Uyoyou Adia: If You Don’t Believe in Yourself, You May Never Get to Your Destination

She just might be unaware yet that a good number of practitioners in Nollywood are singing her name “Uyoyou Adia”. She started as an actor in 2013, starring in the short film Child Not Bride, with a directorial haze in her mind. Uyoyou’s multiple-awards recognitions aside, this young filmmaker within a short space of time registered her presence, leaving many to ask if she’s the next big thing in Nigeria’s movie industry, following her involvement in projects recently. Like being the sole writer Nneka The Pretty Serpent, assistant director Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story, co-writer The Ghost And The Tout. She talks about her latest movie Charge and Bail, which marks her directorial debut at the cinemas, her experience and journey as a filmmaker, and working with Inkblot Productions and FilmOne Entertainment, in this chat with Ferdinand Ekechukwu

How did you get here and what traits would you say have helped you get to where you are today?

My journey officially started in 2017 after I interned on a set with Tope Oshin as director and Remi Ibinola as producer, and after I also got selected by Homvida (Writing Workshop powered by Homevida, Google, USAID and Pan Atlantic University) to be part of their screen writing workshop, I quickly realized I have found a home in Nollywood and I was going to work hard to become a good filmmaker.

I got to learn to believe in myself, no matter how good you are, no matter how smart you are, if you fail to believe in yourself, you may never start your journey or get to your destination. I learnt, learn, unlearn and relearn. I’m just one person, a lot of people have done this before me and a lot will do it after me, I certainly don’t know it all so being open minded to accept new ideas, to read, to learn new things is an everyday journey for me. I learnt, how to stay calm, especially because half the time as a director you are thinking on your feet, you can’t think properly when you’re not calm.

This one I struggled with a lot but I’ve seen tremendous growth since I started till now.

Being one of the few female directors in a male-dominated Industry, were there challenges and how did you overcome them?

This is a hard one because I’m a believer that my gender and what I do shouldn’t be together but somehow the numbers have shown we have more male directors which automatically makes it an issue. It’s sometimes hard to lead a team especially when 90% of the HODs are men; it has nothing to do with me but everything to do with the fact that sometimes men don’t want to take directions from a woman. I find it really weird because every time I worked as a 2nd AD (assistant director) I’ve had to answer to my 1st AD who’s a man, I was paid to do a job and I did it regardless of the gender, so why not do the same? The constant need to prove to some male colleagues that you deserve to be here is tiring but I look beyond them and focus on the job I was called to do rather than spend an executive producer’s time and money arguing who’s in charge.

Making a career as a film-maker requires determination, resilience and vision. What was it about the film that drew you in?

Story, emotions of a human being. As a child, I watched a lot of Nollywood films and for stories that were fictional, it seemed real. I always wondered how a film could evoke so much emotions. This drew me in. As a director or writer, I want to make people feel something, I want them to see themselves in the characters I write and direct, I want to be able to change their mind set on certain things, I want to evoke emotions in people. As a writer/director seeing the audience react to what I have created is priceless for me and I love that feeling every single time, it never gets old.

As a woman in film, what changes would you like to see in Nollywood for women?

More inclusion to be very honest; women have to work twice as hard to do the job just because of their gender; it doesn’t have to be this way. I’m not saying women should have an easy pass; all I’m saying is if you’re going to employ someone to do a job, employ them because they are good at it and not because of gender. This will give women more fighting chances in the industry. Well I also guess because we fight twice as hard that’s why we win twice as hard.

Your latest project, ‘Charge and Bail’ will make its box office debut on the 15th of October, how did you get involved in the production?

Charge and Bail is my miracle project. I wasn’t in a good place mentally and emotionally when I got the email to direct Charge and Bail. It came at a time when I really needed to do something to keep me sane. Charge and Bail is my biggest project yet so of course it came with “big” pressure but my Inkblot family made everything easy for me, they were with me every step of the way. I have always wanted to work with Inkblot Productions because I’ve always admired their films and the kind of stories they tell, so getting the mail to be a director on their next big project was a dream come true for me. Shooting was exciting and smooth, the actors came ready to deliver, and they didn’t come to play! The crew gave their all; I mean I had a team that wanted it to come out as beautiful as I wanted it to, if not more. We knew what we wanted, how we wanted to pass the message and emotions of each character and how we wanted the general look and feel of the film to be. I couldn’t have asked for a better crew because they made my job easy.

What was the experience like working with two organizations that are regarded as “powerhouses” in Nollywood?

It still feels like a dream to know that I directed a film for Inkblot Productions and FilmOne entertainment! I don’t think you can talk about the industry without these giants and trust me when I say this; I’ll do it over and over again. It was an amazing experience, I didn’t feel alone, I learnt a lot and I am grateful for the opportunity.

Beyond the fact that you focused on the legal profession, what do you want people to take away from the film?

Charge and Bail is a unique and different story from what you’ve seen this year or any other year, it’s written in a beautiful way that is relatable and fun to everyone, not just Nigerians. I’ll like people to follow the emotional journey of the characters, and I also want people to know and understand that things may not always go as planned for you but there’s a reason why you’re where you are.

What were the production realities from casting through editing that you had to accommodate?

From my little experience in the industry, it’s hard to make a film; it’s harder to make a film in Nigeria. The casting process was not as hectic as I thought it will be, the actors came in to audition and the casting team in sync selecting the perfect cast for Charge and Bail. As a director, I have to always be ready to think on my feet as things sometimes won’t always go as planned. On a film set, anything can go wrong that I don’t have control over but I always have to be optimistic and be a team player to make things happen.

You have a lineup of excellent actors in the movie (Zainab Balogun, Stan Nze, Bimbo Manuel, Femi Adebayo, Folu Storms, Tope Olowoniyan, Chigul amongst others) – how was it working with them?

Working with the cast of this caliber was and is a blessing. I’ve prayed for the opportunity to work with them and they were nothing short of amazing. I don’t need to tell you how talented they are (laughs out loud). It is/was my first time working with them in capacity as a director but we worked like this was our 10th project together.

They understood their characters and they owned it. There was never a day I questioned having any of them on board.

Some of the cast of the Charge and Bail movie have mentioned some special moments on set with you. Like Folu Storms mentioned how you took time to talk to her and get to know her better before filming, unlike what is usually the norm in this part. Why did you do that? What were you trying to achieve?

It was very important for me to know who I was dealing with before we got on set. As much as I needed the actors to get comfortable with me, I also needed to get comfortable with them. Had to talk to them about their characters so we can all have the same vision, I didn’t want us to get to set to try and start building a “relationship”. I also needed to know what they thought about their characters, how they had designed their characters and to know their character’s motive, for almost every scene we had to talk about their emotional state, their motives and their all-around frame of mind. Having this conversation early on saves a lot of time on set. And I always looked forward to the next day excitedly.

The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted the film industry. What are the challenges and opportunities for the industry beyond the pandemic?

Covid-19 has changed every sector in the world, the fact that we have to accept it as our new reality is scary. Producers now have to always factor in cost for Covid–19 test, vaccines, and sanitizer, face masks etc. It just means your budget goes up which was not an issue before the pandemic hit.

I’m not sure how much an opportunity the pandemic has brought asides the fact that content seems to be appreciated more across streaming platforms but it has also reduced the number of people that go to the cinemas. Increased budget is definitely a challenge.

What is the best film related advice you have received and by whom?

It’s not specific to film, “Focus on doing the work, focus on your growth, smile more and be more open minded, things will fall in place eventually,” Judith Audu tells me this almost every day.

Best way for you to relax aside from watching movies?

Sleeping, hanging out with family & friends, watching football and of course watching movies (laughs out loud).
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