Breaking Barriers: Roy Madu’s Vision For Transformative Cinema

Outside the shores of Nigeria, Nigerians are pushing boundaries and making a name for themselves in various endeavours. One of such resilient and hard-working Nigerian is the US-based Nollywood sensation, Roy Madu whose intentions is to revolutionize and see things work positively well in the Nigerian film industry. The entrepreneur and singer known as “The Town Crier” is the originator of Marinba music has produced and featured in “I Surrender All”, “Second Chance,” “Cross my Heart”, “Eclipse” and “My Moi-Moi”. He shares his journey into the film industry and also his Marinba music.

Who is Roy Madu?

People say that I am easy-going, charismatic and entertaining. To the extent they are right is a topic for debate any day. I know I am a student of life, still investigating the meaning of life. My concern is usually what my legacy to posterity will be after I have left this planet. What will be remembered for? Incidentally there is a sharp contrast between the ideal glamour in the world of entertainers and the stark realities of life. However, living a simple life takes care of this complexity. Success comes with from above and all glory returns to him who inspires. These are my core beliefs. I don’t know if by these words one can make out anything about me.

Tell us about Marinba Productions and your journey into Nollywood

I started out as a singer with the stage name “The Towncrier” and my label is called “Marinba Muzik”. The word “Marinba” is coined from the musical instrument called Marimba, from a family of finger operated instruments native to Africa. Another name for it is “thumb piano” because it is usually played with the thumbs. It can be tuned by sliding the reeds forward or backward. So from this concept Marinba Productions was born to be the umbrella outfit for my music and movies.

Can you share your filmmaking experience in the United States?

You know entertainment is luxury and very expensive. Talking about entertainment industry in Nigeria makes me cry. In the light of poor economic condition in Africa, relaxation and enjoyment of life is not considered a priority when people are thinking of how to survive on a day-to-day basis. On the part of the entertainers, talents are wasted while searching for sponsors and even when you are signed on, despite apparent commercial successes, little or nothing is achieved in the way of real financial security due to brazen piracy. In USA, it’s a little bit different for the entertainment industry because people have jobs, makes a living and enjoy their lives, so work of art rakes in the money and investors hunt for talents to invest and recoup. The Government fights piracy because it deprives the government of revenue in taxes. So the production companies are given a level ground to produce, make sales, pay taxes and the economy keeps bouncing.

What’s your take on Nollywood and the challenges facing the industry?

The most common challenge that faces Nollywood industry both at home and abroad is piracy. The basic Nollywood formula is that cheaply made films are rushed to videotapes and DVDs in those days, then the advent of Cinemas and most recently to Youtube for monetization. However all these strategies have not stopped pirates because if you go to Youtube you will see a lot of pirated work where the title of the movie is different from what you will actually watch when you click on it. The Producers, Directors and of course actors and actresses do not see much of the money their films make, which results in hand wringing. Fantastic stories with no funding in equipment and studio effects makes mess of the final product. What I see in the future is that if we do not wake up, rich foreign entrepreneurs will discover the goldmine in the African Film Industry and come in to overtake us. This is more especially when the likes of Genevive Nnaji has started featuring products in Netflix exposing the industry to the world at large.  

Can you talk about your film “I Surrender All”?

I personally wanted Marinba production to stand out from the crowd. So I conducted a research to see if I can find where my dreams will be actualized. The search led me to Boycee Films owned by Boyce Uboh who happens to operate a Hollywood standard equipment in his studio and does film editing and visual effects. So, we sat down and reached an agreement on how to move forward. The result of that vision is I Surrender All. I do not want to say more. Just watch the movie, you will see the production is something every African in Diaspora will be proud of.

What is your dream for Marinba Productions?

To be the pace-setter for Nollywood films produced in Diaspora.

Tell us about your hobbies

My hobbies are writing poems, listening to music, dancing, watching soaps and playing (ping-pong) table tennis.

What is fashion to you?

About fashion, I am not fashion crazy. Fashion for me is not what others approve but what I am comfortable with.

Message to your fans

Marinba Productions wants to use this opportunity to thank all our fans for standing by us all these years especially those who were privileged to see the trailer of the movie, “I Surrender All” and got back to us with some feedbacks and constructive criticism. We really do appreciate your support and we promise not to let you down.