Veteran Yoruba-speaking Nollywood actor, Dele Odule, has disclosed that about 70 per cent of Yoruba films are not scripted.
Odule while admitting that majority of yoruba movies are badly scripted disclosed it was a carryover from old theatre practice from which many of the practitioners evolved.
In his own words: "It is true that many Yoruba films are not scripted. They are 30 per cent scripted and 70 per cent improvised. It boils down to the way theatre practice started and those who started it before the emergence of theatre scholars who now combine the raw talent with the theory of theatre."
Odule who was hosted by the Ibadan Film Circle, also spoke on his experience in the industry, further stated that film marketers in Nigeria has contributed their best despite critics saying otherwise.
He said, “I need to give it to them, I mean the marketers. But film market is beyond buying and selling. They have been able to sustain the industry in their own way of doing things. What we are trying to do now is to work on their marketing structure and expand the networks.”
Praising the Nigerian movie industry - Nollywood, the veteran said the problems experienced in the industry isn't peculiar to just Nollywood.
He said, “Nollywood has done fantastically well. The problems we have in this country are not peculiar to our industry alone. What do we do rightly in this country? Is it our transportation industry, agriculture, textile – or even the so-called politics – that has become road to success? Can we compare it with those of other countries?
“Despite the fact that we don’t have an enabling environment to practise the trade, we have been able to sustain it and create job opportunities. What we need is an enabling environment and core professionals. This is where we need a body like the Motion Pictures Council of Nigeria."
The actor also disclosed that he once rejected becoming the king of his town, Oru Ijebu, in Ogun State, because of his profession.
He said, “I don’t want to mess up that royalty, whereby the chiefs will come to the palace and see their oba being slapped in the name of rehearsal. I’m passionately in love with acting.”
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