkem Owoh (Ukwa) is my man. No matter what role you play as a Cameroonian, I admire your courage and applaud you for that. All those who are acting now are those living behind the legacy for the Cameroon film industry. Kudos to all the actors and actresses and to all the directors and producers of Cameroonian movies for making this happen.
EN: When I was in School I discovered that I could shoot incredible pictures and people actually started paying for those pictures then as I grew up, I decided to take this whole photography thing to a different level-cinematography, and here we are today.
EN: I want to see myself in a position where people buy my movies just by seeing my signature seal and associate it with quality. Actually, It is my long-term plan to see to it that Cameroon has an industry that will not only by a means of entertainment but a great source of employment to many of our youths. We can only achieve this by cooperating and keeping selfish tendencies that can corrupt this whole process aside. We can do it by ourselves. We do not need the government to do this for us. The strength of most developed economies rests in the private sectors. If the government is levying taxes on our activities, we do not need to give up, its just a normal principle of modern societies.
EN: It means the choice to free one's self from boredom and stress. It could also mean a visual means of educating ourselves about the virtues and vices of our society.
EN: When I keep receiving calls from people about my next movie, I know something is right. Not to mention when you are moving around and you see someone just smiling at you saying "I saw you in that movie".
EN: I will like to change the slow tendencies of Cameroonians to consuming their own products. I will like to encourage more Cameroonians to buy more original Cameroon movies. NO TO PIRACY!
EN: I do not instil fear in my mind. Once you do that, it limits your ability to succeed. So, I rather stay focus and think about solutions to existing problems. I do a lot of writings, so I do not really have time to be scared about anything. In this industry most people may think that I work too hard to see that the Cameroon film industry should succeed.
EN: I really thank God and my family for supporting me and ensuring that my dreams come true and as you may now, all the wonderful actors and actresses that have worked with me on projects. I will take this opportunity to thank all the fans of Cameroon and Callywood movies for your support.
EN: It’s always a pleasure. I’ll be available any time for another interview.
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Last Updated on Friday, 21 January 2011 20:22 |
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