Olufemi Okunlola popularly known as X-Hitz
plays a major role as the catalyst driving the TV shows in Nigeria at
the moment in some of the popular television series airing across the
spectrum. He's one of those guys behind the camera that brings the
creative notch to the TV shows of now. He's the Executive producer of
the new TV series; Spoofs Central...Excerpts:
Q: When did you decide to get into TV/Show business?
'I had an intense desire to be successful even though, to be honest, I had no idea what any of this entailed. I always had a fascination for the movies; and television. I loved WILD WILD WEST, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, all those wonderful shows. I was so naïve, I had no idea you could work and earn money writing TV shows. I had always wanted to change the face of the TV someday, you know bring out something out of the regular norm.'
'I had an intense desire to be successful even though, to be honest, I had no idea what any of this entailed. I always had a fascination for the movies; and television. I loved WILD WILD WEST, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, all those wonderful shows. I was so naïve, I had no idea you could work and earn money writing TV shows. I had always wanted to change the face of the TV someday, you know bring out something out of the regular norm.'
Q: What does an Executive Producer do exactly?
'As
creator and executive producer, I have the final say -- I can always be
trumped by the network, but basically it all falls into my lap. It
involves hiring writers, cast and crew, rewriting, casting, scouting
locations, post with edits and mix, and delivery to the TV stations. So,
it's the whole ball of wax.'
Q: What is your writing process?
'My writing process is to do the rough draft on the computer, print it out, and do the rewrites with pen and paper. It somehow works better for me; it slows me down; rewriting is totally different process than writing.'
Q: What is the nature of Television Writing?
'Each week we create scripts in which we need to know how to develop a story through character, create dramatic events that are organic to the story, that just don't happen. It's rare to see character driven movies like 'TORN', which was all about character versus being event, big scene loosely tied together with looser narrative.
In television writing, we offer tightly plotted stories, deeply etched characters that we know a lot about. We're creating 24 little movies every season to explore these people's lives. In television, your goal is to cast an actor for whom the character becomes an extension of his personality. It's a fine line.'
Q: What do you see as being the biggest impact, good or bad, Reality TV has had on the Industry?
'Reality is nothing new. We just have a new term for it. Reality is the oldest genre, dating back to variety shows that helped television get started. Today we call Nigeria Idol a reality show format, but it’s really an old-time singing competition. Ultimately there’s nothing new in reality other than its packaging, but it has allowed for a diversification and broadening of the number of channels that can provide original content because reality can be done cost effectively and with less production. This has helped the cable universe become extremely successful and gain audience share on an annual basis. I would say that’s probably reality’s biggest impact—allowing for a broad spectrum of channel line ups that tell a multiplicity of stories.'
Q: And for viewers?
It’s diversity again. I think reality pushes dramas to be great. I think the unscripted genre makes the scripted television better. They feed each other. Overall it creates a healthier entertainment industry.
Q: Can you share with us the current focus of Spoofs Central, with regard to producing? Is there a specific mandate?
Q: What is your writing process?
'My writing process is to do the rough draft on the computer, print it out, and do the rewrites with pen and paper. It somehow works better for me; it slows me down; rewriting is totally different process than writing.'
Q: What is the nature of Television Writing?
'Each week we create scripts in which we need to know how to develop a story through character, create dramatic events that are organic to the story, that just don't happen. It's rare to see character driven movies like 'TORN', which was all about character versus being event, big scene loosely tied together with looser narrative.
In television writing, we offer tightly plotted stories, deeply etched characters that we know a lot about. We're creating 24 little movies every season to explore these people's lives. In television, your goal is to cast an actor for whom the character becomes an extension of his personality. It's a fine line.'
Q: What do you see as being the biggest impact, good or bad, Reality TV has had on the Industry?
'Reality is nothing new. We just have a new term for it. Reality is the oldest genre, dating back to variety shows that helped television get started. Today we call Nigeria Idol a reality show format, but it’s really an old-time singing competition. Ultimately there’s nothing new in reality other than its packaging, but it has allowed for a diversification and broadening of the number of channels that can provide original content because reality can be done cost effectively and with less production. This has helped the cable universe become extremely successful and gain audience share on an annual basis. I would say that’s probably reality’s biggest impact—allowing for a broad spectrum of channel line ups that tell a multiplicity of stories.'
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| On set of Spoofs Central episodes - Femi Okunlola |
It’s diversity again. I think reality pushes dramas to be great. I think the unscripted genre makes the scripted television better. They feed each other. Overall it creates a healthier entertainment industry.
Q: Can you share with us the current focus of Spoofs Central, with regard to producing? Is there a specific mandate?
'Spoofs
Central’s ultimate mandate is to bring a new twist to regular comedy
shows you have around right now, everything is all recycled, we want to
generate new formats and intellectual property for the world market and
to feed into our parent company’s distribution chain. The Nigeria
Entertainment industry is an incredibly important market around the
world today, and we have had a long track record of creating original
ideas. We want to continue to create, develop and produce original
formats that we can feed into the international market because I believe
there’s a need for even more new and interesting ideas.'
Q: What is the most challenging part of being the creator and executive producer?
"Maintaining an even keel in my head and heart. Not taking silly sh*t personally and always creatively pushing the writers to be entertaining and truthful and come up with things we haven't seen before."
Q: What was growing up like?
I come from a very disciplined home. My dad made sure we were very neat and ensured we had good education. In fact, my primary school curriculum is better than most secondary school curricular today. It’s really unfortunate. My dad was very mean, in a good way, because he made sure everything had to be right. Part of it rubbed off on me.
Q: People say you are a ‘ladies man’. Is that true?
That’s a lie; I’m a serious person. I don’t mess around, and if ladies like me, I don’t fall for their antics. I see a lot of them on a daily basis, so it's strictly professional to me. I have been tried several times..
Q: What advice can you give to some of the upcoming TV show Producers at the DelYork movie school breaking into the industry?
Q: What is the most challenging part of being the creator and executive producer?
"Maintaining an even keel in my head and heart. Not taking silly sh*t personally and always creatively pushing the writers to be entertaining and truthful and come up with things we haven't seen before."
Q: What was growing up like?
I come from a very disciplined home. My dad made sure we were very neat and ensured we had good education. In fact, my primary school curriculum is better than most secondary school curricular today. It’s really unfortunate. My dad was very mean, in a good way, because he made sure everything had to be right. Part of it rubbed off on me.
Q: People say you are a ‘ladies man’. Is that true?
That’s a lie; I’m a serious person. I don’t mess around, and if ladies like me, I don’t fall for their antics. I see a lot of them on a daily basis, so it's strictly professional to me. I have been tried several times..
Q: What advice can you give to some of the upcoming TV show Producers at the DelYork movie school breaking into the industry?
'Many
have option deals, but just can't get that one project to go the
distance for production.First, be as literate as you humanly and
possibly can, because the ability to articulate an idea is as important
as anything in the business. Hone your skills and really pay attention
to your ability to articulate an idea in an energetic, interesting, and
smart way. Secondly, don’t always listen. You need to take all of the
advice that you get on your ideas with a grain of salt because
ultimately everyone’s going to have an idea and an opinion. If you
believe in your ideas, you have to stick with them because passion and
skill will rule at the end of the day.
There are so many people who believe they know what’s best, but they’re all at best opinions. There is no right answer. If there was a formula for making a hit TV show, there’d be more hit TV shows. You’ll walk into a thousand offices for a thousand pitches and they’ll all be absolutely convinced they know exactly what their audience wants.
There are so many people who believe they know what’s best, but they’re all at best opinions. There is no right answer. If there was a formula for making a hit TV show, there’d be more hit TV shows. You’ll walk into a thousand offices for a thousand pitches and they’ll all be absolutely convinced they know exactly what their audience wants.
Thank you for sharing your moment with us, I'll like to say it's been a pleasure having this sit-down with you Olufemi. Thank you for your time and Goodluck!
