Nollywood’s Director, Saheed Apanpa, is set to start the principal photography of a new film featuring Eddy Watson, Scarlet Gomez, Rita Arum, Joseph Daniel, Joseph Momodu, Abayomi Alvin and many others in Warri.

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TUNICE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD is the production company behind this project. And the CEO of the Warri (Delta State) based outfit, John Esedafe, says he is delighted with the pre production plans already executed by the Director and Producer.

TouchLine is a story that deals with domestic violence and how it affected different characters in the film.

The producer explains that “most of the happenings are replica to what most person have experienced except that there are so many twist and turns”.

We had a chat with the Producer, Evbierhoma Edward Onajite. Who is also the general manager and headwriter of TUNICE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD.

Enjoy excerpt:

Tell us about your academic background?

My parents did well in sending me to some of the best schools in Warri such as St. Luke’s school, Effurun, Christ the King School, Effurun, Hussey Model College, Warri and Prime International School Effurun. I’m a graduate of Delta State University Abraka and I studied theatre arts.

Considering the challenges involve in getting into the movie industry, can you tell us how you managed to make an entry?

First, it’s not easy getting into the film industry. The industry has developed better than it was. I got into film through the CEO/Executice Producer of this company, Mr. John Esedafe. TuNice Entertainment World is a production company based in Orerokpe, Delta State, Nigeria. Our company focuses on the production of commercially viable feature films, documentaries, animations, and artist films for the global marketplace.

Will you make a debut in acting, or it will be just producing for you?

Yes, I would make a debut in acting very soon. But for now, I prefer to be the man behind the story. I mean I write the scripts. And for every good movie there must be a good script.

What was the motivation for producing films?

Originally, I was just a writer for stage plays until I met the CEO/Executive Producer of TUNICE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD. He had a great vision for setting up a film company in Warri particularly in his hometown. I keyed into his vision which has already started manifesting. In other words, the drive to produce scripts for screen and producing came as a result of our encounter.

A lot of people applauds Saheed Apanpa movies, ‘Homeless Home’ and many more. It’s also noted that his movies give producers and actors breakthrough into Nollywood. Can you tell us what inspired this particular movie?

The writing of this movie was inspired by the CEO/EXECUTIVE of TUNICE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD. He has a good taste for movies and one day, he just decided that I should write a film that deals with domestic violence. And holla, I did. Along the line, a good friend of mine called Gabari Barry introduced me to Saheed. Immediately, I knew this was the right director for the project. I have seen most of his movies and he possess a great skill in interpreting scripts and giving it life.

Have you been on very many productions? Please tell us the one you enjoyed best and why?

I haven’t been on many productions for screen but in the month of March 2021, I was behind the scene with the producer, Aghogho Agworo Magic D’ Cupid for one of TUNICE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD Movie “My Husband Wedding” which featured Sam Sunny, Mary Igwe and Eve Esin. It was a great experience as I was the production coordinator. A lot comes with producing a movie and only perseverance, understanding and teamwork can bring the success.

There is a notion in the public that ladies have to sleep with producers before they can get movie roles in Nollywood. As a producer, how would you react to this?

I would say that’s not completely factual. There are very many decent producers out there. What I have come to realize is that sometime some of the ladies give room for such acts to occur due to desperation. Some producers are very bold to resist such advances while others may fall. For me, I think if a lady sleeps with a producer because he promised her a key role for a movie then she has lost her sense of reasoning. If you actually need a role then audition of it and earn an outstanding performance thus gain the spot.

Some people have accused Nollywood of portraying Nigeria in bad light at the International scene because of the incessant movies on witchcraft and native doctor. What do you say to this?

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I believe every person has a right to what they think or say. The thing is some persons prefer films that are horrific, others prefer comedy, others prefer romance and so on. In the foreign nations, witchcraft, sorcery and mythical issues are subject matters of most feature length films and our own Nigerian viewers would watch such movies and applaud the writers, directors and producers yet when such movies are produced here in Nigeria is a different or foul comments from same Nigerians. To summarize, I mean a prophet is not valued in his home and one man’s food is another man’s poison.

There is also this perception in the public that Nollywood movies are predictable. How can this notion be corrected? If you are given the power to change some things about Nollywood, what will you change and why?

Some movies are truly predictable because the writer, director and producer seem to embark on the same path with some other colleagues. In other words, such films have no good suspense to hold the viewer. Nollywood has already attained a good status globally when it comes to movies. There are no much changes needed. But, I’d would love to make changes to the area of Nollywood not having a great hold in Warri. Thus, this is where TUNICE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD comes in, being a platform to engage interested persons in Warri in film making.