Steve Gukas Fatherhood is most interesting part of my life

Weekend Magazine: Many don’t remember the broadcasting side of you. What’s become of that?Steve Gukas: Nothing’s happened to it, really. Even though I am not actively in front of the microphone and doing broadcasting, I am producing content that goes on TV like documentaries, adverts and some programmes. You see my name more on the […]

Weekend Magazine: Many don’t remember the broadcasting side of you. What’s become of that?
Steve Gukas: Nothing’s happened to it, really. Even though I am not actively in front of the microphone and doing broadcasting, I am producing content that goes on TV like documentaries, adverts and some programmes. You see my name more on the screen rather than as the performer.
WM: With the likes of Kenneth Gyang, who trained in Jos and has produced great award-winning movies, why did you feel the need to go to train in the UK?
Gukas: At the time that I went to the UK, the Nigerian Film Institute wasn’t in existence. For me the need to go to the UK was based on the fact that having made ‘Keeping faith,’ by my estimation qualified me to say I was one of the top directors in the country at the time. I didn’t want to be just a Nigerian director, I wanted to be a global director. I had certain shortcomings that I needed to improve upon and for me going to the London Film School, which was at the time the premier film school in the world, was the best way to do this.
WM: Asides your new movie, what else have you brought back to the industry from that experience?
Gukas: After film school, I went on to co-produce ‘Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation’ starring the likes of Danny Glover and Carl Lumbly. It was a massive international production for which we raised well over $65 million to produce it. The experience of putting that film together to fruition is what I have brought to Nigeria; the contacts and the expertise and experience. It’s now possible for me to pick up the phone and I can reach anybody I need to do something for me in the global film industry. The things I have done and people I have met have afforded me this opportunity. I was able to bring crew that worked for me on the movie and those who worked for me on other projects, to Nigeria for the production of ‘A Place in the Stars.’ They mentored other Nigerian filmmakers who are today doing very well.
WM: What is the story behind ‘A Place in the Stars’?
Gukas: Shortly after Dora Akunyili was appointed DG, NAFDAC, we started hearing revelations about fake and adulterated drugs, the percentage of it and the damage it was doing to the country. These were new and nobody had taken time to bring them out before. I was in the UK at the time and wanted to do a documentary on her because she represented a different kind of Nigeria. Someone who was willing to stand up for the public good not one who was going to sacrifice everybody else for their own personal benefit. This needed to be celebrated. I came to Nigeria and made contact with her to do the documentary. We began in Lagos, then Abuja and even went on to her village. I got to see her in all ramifications. You can tell when someone is a fake, but she was the real deal. This was a new kind of Nigeria. Unfortunately, the documentary wasn’t finished. I was so moved by her story and wondered how else I could capture it in a film in a way that celebrates her for being the true hero that she really was. At the time I was also looking for a story for my next film. So I decided to merge what she represented as the new kind of Nigeria and the character she represented as well as forming the basis for the story like it’s a place in the stars. Even though not her story, it’s inspired by her. She was living out the saying ‘be the change that you want to see.’  Most of us say when everybody else changes then I will change. That way change will never come.
WM: Why the title?
Gukas: ‘A Place in the Stars’ simply refers to the fact that people live in this world, die and they go on. Those who go on to be remembered basically become like stars for us. We remember them because of the legacies that they have left behind. ‘A Place in the Stars’ is a legacy tale between a father and his son and the quest to help that son find his path and his place in the stars.
WM: What informed your choice of actors for the various roles?
Gukas: At the time we were casting we wanted to look for fresh talents because then most of the actors out there were burnt out, over used and everywhere. I wanted new talents who also had the talents to carry the story but were not that over used while mixing them with people from the established set who were not overused but had great talents. That was the blend I was looking for. That is, I ended up working with Gideon Okeke, Matilda Obaseki, Amaka Ngbo, Segun Arinze, Dejumo Lewis, Lantana Ahmed, Ladi Alfa, Femi Branch, Yemi Blaq and the rest. They all brought a commitment to the project that would have been impossible to achieve with the project had they not been personally drawn to the story that is the film.
WM: Lantana Ahmed hasn’t been on screen in this sense since the ‘Cock Crow at Dawn’ era. Why did you want her in the film?
Gukas: You are looking for authenticity as well as people who are talented. Although she hadn’t been in the public sphere in terms of acting, I knew her as a very gifted and talented actor. Incidentally, she was my lecturer in University of Jos and it’s always been on my mind that when I have a character that suits her, I would like to work with her. It was therefore a no brainer when I was looking for the actor to play the character that she did. She plays the mother of the lead character.
WM: What was the most emotional part of this production for you?
Gukas: It is perhaps seeing it finish after five, seven years. In the sense that for a journey that long, to then have people see and receive it so well… It was so heart-warming. I have to fight to keep back tears. That kind of reception says to you that your efforts have not been in vain. In terms of the emotional strain of the production would be that my son was born at the beginning of the journey and he is seven years now. I haven’t had enough time to spend with him because I have been working on this film. The same goes for my other two sons and my wife. Just that sacrifice of not being with family in the way that I would have loved to be is also a very personal strain as far as this film is concerned.
WM: In the course of production were there times you felt like backing out?
Gukas: I never felt so for a couple of reasons. One was the commitment of making the film. Two, I have three sons; what do I want to teach them? That you start things and not finish; that, more than anything else drove me to finish and finish well. The message to them is that whatever you start no matter how difficult, finish it.
WM: The concept for WE FM began amidst producing this film. How did you manage it and then combine being its MD and filmmaking?
Gukas: For most of us in the film industry and in the arts as well, it is your passion. It has not quite begun to put food on the table so you have to do other things that put food on the table. I would have to sustain my life, family and all that. As I pursue filmmaking, I also pursue other ventures that are more like my 9 to 5 jobs. I started out in radio and subsequently TV. So I always have the passion for them. I believe that we don’t get enough quality out on radio and TV to the extent where we put out things that contribute to the progress and development of our society. Therefore, the usage of the platform to be able to put out such is a passion. Even though WE FM has started out as radio it will be in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Benin, there is also a TV side of it. It is a marriage of passion versus my work. When you put them both together not only are we going to be able to put programming on TV that people also enjoy the same way people go out to the cinemas.
WM: How do you intend to fight piracy?
Gukas: Piracy is a global menace not just a Nollywood problem. The idea is not to let the pirates seize the initiative. Piracy in some instances is part of lack of demand and supply. Sometimes, people go in search of something and do not find it, they buy what is available. So, it is also about meeting that demand and supply. This is why you need to have an idea of what the demand is and find the money to meet it. In the same way you find the money to make the film you have to find the money to sell it. It is only in doing that that you can get your money back. But then again, you also need to look at markets outside Nigeria and understand the release windows. Because when you don’t understand this and you put your work in a platform, it is easy to be pirated, you reduce the efficacy of the product. If your film is out on DVD in London and you are just going to cinema in Nigeria you can bet that pirated copies will get to Nigeria in no time. Understanding these windows and knowing when what goes out where, to get a global picture of what you are doing that helps you.
WM: When is the release date?
Gukas: The premiere will be on November 7 in Lagos, others will be in London, America and South Africa. It goes to cinema in Nigeria 14th November.
WM: When you look at yourself as a husband, father, filmmaker and all that make up Steve Gukas, which gives you the most satisfaction?
Gukas: Father! This is not putting my sons above my wife. She has a special place in my heart that no one can touch. I say father because you are having younger people who look up to you and you are nurturing people who can contribute to society tomorrow. The time you spend doing things and the absolute faith and belief they have in you, as they soak in everything you do and say is something that you don’t quite get bounce back to you from anywhere else. That is something that really, really gives me joy.
WM: What are the three things you always have on you?
Gukas: A lip balm (laughter), my phone and some money.