Ashamed then but not anymore

In the year, 1997, my matriculation day, I was very reluctant to do a ceremonious matriculation like most students do. especially those students studying prestigious courses. I had requested that my family need not come to school to celebrate with me, afterall I was only studying biology education; a thing of shame, not worth rejoicing over. Nobody will anyway or so I thought.

I had been avoiding familiar faces, lest i will be asked what I was studying. I made effort to make myself invisible to all and couldn't wait till 200L to change my course/faculty. Just for the record, I had sneaked to the matriculation venue to take a picture with the matric gown and there I saw a guy that fascinated me.

He was jubilantly matriculating, taking pictures with friends and family. He had his shoulders high and was merry making. I stood there admiring him and thinking to myself that he must be studying Medicine or Engineering and I wished I could be as happy as he was or at least be studying a much better course.

I spent the night wishing I was that happy and contented guy and dragged myself to class the next morning to receive an education course. And what did I see, sitting not too far from me was the guy I had admired so much. He wasn't studying engineering or medicine, he was studying maths education.

The shock stayed with me for a long time. I had never imagined anyone could be so happy studying education but I also realized how ungrateful I was. That guy was grateful for the same thing I was mournful about and for the 4year duration, the guy rocked our faculty and I sulked.

Oh Lord, may I always be grateful for even what I don't like. 13years later, I write and I teach screenwriting for a living and I am not ashamed of it. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank God for everything, it's only with hindsight that I can connect the dots.

And the winner is....

That phrase is an all too familiar one when the winner is about to be named amongst  other contestants. We've seen it several times on TV but it is a different thing to experience it. And so it was my turn to experience it this year at the first Africa International film festival in Portharcourt.


In my case, it was a screenwriting competition, and there were twelve contestants and only three winners must emerge. The first winner was called and I nodded, cos I knew he deserved it, no panic. When the second winner was called, I said yes he deserved to win too cos I loved his screenplay but I also felt, 'is this guy not going to call my name?


Lastly my name was called, and I also said 'yeah, I deserved it too' in my heart. No drama, no, it was devoid of the tension we used to see in reality TV shows but nonetheless thrilling to be a winner.


So I won the monetary sum to produce my short that will be screened at the 2011 AFRIFF. That's one feather to my hat and my naughty friend has asked me to blow my trumpet. I just did.

What every film maker needs

A script doctor is indispensable for every film maker. Especially here in Nigeria that a film maker wears different hats, including the screenwriter’s hat. The original screenplay can be yours but you need the owl-like eye of a script doctor to chisel the screenplay into shape.

A Script Doctor always know for sure what is wrong with a screenplay and exactly how to fix it.

This skill comes with years of practice, experience and one other thing that is innate and special. It is a can-fix attitude. It is a leadership skill, a problem-solving skill, one that believes it can save the world if necessary.

Long years of writing screenplay is inadequate is to become a script doctor really. Because once a writer is judgmental and sentimental by nature it could get in the way of treating diseased screenplays even if the writer has been writing for years on end.

That said, then how do you find a good script doctor?

Two ways to go about it are; one, employ a recommended one. Two, test or interview the writer; the same way Donald Trump will do before hiring an apprentice.

As a film maker, wear all the hats you need to if necessary but get a script Doctor to give your screenplay the humph it deserves.

What is writing screenplay like?

The process is like a woman in different stages of child labor; with occasional sharp pains but in the brain this time. It is hard, painstaking, solitary and time-consuming. Sometimes you laugh, while at it. Sometimes you cry, sometimes you shout and sometimes you talk to someone. But once you PUSH out the last bit of the idea, and the BABY is born, you heave a sigh of relief and can’t wait to start the process all over again with another idea.

The joy is incomplete until you hear people’s comment about your life’s work, your screenplay, your film… your BABY. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is bad, people will give it different interpretation but at the end of the day, if your screenplay achieves what you set out to achieve, then your job is done. Your BABY turned out well.

The indispensable Script Doctor

A Script doctor is very similar to a medical doctor in many ways; their major difference is their patient. A script doctor can diagnose accurately the diseased areas in a screenplay just by reading through and that’s not all; she always has a cure.

All she does is look out for symptoms or weakness of the screenplay which could fall in any of the category below.

The symptoms are:

1.       Original idea and audience appeal.

2.       Character and character development

3.       Story structure and forward movement

4.       Plotting and change points

5.       Suspense and surprise

6.       Visual storytelling

7.       Dialogue (Is it too much?  Too little? On the nose? or Just right?)

8.       Scenes and style.

9.       Layout

Once that is done, she applies just the right treatment to correct the weaknesses and there before your eyes is a film to remember.

Professional Ethics

Most times after watching a very terrible movie, the natural instinct when asked by someone who hasn’t seen it is to blatantly admit it is a total wash out. Words of condemnation can stream out of your mouth unconsciously to express your disappointment and it is okay. 

But it ceases to be okay once you decide to take up the screenwriting profession.

The reason is very simple, very soon your work will come under the searchlight as well and you will come to understand how hard it is to write a blockbuster movie. So in screenwriter parlance, you are permitted to say the movie works for me… if you love it. Or it doesn’t work for me… if you dislike it.

The reason we play on words in critiquing other people’s works is this.

1.      Screenwriting takes a lot of effort to put together and it will be very demoralizing to outrightly pass a vote of no-confidence on another person’s work.

2.       Because it is a creative piece, it is very subjective. What doesn’t appeal to one may appeal to another.

3.       Experienced screenwriters always know that every bad screenplay can be fixed, so it isn’t out right rubbish.

So as a screenwriter, the next time you watch a movie that doesn’t work for you…think of possible ways the writer could have handle it better.

An answer to my consistent Prayer

I used to have a prayer that I prayed consistently over a period of time and the prayer goes thus " God, please bring my way whatever is connected to my destiny...be it a book, a person or whatever". After a while and it seems God wasn't responding, I moved on to push another request God might be interested in answering.

But on the day I got a screenwriting engagement with a production outfit, I was given a book, 'Teach yourself screenwriting by Raymond Frensham'. I took it without much enthusiasm but after I read the first two pages, I knew the book was an answer to my age-long prayer.

I believe every writer will enjoy reading this book as much as I did.

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story | Video on TED.com

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story | Video on TED.com
Chimamanda is a storyteller just like you and I but obviously has more laurels to her name than you and I which gives her a voice that can not be ignored. In this piece she talked about "The danger of a single story". If I bring it to screenplay context, it translate to mean "the danger of a one dimensional character". Her ability to segue into different episodes with a gripping fluidity of thought makes this video worth listening to.
I have listened to it more than thrice and so must every storyteller.

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

After I listened to Elizabeth, I had tears in my eyes that needed to be wiped away. She captured the essence and life of a creative person and I could identify with her more because I am also a writer. This piece brought me down to my knees and freed my anxiety. I believe every creative person will find inner peace after listening to this.

The figure head Producer

I promised to tell you how my producer designate experience went...so here it is. I turned out to be a figurehead Producer because the Director my Executive Producer dumped on me became ambitious. She simply took on the producer's garb so I gave her the pleasure to enjoy her dual responsibilities.

I did that with no hard feeling but because I had bigger and more financially rewarding project to manage. Do you blame me? As for the output of the shoot...I will try not to find out.

The lesson for me is to clearly define the role of each member in a team and let a common goal resonates. The next time I get a Producer's garb...I will do well to actually produce a movie.

Screenwriting Mantra

As a writer, you read different stuffs in order to hone your skills but I was attracted to read Linda Seger's book, 'making a good script great' because the title itself sold itself and it turns out to be a good resource. I recommend it to every screenwriter.


There is a screenwriting mantra she emphasized in her book and that is...writing is rewriting. I recently came in contact with an aspiring screenwriter who has no screen credit to her name and yet feels her first rough draft is a master piece and no one is qualified to pick holes in it...including me. 


May no writer be like her. For the screenwriter out there who wants to go very far...another mantra is...you don't write a script, you rewrite it. This book is all about rewriting that first rough draft and making it great.
Enjoy reading it.

Screenwriter cum Producer

Someday a screenwriter will be a producer, somehow...it just happens, it's up to you to decide the extent to which you want to go. And the reason is simple, most screenwriter cum Producer/Director ultimately give up writing and begin to commission writers to write for them. The sad truth is that presently Producers and Directors earn more than the screenwriter.

I have produced a documentary before but this is the first time i will be producing a short film...in fact two of them to be precise. The experience is golden because i have to work with a trainee director. I can only pray that she is as good as widely proclaimed. Will keep you posted on how the final output turned out.

But i love the feel of being a Producer...kinda dignifying.

When it's time to move on

Screenwriting is my racket. i don't want to say it's my life cos it isn't but i've come to love the profession. However, there are times like this when i ask myself if it is really worth it...financially. The remuneration is not that bad but when Producers refuse to pay for completed screenplays, three weeks after submission, it makes me think of putting out my CV.

One of the Producers owing me, is quite nice but has an Accountant who thinks he is doing me a favor. I know just what need to be said to someone like that but i've decided to hold my peace till my Producer is done reading my screenplay. Aside from the fact that i need money urgently, my ethics also include customer satisfaction first before demanding for my pay. So the waiting continues.

The other Producer owing me has just moved into his new house in Ikorodu. He is a nice guy too and really respects me a lot so i can't fight him except to pray that he gets money to pay for my screenwriting services. My fear is that he might have used MY MONEY to complete his house but i have faith that he will pay one day. So the waiting continues.

Meanwhile, funds are low and debts are high. It's beginning to get worrisome because someone might soon tell me to get a better job and to be candid, i'm considering it. Adding another string of income is seriously on my plate now. I've thought about pimping rides...as crazy as it sounds, i know it's going to make me happy... and very rich

A Screenwriter's Attitude

Attitude is everything according to Keith Harrell’s book. In life, generally, what takes anybody far and beyond one’s peers is competence and character.

You might be a fantastic screenwriter but if your character stinks, sooner or later, a screenwriter who combines the two qualities will displace you and give you a good run for your money.

So what makes a screenwriter tick?

1. Teach-ability is that strength of character to take corrections from the headwriter and quickly do a rewrite. It is not a time to insist on doing it your own way or style, because likes it or not screenwriting is methodical.

2. Tenacity is that doggedness to get your screenplay better. Because writing is essentially rewriting and there are times when you are required to do rewrites of your original work more than thrice. It takes a good screenwriter to get his or her butt on the chair and do a rewrite for the umpteenth time and not grumble or give up.

3. Problem-solving mentality is that deftness to detect the weakness of a screenplay and how it can be fixed. One has to think like a skilled mechanic who by just hearing a car’s sound can detect what is wrong with it and knows which spare part to use in replacing it.

4. Self- confidence is very important because without it, a screenwriter will personalize the critique made on his or her work. So there is need to separate the criticism given to your work from the one made against your person. A weak confidence will assume the criticism is against his person and nurse grudges against whoever said it which is quite unprofessional.

5. Integrity is the ability to protect your client’s intellectual property from theft as well as deliver your scripts as at when due. Peradventure something happens that impedes you from submitting on the agreed date, it is imperative you call before time and notify your client on why your work will come later than the agreed date. You don’t have to behave like the local artisans, who disappoint with impunity and hide under the bed when their clients come knocking at the door.

You can do better than that.

Certificate Or Skill

My first screenwriting certificate was from PEFTI and i get a lot of sneers each time i mention it in public, so i was eager to earn another screenwriting certificate from a more prestigious institution; Goldsmith University of London. I did and i went to town, brandishing my hard earned certificate to whoever cares to peep. I got the shock of my life.

The first Producer i met was not in the least impressed with the certificate. She was very critical of it and condemned it in strong terms. I got a writing engagement with her eventually because of my skill and not because of the certificate.

Screenwriting, like other form of skill does not emphasize on the certifcate and where you got it from, but particular about what you can deliver. I have been writing for the past four years and not once have any producer/director asked to see my Certificate. All they ask for is an excerpt of my work.

Certificate is good, training is an added advantage but don't graduate thinking a certificate will open doors for you. What opens doors for you as a screenwriter is the skill you bring to the table.

Get trained but don't wear the certificate on your sleeve.

Walk for Screenwriters

Kate was an ambitious and passionate writer whose dream is to write screenplays for famous producers and directors when she came to Lagos. She met two or three producers who read her scripts and returned it because the story didn’t work for them. Kate could stake her life on it that the producers used her story but since she doesn’t have the financial muscle to fight legally, she left the screenwriting career on the shelf for good.

That is the story of many Nigerian aspiring writers but I am one of the few blessed one who didn’t get ripped off at the inception. I am so blessed that my first writing engagement fee was a verbal contract and the man paid on the due date.

Many years have passed but cases of rip off still happens everyday. I feel that every writer’s journey doesn’t have to be stalled by fraudsters and sequel to that, stellarmovies.com, a screenwriting agency was born to be the first contact point for green screenwriters.

The vision is to provide a sense of direction for their lives and an assurance about the future. If stellarmovies.com is to do a walk-protest, banners will have slogans like, ‘don’t dupe screenwriters’, ‘screenwriters; the foundation of every movie’ and stuffs like that.

The walk has begun already, so call on every Kate you know to remove their screenwriting skills off the shelf, dust it and bring it to the altar of creativity and competence and character.

“For every screenwriter who has a story to tell, your voice will be heard”.

Between Actors and Screenwriters

Screenwriting, aside from being a solitary work is also a behind the scene work. A screenwriter functions in the back stage and gets a closing screen credit which is written in small print and made to scroll up very quickly before the eyes can pick out the names.

These days however, a writer/producer ensures that the name is bolder and gets a place in the opening credit. That’s a milestone really. In Nollywood, very few producers accord the screenwriter, the respect he deserves, so getting a paltry sum for a screenplay is common place. Not so with the actors.

Because the actor takes the centre stage and has a large fan base, he enjoys fame and fortune. The temptation is there for a screenwriter to want to change career and take on the actor’s garb in a bid to get fame and fortune.

The differences between an actor and a screenwriter

1. Actors reign for a season while a screenwriter reigns through seasons.

2. The earning rate between an actor and a screenwriter is 7:3

3. An actor’s reigning season could last for as long as 5years whereas a screenwriter’s relevance could last for 30years.

4. An actor’s fame and fortune decline with his age but a screenwriter’s dexterity increases with age.

5. Most famous actors are young, sexy and good looking while a famous screenwriter could be an old nerd man.

So screenwriters occupy the back stage to write screenplays that make an actor famous and occupy the center stage. We know our roles are different and we grumble not at our seemingly obscure profession. We are content with our calling as screenwriters, taking the backstage.

Ultimately, our fame resonates amongst executive producers who value our expertise.