I want to inspire children to do exploits —Augusta Okon

When did you start writing and how many publications do you have?
I started writing with a view to being published when I was 14 years old. My first children’s book was Bola and the Kidnappers published by Nelson. The Master of ceremony at the book launch was Kanayo. O. Kanayo. The launch which was aired on the NTA Network News and I also was interviewed on the now rested popular Morning Ride show. At 16, Nelson published another children’s book I wrote entitled; Trust No One. I took a break to study Law and returned to the writing a couple of years ago with my debut novel; The Side Walk. A part of me has always wanted to write beautifully crafted stories for children.  This prompted me to write a fantasy based story for Children, The Quest For The Gem Of Arubia which was shortlisted for the 2016 ANA/Ngozi Chuma Udeh Prize for Children’s Literature. The next children’s book, The Dreamer, The Traitor & The Forgotten was in late 2018.

We had sex consistently while she was still married to her ex hubby, her second child is mine —Husband

You started early, what influenced you into towing the writing path?

My foundation at Corona played a huge role as we imbibed the reading culture early. In the process I read awesome classic fairy tales; Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Elves and the shoemaker, Goldilocks and the three bears, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the beanstalk, Rapunzel, Beauty and The beast, Snow white, The adventures of Pinocchio, Little Red riding hood, Rumpelstiltskin, The three little pigs, Thumbelina among others. I also read Puss in boots, Arabian nights, David Copperfield, A tale of two cities, Great expectations, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Little women, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, Around the world in Eighty days, The Secret Garden and the likes. I loved the African pacesetter series in junior high such as The Undesirable Element, Bloodbath at lobster close, Christmas in the City, The Delinquent, Director, The Equatorial Assignment, Felicia, For Mbatha and Rabeka, The Hopeful lovers, Naira Power, On the road, Sisi, Stop Press: Murder!, Teardrops at Sunset. I read a lot and was also influenced by one of my classmates Ade Oteju who had pencilled down her story. I was also encouraged to put my thoughts to paper and tapped into my creative side to birth my first published work. Reading works of authors and being inspired to tell my stories caused me to walk on the writing path.

What inspired you to write about The Dreamer, The Traitor and The Forgotten?

Over the years, I have found myself not conforming to the usual way of telling stories for children and I believe that is highly influenced by the movie side of me. How you tell the story is important to get the child’s attention and subtly influence him or her into basking in the creative world and also learning the morale of the story. Growing up as a child in the 80’s we were bound to carry out our parents bidding in terms of the career path to take. You had to be a lawyer, doctor or an Engineer. Anything else was usually unacceptable. Over time, many who pleased their parents have turned to pursue their passion. Football was not a route one considered back then and many who are successful today can attest to that. Football for me is a symbolic sport that powerfully unites people of different tribes, religion and race. I wanted children to realise that they are talented and need to discover same early and work towards developing it. Those dreams they have are achievable irrespective of what their friends, family and society thinks. Parents as well have a crucial role to play in making such happen. All these were factors that motivated me into writing a football themed children’s book.

 

Why have you focused on children’s books?

We have more authors focusing largely on novels, drama and poetry as opposed to books for Children. The literary competitions present also swings dominantly in favour of these, so of course it’s only natural to want to walk that path. The reading of those awesome classic stories as a child helped in building my writing skills and developed my creative side. I want to create amazing, unique stories that children will love and be inspired to do exploit.

 

Why are you passionate about film adaptations?

Back in the days, I had the love for literature and film. Classic novels, African pacesetter series, recommended literary books in school coupled with Chinese, Indian and American movies stimulated my interest. I watched certain TV shows back then and didn’t know they were adaptations until much later. Theatrical releases thrived back in the Golden years of cinema until it hit the folding up gong in the 80’s. The cinemas have been revived with Nigerian filmmakers looking to the theatres to release their films and not just straight to VCD/DVD as was the norm. Over the years there has been a recycling of themes and dearth of originality. Stories from authors are very creative, and they know how to create engaging content. Hollywood has turned this concept into a haven of box office hits. I believe it’s an untapped goldmine in Nigeria, it brings books to life via the big screens and since people love what they can see and hear, there’s the huge possibility of a rise in the number of those who will storm the cinemas and buy the books at the stores and online.

 

Are film adaptations strictly based on novels?

No it can be from another source. Film adaptations means the story was not derived from the original source; that is, the script writer’s imagination. Adaptations can be from poems, plays, news, articles, short stories, TV shows, remakes, comics, true stories.

 

So there’s the possibility that foreign movies we’ve watched were film adaptations?

Absolutely! movies such as 12 Strong, Crazy Rich Asians, The Darkest Minds, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, To All the boys I’ve loved before, The House with the clock in its walls, Goosebumps2: Haunted Halloween, The Nutcracker and the four realms, The Grinch, Mary Poppins Returns, A simple favour, Blackkklansman, The Meg, Mortal Engines which showed in cinemas this year are adaptations.

 

Have there been Nigerian adaptations?

Yes there have been film adaptations within our shores. In fact the founding fathers of filmmaking in Nigeria commenced with adaptations. Francis Oladele in 1970 adapted Wole Soyinka’s 1965 play ‘Kongi’s Harvest’ which was directed by American, Ossie Davies, Bull frog in the sun, 1972, was an adaptation of the combined books of Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things fall Apart and No longer at Ease’, Shehu Umar was in 1976, Bisi daughter of the river was in 1977, Ola Balogun’s ‘Ija Ominira’ was in 1978. Legendary filmmaker Tunde Kelani’s filmography boasts of a plethora of adaptations such as Koseegbe, Thunderbolt, Narrow path, Maami, Dazzling mirage, Oleku, among others. We’ve also watched adaptations such as Half of a Yellow Sun, Married but living single, The Perfect Church, TV adaptations; Magana jar ice, Langbodo, Things fall apart, Second chance, Dere, Desperate Housewives Africa and short films like In Iredu, The Encounter, Hello Rain. Passport of Mallam Illia is being adapted into film as well.

Why do you think filmmakers are not keen on making adaptations?

I believe it’s because they’re largely unaware of the endless possibilities associated with the concept. They also might not want to go through the rigours of securing rights, paying huge royalties, among other things. Authors are highly imaginative, hence the cost of recreating the scenes as depicted in the book, ups the budget considerably. Then there’s the indecision as to whether the script writer should adapt the book either wholly or in part which can have positive or negative consequences based on audience perception. Interestingly authors desire their books to come alive on the big screens or on TV. Getting the right book to adapt is vital and if it is a popular book, buzz is automatically created and people would be eager to see it on the big screens. Not only can it be shown in cinemas within our shores, the producer can take it for theatrical release in other territories and put it in International film festivals. This gives the author wider exposure, the publisher goes to reprint the books while the filmmaker makes money. It’s a win-win situation for both parties. Any filmmaker going for adaptations must be ready to produce with a good budget and not a shoe stringed one. Then there’s the challenge of having access to the author/publisher to purchase the film or TV rights. I’m currently working on something that will ease this challenge and open to working with producers to secure available rights.

How important are adaptations?

It serves as a better alternative source to original works to recoup investments. For those that are based on books, It creates a combination of literature and film which makes us eventually want to read the book, watch the movie while listening to the characters dialogue. This invariably encourages the revival of the reading culture. The concept of adaptation has gone global and key movie Industries have tapped into this gold mine.

What do you think about the theatrical distribution Industry in the country?

The Industry has blossomed and has become the go to platform for filmmakers desiring to have their films exhibited in cinemas in Nigeria. Distributors such as FilmOne, Silverbird film distribution, Blue Pictures, among others are professionals and have indeed taken the burden of distribution from the filmmakers. It has helped to provide the platform wherein they can have a channel to make money as opposed to the initial straight to DVD platform.

 

What role does publicity play in the film’s success at the box office?

Publicity is fundamental and it is important to have a budget from the start. A lot of times producers spend time on creating a production budget and executing same. Then they go to the distributor and they realise they have to get In – cinema materials, DCP copies of the film, Trailers, and of course embark on publicity on various fronts; online, social media, prints, electronic media, outdoor media among others which are expensive. The cost is on the high side and with the little money he/she can raise, the impact to create and promote awareness for the movie is minimal. Therefore, it is imperative to have a budget mapped out for PR /Marketing from conception and creating plans and strategies to make a film a success at the box office.

Any other thing you particularly would love to do?

I certainly would love to carry out voice over roles for animated films and host a TV or Radio show. A lot of times, people say I have this lovely voice that is pleasing to the ears and should be in broadcasting. Who knows? Let’s see how it goes.

What’s your advice for upcoming authors and those who venture into multiple things?

Stay true to your dreams, work towards it and never consent to anyone telling you that it’s impossible to achieve. Face challenges headlong, surround yourself with positive minded people, connect with good influencers. Adopt good time management strategies, set goals for yourself and work towards achieving them.