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Adelarin Awotedu…Crazy With Words, Scripting With Passion

By Geraldine Akutu
21 February 2015   |   11:00 pm
ADELARIN Awotedu is one of the country’s young creative minds, who are putting their talent to use in the burgeoning film industry. In fact, the country is blessed with so many of them.     The scriptwriter, who is passionate about her job, holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a certificate in scriptwriting from the…

Adelarin-Awotedu-

ADELARIN Awotedu is one of the country’s young creative minds, who are putting their talent to use in the burgeoning film industry. In fact, the country is blessed with so many of them. 

   The scriptwriter, who is passionate about her job, holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a certificate in scriptwriting from the Wale Adenuga’s Pencils and Film and Television Institute (PEFTI). She is equally an alumnus of invisible borders Trans-Atlantic project and has attended a couple of workshops outside the country to further hone her skill. 

   On what prompted her to go into script writing, she says, “I have been writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Call me crazy, but I swear that I hear voices and see pictures in my head, those words just kept screaming at me till I just got to it and the rest came easy. I got my first commissioned job even before leaving film school.”

   Awotedu adds, “I started producing in 2008, took a break and came back fully in 2014. I’m currently working on a new project, which should be out later in the year.”

   She reveals, “I am passionate about women and children. I’m conscious of how important the role of the media is to the society, hence, the need to always try to convey a message, but not taking out the entertainment value.”

   On what gives her the edge as a scriptwriter and film producer, she says, “I have been called an asexual writer because I don’t believe that as a female, therefore, I should limit myself to some subject matters. I won’t say I am lucky, but I have learnt a lot from experience, never rush a production, always think about your audience and most importantly, have the right team, as you are only as strong as your weakest link.”

   She says, “before I write a script, I consider some factors. If it is a commissioned work, all I think about is the money I will get paid at the end of it. I worry a lot about conveying the right message and the budget most importantly because scripts get poorly shot most times because producers don’t have the right budget for script interpretation.”

  For the lady, “it is always better for scriptwriters to be doing something else, because writing does not pay as much as I want it to be. We have a few people who have been able to earn a living as writers, maybe less than seven. I am more of a writer than a producer so it is not a problem to change hats.”

   Awotedu’s inspiration comes from knowing the power that she possesses, to write words on pages and being able to interpret on screen. “People’s reality can be suspended for a couple of hours, that power inspires me daily to bleed in front of the computer. We owe a lot to early Nollywood practitioners and the sky is just the starting point, quality has improved in technical aspects but we still have to work on our storytelling and start telling our own stories.”

  She continues, “ I am grateful to have been selected to attend the scriptwriting workshop at AFRIFF to learn more about scriptwriting, I have a saying, “if you are not going forward, you are going backward” and if as the largest movie producers in Africa, none of our films is competing in the foreign film category at the Oscars then it only means we have more work to do, if we are successful in making commercial films, then we can do a lot in the artistic aspects too.”  

  Awotedu, who has been involved in projects such as Separate Lives, commissioned by EbonyLife Production and also wrote a short film produced by Alpha Mum, which was nominated for BON awards. The film was screened at the International Images Film Festival for Women in Harare.  Projects to look out for include, the film adaptation of her stage play, What Men Want and my web series and Two Broke Nigerian Girls.  

 

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