Creativity alone won’t take any artiste far in career —Tope Salami

With over six years experience as entertainment lawyer, Tope Salami, who doubles as ECOWAS Youth Ambassador has become a popular brand in the entertainment industry. In this interview by SEGUN ADEBAYO, the Osun State-born lawyer speaks about his latest project, Creative Yard.

 

What exactly do you intend to achieve with Creative Yard and how long have you been working on it?

Well, Creative Yard is my latest pet project and the main idea behind it is to further strengthen the knowledge of creatives. As a creative, you should have the understanding that you must possess qualities beyond talents. The sustainability is of utmost importance. The goal of Creative Yard is to have sound growth and development of creatives.

 

Looking at the complexity of the entertainment industry and the fast growth being experienced, how does this add value to the business of entertainers?

We need to note that Creative Yard adds value to every creative regardless of the level of exploits. It would add key values to the business of creatives because it is creating boundless opportunities in the areas of proper monetization policies, issues of mental health, career growth and advancement, business and personal development, capitalising on day to day activities to remain relevant in the highly competitive creative industry, building a proper team, sponsorship mechanisms and key strategies to showcasing creative works to the outside world etc.

 

As an entertainment lawyer, what brought about the idea of Creative Yard?

As an entertainment lawyer, the quest for a sane creative industry brought up the idea. I deal with loads of creatives daily, ranging from A-list to Z-list and I can categorically place the knowledge of everyone. People need to see the creative sector more as a vital industry in the development of the nation, than passion-driven quest. What is passion to a creative who cannot convert the energy to money or fame? Or even strategic development in the country’s GDP. It is an idea that was conceived during the heat of Covid-19 last year during my conversation with the Ubong King (of blessed memories). I officially commenced it April, 2021. It is a fully-fledged registered entity in Nigeria.

 

What can you say about the involvement of state governments in the development of the creative sector?

The involvement of some state governments can be applauded, at least things are better than they used to be? Creatives are no longer needed during elections alone. However, I feel each state should ordinarily create a portfolio where key experts in the industry, including entertainment lawyers/consultants can lead and show the states how good money can be made through this sector because there are numerous untapped resources in the sector. I am aware some states have this portfolio, but the question is, are all members key players in the creative sector? I specially applaud Lagos State Government for this initiative and I hope other states follow that progressive ladder.

 

If there is one aspect of being an entertainment lawyer that still gives you concern, what would it be?

Various aspects give me concerns; but then the part that gives more concern would be the legal framework being used in the industry. The legal framework is such that it is hard to effectively operate in the digital era. New laws ought to have been made while some of the old laws should be totally discarded. This is of great concern because that is the last hope for every common man. Attached to this concern would be the level of exposure and lack of proper education of the bench when it comes to issues bordering on entertainment law, its practices and procedures. Every other problem in the industry can easily be sorted when the legal framework is strong.

 

Looking at the rate at which artistes churn out new contents indiscriminately, what part of this new project would cater for them?

The educative part of this project would cater for indiscriminate churning out of projects. However, we need to understand the common practice of relevance in the industry. With proper things in place via this new project, creatives would understand the need to properly plan each project and not turn every Friday to days specially set aside to drop materials? Who says a material cannot be dropped on a Monday and same would do well than dropping 100 materials on a Friday? (lol)

 

They say talent alone is not enough to sustain artistes in the industry; how does this educate them?

Well, certain classes would be taken. Our resource persons have been carefully drawn from the creative sector and trust me, the roll out of our resource person is such that you as a creative would learn from mistakes, errors and positive life-changing decisions made by different people in their various endeavours in the creative industry. Trust me, if a creative can solely survive on talents, no creative would ever go broke or bankrupt. Special curriculum would be designed depending on the creative in question as we are not welcoming the approach of using the same formula for various creatives.

 

Do you really think they would buy into the idea given their impatient nature?

The secret to operating any form of business around the world is consistency and of course, the need to let people see that your business motives are designed to help them grow career-wise and in terms of personal development. Our business module is simple and it preaches consistency and sustainability. As a matter of fact, the new project is currently enjoying patronages from key creatives in the sector. We believe any creative that sees himself as an empire would call for our services.

 

How much sensitisation work have you done about this project?

I have done a couple within my reach and also partnered with some top entertainment outfits in developed countries such as the United States of America, UK and Canada. The reason for the partnership is for mixture of both local and foreign experience. We won’t deny the fact that the three countries mentioned above can serve as pacesetters as far as the creative industry is concerned. Various local partnerships are underway, with strategic placements at key entertainment workshops.

 

How much did it cost you to come up with this plan?

You would agree that it costs a fortune to properly set up a profitable and viable plan in the country, especially something as unique or grey as this; however, due to proper plan in place, we are moving day by day.

 

What excites you most about this?

A whole lot excites me about this project, but the most important part of the excitement is the quest of curing various defects and deficiency in the African Creative Space. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that some set of people rely solely on our expertise and generates joy from same.

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