28 years after conception, Tade Ogidan births Gold Statue

Veteran Nollywood filmmaker and Chief Executive Officer, OGD Pictures, Tade Ogidan, is making a comeback into the country’s film industry after eight years absence with the release of a new movie titled, Gold Statue.

The comic drama follows the adventure of two young men, Wale (Gabriel Afolayan) and Chike (Kunle Remi), who left home in search of a ‘gold statue’ believed to have been a deity inherited by their generation. In trying to locate the supposed statue, they go through series of unimaginable ordeals that leave their parents shocked.

The movie, which was shot in four cities, stars Richard Mofe Damijo, Alibaba, Sola Sobowale, Afolayan, Kunle Remi, Rycardo Agbor, Kelvin Ikeduba, Remi Surutu, Kunle Fawole, Segun Arinze and Norbert Young.

Others include, Francis Onwochei, Tina Mba, Yvonne Jegede Fawole, Greg Ojefua, Sani Danja, Etinosa Idemudia, Adeniyi Johnson, Woli Arole, Bisola Ayeola, Kemi Afolabi, Tunji Bamishigbin, Yinka Akanbi, Kalu Ikeagwu, Jibola Dabo, Femi Durojaiye, Kenny blaq, Judith Audu, Adeyemi Motunrayo and Victor Oyebode.

Speaking with The Guardian at the movie screening in Lagos recently, Ogidan said, “Gold Statue was written in 1991, but because of finance, I kept it aside and all of a sudden, it seemed like it was time and from the blues, my egbon called me that people are doing different project, your weakest story line will beat some of the ones that are doing well. We collaborated on this, he brought the cash and the equipment and the location.”

He added, “funding was the main issue and it took a while to post produce the stuff. It’s not just joining the shots together. It’s not the everyday type of project that you just rush up to, it took a while to get it done. You need money to build the kind of cell we used in the movie. This is not another story you’re going to film in someone’s parlour, it required a lot of set.”

According to him, “everybody came together and collaborated to produce the film. We had a great time as everybody brought out their best. They loved the story and felt it was different, in fact, we had some people that read the script and said they would not be comfortable if they didn’t play the role they read. It was not about the money. We had a great team — from photography to post production. The finishing was different, as we paid attention to details.”

On new crop of movie directors in the country, he had this to say, “I think a lot of them are doing great, the equipment are lighter now, as digital image are more detailed. The camera was as heavy as the weight of a full adult when we started, let alone other equipment.

“Considering financial limitation around here, I will say Nollywood is doing well, the quality in deliverable. It’s not every movie, even Hollywood doesn’t produce every movie to be fantastic, there is no need to run it down, because it’s a growing industry. Hollywood took a while to arrive at where it is today. Hollywood had massive amount of money to deploy.

So, the industry is not doing too badly, the cinemas have woken up. Today, people go and spend money at the cinemas.”