Award-winning movie producer, Kunle Afolayan has recounted how his late father, Adeyemi Afolayan otherwise known as Adelove, discouraged him and his siblings from delving into the movie industry.
Kunle, whose father was one of the pioneers of film-making in Nigeria and has three siblings in Nollywood, in a recent interview, disclosed that his father wanted them to pursue other careers because film-making was not lucrative in his time.
The ace film-maker however said he was hellbent on becoming a movie producer because he saw a gap in the industry that he wanted to fill.
Speaking about his father, the 48-year-old actor said,
“He said there was no money. Just go and be a lawyer.
“My father completely discouraged any of us from going into acting or filmmaking. He said do you want to be running around like I’m running around.
“And those were things I learned which helped me structure the business side of what I do because I don’t want to end up like them.
“I remember after he passed then Nollywood came and then I would see these films with beautiful stories then I would be comparing them to the film of my dad and Ogunde with the production quality but how come the audio is bad, how come the makeup is lousy, how can we do and this and I said ok I want to be a filmmaker, I never said I wanted to be an actor.
“I went to Tade Ogidan and he said ok when we have something I will call you.
“I also went to Tunde Kilani, he said who are you to say you want to make a film?
“That your dad was a filmmaker doesn’t make you one, you have to learn it. Go to school and complete your education and then when they wanted to do ‘Saworo Ide’ in 1998, he called me to come and I auditioned. I played the role eventually but still wanted to make a film.”
