Bem Pever and Emil B. Garuba are a creative pair with distinctive capabilities, processes and products; yet, they work to achieve the same goal – producing brilliant content for a modern audience. Their repertoire includes writing for hit-television shows such as the popular Tinsel on MNET, to producing short movies to highlight the role of women in politics in modern Nigerian society, starring Nollywood heavyweights like Kate Henshaw and Joke Silva. ESSENTIALS chats with the pair about their inspiration, varying projects and their zeal to climb this ever-flexible creative ladder.
The pair of you have just wrapped up filming of a docu-drama starring Kate Henshaw and Joke Silva, a project highlighting the role of women in politics in modern Nigeria – tell us more about this project from conception to production.
Bem: The project is called Create Her Space and it is for the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). It is a short docu-drama focused on mobilising support for women’s candidacy in readiness for the 2015 general elections. It sensitises young girls and women on the need to participate in politics and increases the space for women in politics through a multi-media campaign, as well as advocating the creation of opportunities for women in politics and government. Working on the project as the producer, it was an interesting experience all through the process of script development to pre-production, production and now we are at the post-production stage. We also had the opportunity to work with Joke Silva on the project and other talented actors in Abuja such as Nita Byack George, Hoomuk Alex Jibrin, Tony Ezemadu, Jide Attah, Omolara Sulaiman, Rabi Usman and many others. The process of making a film is always interesting and this one was not different even though it was a short film. We had some scenes that we needed a lot of extras to shoot a campaign rally, so we decided to go to work with the people of Durumi, a community in Abuja. While shooting, it got to a stage where the people of the community thought we were actually holding a political campaign. This was what we wanted and so we took advantage of it. The Nigerian Women Trust Fund is going to be using the video as an advocacy material to open up discussions on the need for women to participate in politics.
Emil: The name of the docu-drama is called A New Dawn. Bem came to me with the project details early in March 2014. It was envisioned as a short film commissioned by the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund as part of their communications awareness initiative called Create Her Space. The initiative is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and it addresses the growing concerns about the gender imbalance in elective and appointive positions in Nigerian politics. I was intrigued by the subject matter and immediately agreed to work with him on it. We then had a meeting with the NWTF representatives and soon we had a story in place and I went about developing the screen-play based on ideas put down during our meeting. I’m actually credited as the script editor while Bem is credited as the producer. When the final script was approved Bem got the production crew together, including casting actors and we starting filming. The shoot lasted two days. It’s being edited right now and I can’t wait to see the finished product.
Emil: How did you start a career as a screen-writer? Bem: How did you begin your career in production?
Bem: I have always wanted to make films right from my teenage years, when I used to organise drama activities in church and in my secondary school. I grew up to love doing this, so I studied Theatre Arts at the University of Jos, with a bias in development communication. This was shortly after I completed my three years NCE programme at the College of Education, Katsina Ala, Benue State. During this period I was always looking for the opportunity to do films, to be a part of the film production process. I was able to work on some small film projects here and there but the big opportunities never came, until 2008 when I took up an appointment with Impression Films, a film and television production company.
Till date some, of the projects I have worked on include working as a producer and production manager on the HOMEVIDA film project and the award winning docu-drama One Small Step; which was on tour in the USA. One Small Step was a documentary for NEPAD Nigeria, EVANS Publishers, Government of Rivers State, SAGE Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development. I also worked on a project for the American Embassy in Nigeria (a consultation research and creative design project on human trafficking), The Incorruptibles (about a social group that fights corruption in Nigeria), Learning Curves (a feature film), Dukan Karshi (a Civic Engagement Radio Drama Series Production by Singing Tree Films for NDI) and Make.a.Move (a feature film on child abuse for Avizzle Media Production).
Emil: As far back as I can remember I always knew I’d make a living as a story-teller. I’ve been writing since I was a tot. I was into comic books. I still am but not as much as I am totally engrossed in movies and film. I was born in Oklahoma, USA and spent the first few years of my life there before my family returned to Nigeria. I remember a few things from my time there, but what I never forgot was the entertainment, most of which I rediscovered back in Nigeria later on – the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, film noir, westerns and sci-fi classics, blaxploitation era films and everything in-between, including the equally entertaining Nigerian programmes like Tales by Moonlight and Magana jari ce – I absorbed them all, hoping that someday I’d be able to tell similar stories and make others feel the same way. I remember someone telling me to go write my own movie.
My journey took me back to Oklahoma where I attended college and graduated with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Creative Writing. After a few years spent lost in corporate America I decided to return again to Nigeria, partly because I wasn’t feeling very inspired over there. I’d completed only two screenplays between 1998 and 2001. While I drifted from job to job, it hit me that the Nigerian movie industry was in its nascent stage. One day, I said to myself, “That’s where I need to be right now.” More so, not in all my years did I see a character that I could identify with. So I thought, I’d go ahead and create a few of my own. But of course, [it is] easier said than done.
I wrote my first Nigerian screenplay in 2009 and off that got a gig writing for Tinsel, the popular Nigerian soap opera. Next came HOMEVIDA, the Nigerian Integrity Film Awards.
Somewhere, I got to meet a young film-maker, Ishaya Bako (Fuelling Poverty), who shared my passion for innovative Afro-themed stories and we decided to enter into a creative partnership to bring our crazy ideas to fruition. Our first collaboration was the 2012 short film Easy Money, co-written and directed by Ishaya Bako for the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission. It met with such resounding success that the commission wants us to develop a feature for them and, possibly, a television series.
I’ve since written other screenplays and television shows, including The Tai Show currently playing on the DSTV. During this time I was also fortunate to meet the producer and CEO of Formatte Pictures, Ummi Baba-Ahmed, who was also working on the Tai Show. She shared a couple of her ideas with me, including her passion project about Queen Amina of Zaria. After so much going back and forth, we arrived at an understanding and, personally, I can say that the script for Amina: The Origin remains my finest work and I can’t wait to see this on the big screen.
It’s all crazy and exciting, to say the least. But the good thing is that meditation keeps me sane.
How did you two meet and what inspired your creative collaborations?
Bem: I first met Emil while I was still working with Impression Films. There was this film project called 12:30, in which Emil was the writer and I was working as the production manager. After that project we began to see ourselves working together on other projects. I have worked with different writers but I have never seen someone as good as Emil Garuba. He brings out the right kind of message and production effects you want in a story and, for me, the first stage to a good production starts with a very good story. If the story is not good, there is just little a director and the production team can do to arrive at a good production. This is key for me and I think it is what has inspired my creative collaboration with him. At the moment, we have a working relationship with Ishaya Bako who is a wonderful director and, also, with Ummi Baba- Ahmed the producer of Amina: the Origin.
Emil: I met Bem way back in 2009 when I was commissioned to write the screenplay for a film called 12:30 produced and directed by Sebari Diete-Spiff for Impression Films. It was my first paying gig on my return to Nigeria. I remember walking into her office and seeing it jam-packed with young, creative people, Bem included. Everyone I met in that office I still have a relationship with today, personally and professionally. 12:30 fell apart during production for reasons I wasn’t privy to (by then I’d moved on to writing for Tinsel) but I remember Bem being a very resourceful production manager. When I became the script consultant for HOMEVIDA in 2011, I met Bem again and he was the production manager for the short films. We’ve been working together ever since. When Amina came around I made it a point to get him onboard.
What projects are you currently working on?
Bem: One of the main projects we are working at the moment is Amina: The Origin. It is the story of the legendary 15th Century queen of Zaria (Zazzau), in northern Nigeria. We are also doing a short movie this month (May) which Emil is going to be directing.
Emil: Quite a few actually. There’s a documentary currently in production, but I can’t talk about it other than to say it’s a hot topic right now. It’s an Amateur Heads project directed by Ishaya Bako so expect a certain level of controversy. The Amina feature film is still in the works and Bem is going to co-produce my short film, which I plan on shooting before the month runs out. Then there’s a historical adventure feature I’m writing for a friend, another historical feature chronicling the process of Nigeria’s independence, an international video game project I’m attached to, and a slate of projects for Formatte Pictures centered on Northern Nigeria. Whew! There are a myriad of things in the works.
What is your usual creative process?
For me the creative process comes in different ways. Most of the times, it begins with an issue I have seen around that needs to be addressed in the society. I like doing developmental projects, projects which make us better as human beings. So I am usually thinking from that angle. When an organisation just calls me up to do something for them, I have to think along the lines of their desires.
Emil: Every writer I know has one and it’s different for all of us. Some of us are even superstitious about it. I know a guy who only starts writing on Wednesdays. Thankfully, I’m not that weird. Well, that’s debatable. I’ve been known to walk around my house naked to get into the flow of things. I don’t recommend this during the raining season, though. My creative process usually starts with an idea: “What if?” I do a lot of brainstorming to come up with the most logical extrapolation of an idea, until it starts playing over and over in my head. I usually see the whole movie in my head beforehand, then pick it apart to plug holes and whatnot until it becomes something entertaining and sensible. I’ve also been known to delve into what I refer to as ‘method writing’; where I live in the world I’m writing about.
As it is important to keep your audience interested yet entertained; how do you remain inspired to produce material of impeccable quality?
Bem: There are ways to tell good stories. Film-making is an art that allows you to be very expressive and yet keep your audience entertained. In Nigeria and Africa as a whole, there are many issues that are yet to be addressed on the screen. We have a lot of beautiful stories yet to be told. The Nigerian audience is waiting for these stories to come out. We have so many northern issues that can be told in our movies. The issues in the Niger Delta are yet to be told; in Benue State among the Tiv people (where I come from), there are lots of beautiful metaphors and images that can be translated into good movies and documentaries. These are issues that can heighten the audience’s interest and keep them entertained. I am inspired to do all of these; it’s just a question of time.
Emil: I remain inspired, knowing that there’s a wealth of history and stories to be mined from our great continent and our nation. Most of what I’ve seen from Nollywood, unfortunately, doesn’t still resonate with me. I feel we still apply Western ideals to most of our films. I understand that it is done, mostly, for commercial reasons, but, frankly, that doesn’t interest me. I lived more than half my life in the West and that’s not what I want to see when I’m watching a Nigerian film. I want to tell stories that reflect who we are as a people. Stories like Amina the Origin is a Nigerian story. If I had my way I’d get the rights to every celebrated Nigerian author’s works and adapt them into films. I’m particularly fond of Cyprian Ekwensi’s The Passport of Mallam Illia and someday I hope to write the screenplay for the feature film. Authenticity means a lot to me and with whatever I write I strive to be authentic, to the story, to the characters, and to the audience.
With the Nigerian climate – economic, social and political factors at play – how would you describe your creative journey so far?
Bem: It has been an interesting journey, so far, in the industry. When I first started, it was not very easy, I must say. You can stay for a very long time before any job comes your way. The industry is very competitive. I am not yet where I really want to be but, over the years, I have come to understand that it is not really about the Nigerian situation but about the value you are giving. Value does not have an expiry date and it does not go down. The more you give your client what they want and what the audience wants, you will always be in business. These things take time but c hey find you; you’ll take it from there.
Emil: I’ve been in Nigeria since 2009 and Nollywood (the Nigerian film industry) is tricky to navigate at best. It’s a virtual minefield of cliques and cabals, independent auteurs and unscrupulous marketers/producers who seem only concerned with the business side of showbiz. Stable electricity is a hard to come by some months, and reliable internet connection is sometimes as elusive as a unicorn. But through all these I’ve made some headway via aggressive networking and recommendations from those I’ve worked with. As a practicing Buddhist, meditation helps me stay focused on my work and also to deal with the negative feelings and questions that creep up every once in a while in my head regarding if relocating to Nigeria was the right decision or not. I gave myself five years to make it or break it. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m determined to make it work.
I’m definitely inspired. It also helps that Africa has a plethora of rich untapped history and stories just waiting to be told and now is the time to bring those stories to the forefront. I’ve also been fortunate to work with some of the best minds in the industry right now.
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