Doyin Amnodu is many things rolled into one. She is a damn good actress. She is a Movie Producer. She is the President of TAMPAN (UK). The big news is that she will be having the Grand Premiere of her new movie, Ojo Ale (Twilight) on Saturday 27th January 2024 at VIVA Cinema, Jara Shopping Mall, Ikeja.
The movie is a celebration of our veteran actors and actresses in the movie industry. She calls it MAAM’s Project. It is an initiative of MAAM’s Helping Hands (MHH). MAAM’s project initiative is to make the Veterans & Elders Smile Again. Doyin Amodu says MAAM’s Project was created to celebrate and empower elderly Nollywood film makers who have dedicated their lives to the Nigeria film industry. These individuals have made invaluable contributions to the development of Nigeria entertainment industry, but many of them face financial hardships in their Twilight years. The MAAM’s Project aims to change this narrative, by providing an avenue for them to continue to use their talents to make ends meet and experience the joy of financial security.
MAAM’s initiative aims are to provide the Veterans & Elders Financial Security, improved quality of life, Access to Healthcare, sense of Belonging and Support and continued engagement.
Starring in the movie are Tubosun Odunsi, Bimbo Gboye, Ebun Oloyede, Charles Olumo, Jide Kosoko, Samson Folarin, Ayo Ogunsina, Bashiru Ishola, Adebayo Salami, Felicia Osunponle, Tunde Bamgbode, Isiaka Towose, Rasaq Olayiwola, Foluke Daramola Salako, Sola Kosoko Abina, Toyosi Adesanya, Ade Ajiboye & other stars. Many veteran actors featured in the movie Ojo Ale.
Let’s tell you more. The Producer/Director of the movie is Doyin Amodu, Assistant Director is Foluke Daramola, Line Producer is Sola Kosoko Abina, Associate Producer is Yemi Amodu, Coordinator is Oluwole Ojojolu, DOP is Lekan Bature, Script Writer is Demola Amodu, Script Supervisor is Ade Adeniji, Continuity is Olanrewaju Ogunsuada, Thespian’s Welfare is Toyosi Adesanya, PM1 is Tope Faturoti (Ogidan), PM2 is Olalekan Olumba, Editor is Kazeem Oyewo, Light is Olayinka Oginni and Sound is by Ganiyu Sharafa Ife.
She spoke to City People a few days ago. “The movie is about our Veterans,” She say. “We have completed work on the movie and the Premiere is in a few days time. This movie is dedicated to all our past heroes in our industry. All the old actors and actresses, our fathers and mothers. I am excited about it. It is something exciting. They are the stars of the day. There are so many of them coming for the premiere. Many of them will be seeing themselves for the 1st time in many years.”
“It will be amazing for them to come together again and see themselves at the event. You will see them in different shapes and sizes. When we shot the movie Ojo Ale we hand over 100 of them on that set. When we were filming, many of them saw themselves for the 1st time in 35 years, 45 years.”
“It was very, very interesting. They were happy. One of them infact remarked that see how all of us gathered here like in those days, when we used be under the three at the National Theatre. Many of these elders who couldn’t make it into the movie will be there. That gave me enough joy.”
Why did she decide to do a movie on the Elders & Veterans? She told City People “I have been in the industry since 1995. My boss is Omooba Prince Jide Kosoko. I was a member of his caucus. He trained me. We were part of Fadeyi Caucus, comprising different Elders like Baba Kukute, Baba Alaran of blessed memory, Baba Eleso. We were a lot in the caucus, like Pa Kasumu. There is Odunfa Caucus, Meran, Ebute Metta caucus. Ours is Fadeyi Caucus. We were like family in that caucus. When I left Nigeria in February 2005, I missed them. But I still talked to a lot of them. We all had this bond, because we act together. We do Rehearsals together, we were always on location. All of a sudden, someone called me and said Baba Alaran is dead. I felt bad. When I started coming back to Nigeria to do my production and shoot movies, I decided to reach out to them. Bit by bit, we keep losing them. I have this thing for the elderly. That is their vulnerable age, in life. And a lot of them have a lot of unfulfilled dreams. Happinness is very important to me and I think every one of us should be able to afford the basic when I now hear their story on social media. Those of us on social media have to be considerate, especially when it comes to the elderly. Don’t think we are using them to make money.”
“Our leaders are doing their best. Let me say that in this our industry, I know the huge member of people that Jide Kosoko supports. Don’t forget that for many elderly Theatre people, a lot of their family members didn’t support their decision to go into Theatre because they see it as a lazy job. In those days, there was no money in acting at all. It was all about Banter. They kept helping each other. A lot of times you will spend your money to go on location. It wasn’t easy for them.”
“I know how many people Mr. Latin is supporting. I know how many people Femi Adebayo is helping, underground. We are one family. We are each others family. We all rally round one another to help. Their family can’t do it alone. We all have to support them. We need to change the narative that the Theatre people don’t help themselves. I am the President of TAMPAN (UK) The Theatre and Motion Pictures Practitioners Asso. of Nigeria, the UK Chapter. And I know what the association itself is doing for our members. What I have done with this movie is that once you are an Elder and a Veteran, whether you belong to ANTP or TAMPAN or Ambassador, over 60 or even under 60 and we know you are struggling we would support. That is what I am trying to create. The truth is that a lot of our Elders want to work, even if you don’t give them money. They want to work. They derive a lot of satisfaction from acting. They want to be busy. If you love the Theatre industry so much, and you constantly go on location, it will help you. It will help your state of mind. It will help you forget your problems. You can then remember it when you are on your way home later. That is when you will remember that you have not been given money for coming to that location. These our Elders & Veterans have gone through a lot, in those good old days. Some of these elders have had to go through people attacking them on the street for playing the role of a witch in movies. We are each other’s family.”
“One of the reasons we did this film is because we want to see how we can use the movie to help these our Elders, to take care of things like Health Care. I know a lot of our Elders who can’t afford as small as N4,000 to buy drugs for High Blood Pressure.”
“We help ourselves but we still need help from our fans. Abroad, the government helps those who are in the Theatre industry. We are calling on government to create something for our elderly. We need to have Trust Fund. People should know that we are getting better. We are helping each other and we need more help. We love the industry. In those good old days our Elders were not paid. Those who got paid only got peanuts. We all didn’t come into the industry because of the money we are going to make. Theatre is something I can do without getting paid and I will be ok.”
“The beauty of the movie we have done is that all the monies that we would make will go to these Elders. We want to use the movie to make money for them.”
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