Femi Ogundoro likes to call himself a serial entrepreneur, even if he has been operating in the entertainment scene for more than a decade. He has produced content for TV and big brands and also acted in some popular TV series such as the evergreen Super Story series ‘Oh Father, Oh Daughter’ where played the son of the lead character Suara. Now he operates a production outfit known as Maxima Productions. He recently marked the first anniversary of the launch of his channel, Views on Startimes. He speaks to The Interview, on the Nigerian TV landscape. Excerpt…
Were you never intrigued enough to join Nollywood?
No. I felt what they were doing was of a lower quality to what was possible.
We felt what they were doing was not of the right quality, so we wanted to do something of international standard. I didn’t really do Nollywood stuff in terms of movies.
Is that love for acting still there?
Honestly, do I? I really can’t answer until I get, if I get the opportunity to get on set.
It must be on TV, and not Nollywood?
Well, you know there is new Nollywood. It has gotten to a point where it is about my executive time. I mean, how much will they pay me to do it? Except it is my project and I join in.
The fame is what the young people want almost immediately, and I think that is the gap. It is also the responsibility of the media to do the needful by educating people
You have been on the television landscape for a while, what are some of the loopholes that still exist?
Number one, it is not just TV. I will say in Nigeria, we need human capital development.
We are not developing our people. We are not investing in our people, and that in itself – no matter the billions we spend on road constructions, infrastructure – these people would destroy everything.
So, what is key is for us is to invest in people. There was a time that I gathered that history was cut in our curriculum.
Children of today don’t know what happened yesterday. They don’t have an idea of what is going on right now.
The only thing controlling their emotions, controlling everything that they do now is social media. Unfortunately, it is vanity. That is driven by vain people, which is not the real world.
I knew AY, Ayo Makun when he was struggling. I knew Peter and P-Square when they were living in Ilupeju, I interviewed them.
I noted they have worked, but nobody is talking about that work, they are looking at the fame. The fame is what the young people want almost immediately, and I think that is the gap.
It is also the responsibility of the media to do the needful by educating people.
Entertainment is great, don’t get me wrong. But look at foreign content, there is a lot there. For every movie you watch, they are passing a message.
We don’t have that. Only a few of our movies actually have something to hold on to at the end of the day.
