Faith-based movies will fade away if...Oreofe Williams

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oreofe Films and Theatre Productions Company, Oreofe Williams is one of the movie producers that has given faith-based films a face lift in Nigeria. In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, he revealed why he dumped a lecturing job for film production, among other issues.

How would you describe the acceptability of your current work ‘Orisa Mimo’?I cannot quantify it. The response and encouragement even before the premiere of the film was awesome. It was really overwhelming. I will say that I have achieved the aim of the film, because the message is clearly stated and targeted to liberate lives. The film was targeted to address psychological ailments, especially Bipolar Disorder, among humans and I just thank God for the success as well as appreciate all the cast of the work. The comments from the world over have been encouraging and I want to assure people to expect more inspiring faith-based films from us.

Some people have hinted that your productions are not really faith-based. How will you address this?Over time, what we call faith-based films are films that centre so much on the church. We use them as our arrow heads into the church. We often forget that the things we tell Christians are the things they have heard from the pulpit. We are not sent to the church alone; we are sent to the entire world. I believe, I Oreofe Williams, I am sent not to the church alone but to the entire world. There are movies that I produced that are for the church and they should also be movies that the main stream audience should see and be able to relate with, because there are so many challenges in our society. As a film producer, I do not want to be called a Christian movie producer for many reasons, because my films are not really Christian movies; they are faith-based movies. I am not sent to the church alone; I am mainly sent to those outside the church. I think this is why some people get confused when we use secular actors in our movie production.

Are you saying the infusion of secular actors in your movies is to get people’s attention?That is not the point. We cannot continue to talk to ourselves and say we are ministering to the world. This aspect of industry is faced with a lot of challenges. People, even Christians rarely watch Christian’s movies. Some critics are killing the industry, but some people like us, who believe in the industry, will not let it die. Thank God we are improving technically at present. Personally, I am ready to take the industry to a greater height. I am someone not really liked by many people who are into Christian drama, because they feel the way I do my own things is probably not the way they  should be done. But, I feel we are people of different visions, missions and mandates. I don’t belong to any Christian association of drama. We should develop people to have their own image. My desire is to use my work to liberate lives, both in the Christendom and the world at large. For example, Orisa Mimo, is a film dedicated to all mothers because a lot of women experience bipolar disorder and the earlier they are informed, the better. You will agree with me that we have brought a solution through that film. That is what I think our faith-based films should be doing or else they will fade with time. Above all, practitioners in this field should always make faith-based films problem solver majorly in the society at large and the church otherwise, such film will only last with generation.

It is no more news that you feature secular artistes in your works which has also made you to sustain a good relationship with them. How do you think this could help the Christian movie industry?

The first problem that we have in Christendom is hypocrisy. To the glory of God, what I am doing is through a divine direction. The uniqueness of our organisation is the ability to ‘storm’ the mainstream. There is what is called the mainstream in anything you do. It is true that when you want to do something, you must define your audience. My audience could be anybody that appreciates African movies. For some people, their audience is in the church, which can be very limiting. There are actors we have used whose lives have been touched by the script they interpreted. If Jesus should come today, He will use those secular actors as His cast. Tell me, an actor in Nigeria that is as bad as Peter in the Bible who doesn’t even know Jesus whom he was walking with. In fact, the disciples did not know Jesus until when he left. What would have happened if Jesus had given up on Peter? He even sent the disciples to go and preach when He knew that they were not born again. The problem we have nowadays is that we read the Bible upside down, while some people do not even read the Bible at all; they just do what people say. If we look at the life of Jesus, He dined and wined with sinners; mine is not even up to that. These guys are doing there job. I don’t say they are perfect, just like you and I are not perfect. Once you know why you are doing something and the mandate you have been given, just keep doing it, nobody can disapprove it scripturally. Yes, it is helping the industry because this initiative is liberating and winning both the actors and the audiences’ souls, as well as creating a bond between us.

How has it been ‘dumping’ lecturing for movie-making?I have never regretted my decision leaving a lecturing job. At present, there are some lecturers in that university asking me to come back. I fact, some people commended my decision. I left because God led me to do so, especially to make impact in peoples’ lives and I didn’t regret leaving academics. I thank God that I was able to leave a good mark behind; we revived a lot of things in the department. I trained many students through our film production. I trained my fellow students who have become popular in the industry today even as an undergraduate in the university. People like Ronke Odusanya, popularly known as Flaky Ididowo, Baba Tee, Oba Adeoye, among others, were all members of the Oreofe Theatre Group. There is no lecturer that is in Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) for money; they are seriously working, but not being appreciated. My last interview with a national daily became the source of my problem. The Vice Chancellor did not take time to find out whether what he was told was true. I was accused of saying that I didn’t have time going to classes that I placed my film production above my lecturing job. I learnt the case was taken to the university senate and no one asked for my view till I took my decision. In fact, I didn’t tell my mentor, Dr Adebanjo that I was leaving because I left he might felt bad and could stop me.

So, what happened after?Nothing. I wasn’t sacked. I just had a direction to leave on a faithful day. Aside that, I was already loosing my divine call because I was being advised to reduce my films. I am proud to be one of the intellectual assets of OOU. I am of the opinion that if you know yourself, then blow your trumpet, else they will turn it to a whistle. To my surprise, no one was on my side; I wanted to write a letter to the VC, but I was discouraged. That means I shouldn’t grant an interview any longer. I was discouraged despite the low salary. If you see OOU lecturers just salute them because they are really working. No one showed concern to what I was facing during the period. But I thank God I left because I have moved on with my life and I have recorded a tremendous progress with my initiative. I will be glad to give the VC, who will be resigning soon a warm embrace when we meet anywhere because the development indirectly pushed me to my breakthrough. However, I got offers from other universities immediately I left OOU. On the other hand, the VC is a good man, because he has been able to transform the school.

Do you see yourself going back into academics?I think I now have a stress-free life being the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oreofe films, especially not having to report to anyone. The only thing I can do now is to consult for institutions, which I am currently doing, especially for some private institutions. The most painful aspect of my exit from OOU were the students I left there; they are promising youths. 

So far, how has it been with your ministry?I thank God that we are not where we were yesterday. The film village might still be looking bushy, but we call it a city by faith. We have been able to achieve a lot in the last few years and the ministry is gradually forming shape. Though it has been challenging, we have remained focused. You know that it is very rare for someone to leave a job that is bringing a monthly income, but I decided to take a courageous step. Film production is my first love and I have been into it for seven years before I ventured into lecturing. The fact remains that it is not realistic to pursue two missions to the top. For me, I just think I should pursue my movie career to the top and be a consultant to universities, which is currently becoming a reality. In fact, I am busier at present.

How many works do you have to your credit?I have produced more than 20 films since 2006, especially with controversial titles. Being an actor and a producer has been an awesome experience for me.