By IME OLA

Since 1993 when he made his entry into the movie industry, Zack Orji has featured in well over 150 movies. However, he has now put movies on the back burner, saying he is currently working on music which he considers his first love.

According to Orji, who said he hails from a musical family, time has come for him to get fully involved in music production. Following this, his debut album, a 10-tracker, is expected to hit the music scene soon.

The artiste, whose movies have been screened in Ghana, Britain and America was a guest speaker at a recent briefing organised by the Public Affairs Section, United States Consulate General, Lagos. He spoke passionately about the movie industry in Nigeria, his invitation to Hollywood, his desire to find fulfilment in music, among other things:

Background
While in secondary school, I was a member of the Dramatic Society. We used to travel to states for stage performances. My inclination has been mostly towards the arts, although I was a science student. My father wanted me to be a medical doctor, but I refused. I was good in drawing and Fine Arts was one of my best subjects.
After graduation, I did so many things. I did clearing and forwarding. Since I was also good in drawing, I went to Balogun market in Lagos, looked at the design of shoes, made them and sold. I made one or two batches which were even sold abroad. Unfortunately, one day, I went to my shop and discovered that thieves had broken into it and made away with everything.
I believed that when God is ready to take a man to a certain destination, He would allow him to pass through certain routes. I just moved on without any regrets. Later, I was into buying and selling, I did supplies too. In the process of supplying some goods, I met a friend, Ekenna Igwe, who is now president of the Screen Writers Guild of Nigeria. He introduced me to a number of friends who were then working on a movie script titled The unforgivable sin. It was an Igbo movie that was subtitled in English and it was the first movie that I starred in. That film got me my first nomination in 1995 AMEN awards as the best actor.
After that, I began to get offers to star in movies. From that time till now, I have featured in about 150 different films, playing mostly leading roles. I have played all kinds of roles in the movies.

Why I want to sing
I hail from a family of singers. I was told that my grand father was a singer and that my uncle had been a musician who travelled to Ghana and other countries. I grew up fiddling with the acoustic guitar. In my fourth year in secondary school, I wrote a song in French, which was featured in a show on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 8, Enugu. I did my first demonstration in 1987 and I actually went into music before movies. Basically, I will feel unaccomplished and unfulfilled, if I die today without expressing myself musically.
Moreover, there has always been a bond between movies and music. In America, artistes usually switch from movies to music or vice versa. An example is Whitney Houston, who crossed from music to movies. There are quite a number of people who made a cross over from movies to music.

Writing of songs
I obtain a lot of materials from the Bible. The Bible is the word of God, and it contains many praise songs. I derive inspiration from messages that are preached both in my church and in different Christian functions that I attend. I sing mainly to praise God and I do this in different forms. I wrote and arranged my songs.

Why I am not featuring in movies
I have been busy doing a lot of work. Since 2003, I have not featured in any production. I have been repackaging and reengineering. My focus now lies on international productions between Nigeria and the United States. I was invited to star in a movie which was to be shot in Hollywood but the issue of work permit came up and we are still sorting it out. This project is going to be shot in the United States, but it is a Nigerian story about Nigerians living in the United States. We wanted to shoot the video, but it had to be done on celluloid and the script had to be rewritten.

The trip to the United States opened doors of opportunities for me.

Estate management and acting
I don't think I have missed anything by not managing an estate. It is not everybody that studied Theatre Arts that can act. The art of acting is unique in the sense that with certain flair, you can fit in because in everyday life, each of us acts.
For example, everyday, I play different roles to my children at home. I am their father while I am a husband to my wife. To different people, I am a different thing. Every circle where I find myself, I am called upon to play a certain role, to relate with the people. So, acting is unique in the sense that with a certain flair, one can develop self through the knowledge acquired from books, seminars/ workshops and festivals.

The rise of Nollywood
The growth has been phenomenal. And it has been positive because it has given Nigeria a new image. We do get invitations from across the world. People invite me to Holland to grace their child's dedication. Also, people invite me to the United States to attend their functions, all expenses paid.
The coming of Nollywood has been of great benefit. In fact, it has contributed immensely to the economy of this country. It has kept a lot of people off the streets and it has given hope to a lot people. It has provided jobs for them too. Above all, it has given us something to look forward to. It has given Nigeria a new image internationally and put the citizenry on the world map as far as movies and entertainment are concerned.

Sex for roles in Nollywood
This is found all over the world. It does not only exist in the entertainment industry, but in other sectors. But an artiste has to first believe in him or herself. There are ladies who are ready to offer themselves in order to catapult themselves into stardom. There are those who believe they have something that cannot be toyed with by somebody who calls himself a producer simply because he finds himself in that position. The producer might want to take advantage of another person, but this is bad. It is very bad. I don't know what else to say, but I am telling you that sex for roles is real in Nollywood.

Between Hollywood and Nollywood
In certain respects, both are the same, the practitioners have the same yearnings and desires to transcend their national boundaries and go out to excel in the outside world. But we still have people who are struggling in Hollywood, just like we have people who are struggling here in Nollywood. They have also started doing a lot of work on video like we are doing here, although ultimately, they are more into the celluloid; the big budget movies. But the budgets are not the same because the currencies are not the same. So, the two worlds are totally different. For every dollar that is spent in America, we are talking about N140 here.

Challenges
I cannot afford to do any shoddy job now because it would affect what I have been able to achieve in the movie industry. I cannot do anything that is sub-standard. That is why I am not in a hurry. I am taking my time in order to come out with a good work. I am now concerned about works that can be of international standard.

Ban on artistes
The marketers gave reasons it happened because if it can happen to A, it can also happen to B. Some of the reasons they gave bothered on indiscipline and insensitivity. For example, actors not coming to set on time, that is, if the call time is 9 a.m, some actors just stroll in around 2pm. When that happens and the artiste involved is playing a lead role, it means that everything has to wait until the person comes, and this went on for a long time.
They also accused some actors of having collected money from different producers for jobs they never did and kept producers waiting for months. They even said some of the artistes actually travelled abroad, abandoning the sets while some of them left two or three scenes unshot.
At the end of the day, the actors were banned and it was unfortunate. I was unhappy about it. But the positive part of it was that it enabled my colleagues to sit back and look inwards to discover themselves. The ban did not stop them from working outside the country, some of them have been busy since then.
We are not happy about it, we believe that there should be discipline, but we also believe that things should have been done in a proper manner, so that we can set the records straight and create a foundation on which we can work.
Again we thank God that the one-year ban has elapsed and by the grace of God, work will start again.

My family and my acting
My acting career has affected my family in both ways. Sometimes they do miss me when on location, but above all, my children are always happy, (three children, my son is 14 and my two daughters are four and two years old). Besides, we are a family of entertainers. My wife is now in Enugu taking part in a movie production. So she understands the nature of my work because she too is an actress.

How I met my wife
We met and got married before we joined the industry and we are actually from the same town. We met in 1985, shortly after my national youth service.

My marriage
We understand each other, and we have never brought in any third party into our affairs. Our children don't even know when we quarrel. But there is no marriage that can succeed without God. We depend on God, we pray together, we pray separately. You must have the desire for your marriage to succeed, because when you have the desire, God will help you. God loves marriage and it is an institution that enables us to procreate.
So, without God in your marriage, that marriage will fail. We have been married for 16 years, we have been on set together, and we have acted as husband and wife.
In 1997, we played the roles of husband and wife in a movie: Return to Kazondia. It was shot in Jos and released in 1998. She was my Nigerian wife in the movie.

My fans
I would like to thank them for their support over the years, for encouraging me through phone calls, comments and contacts and for always being there for us. I really thank my fans and I want to tell them that something new is about to happen.