Stephanie Okereke    Stephanie Okereke    Stephanie Okereke    Stephanie Okereke

Stephanie Okereke is indeed a queen and if you think this writer is wrong, then you need to visit our newsroom to feel the pulse of some of my colleagues who were on hand to receive her when she came calling on a courtesy visit to our headquarters at the Kiri Kiri canal.
An accomplished movie star and a former beauty queen had several hearts pumping when she sauntered into our newsroom.



Stephanie OkerekeOf course she had every reason to identify with the Saturday Vanguard because according to her, “ I’ ve heard about all the beautiful things you guys have been doing to support Nollywood and I want to be part of it”.

Indeed she had a swell time with us and at the end of visit we had a clear picture of Stephanie Okereke and what makes her tick. She also shared with us her experience as a movie producer and more as you’d soon find out. Enjoy:

It’s really nice to see you today in our office...

It’s nice to see you guys too.

So, how are you doing today?

I’m alright, thank you.

You’ve been away for quite sometime, what happened?

I was away to do my movie and after shooting, I returned home to attend the BOBTV event where many people demanded to see the movie, I think BOBTV is good platform for film makers to interact.

So how was the response at BOBTV?



Stephanie Okereke now freeIt was awesome, they loved it. I showed the movie on a Tuesday at the event and on Wednesday at the workshop, it was full hall when I arrived. There were a lot of young people and they asked questions on how I did it. Everybody is demanding to see the movie, I think the response was great.

Is that your first ever self produced movie?

Yes it’s the first movie which I wrote, directed, produced and acted all in one.

What was the experience like?

(Laughing) It was a lot of hard work but it was fun. All this happened because I wanted to do something different. In the beginning I was thinking about it myself; Can I do this? How do I go about it?. Should I do it I asked myself? . There were so many challenges ranging from funding, location, getting your cars and so on.

So how were you able, to do it?

Well I was able to do it by God’s grace. It’s just like any other moment you face challenges, then you have to tackle it the best way that you can.

How long have you been in the movie industry, do you think experience has anything to do with producing or directing a movie?

I’ve always been there so age has nothing to do here. I mean over there, they have young directors who are about 16, 17 years and above 50, age shouldn’t be a restriction. You don’t have to be old to be a director.

There are lots of young people in movies abroad. Most of the foreign movies you’ve watched were directed by young people. So as they grow in it, they keep improving and that means a lot of experience. I did my first move in 1997 when I finished secondary school.

Eleven years after, don’t you think it took so long to come this far?

First of all, I wasn’t expecting it and it just happened. And also in life, there is time for everything. There is time for you to make certain decisions and move to another level, so I think this is just the proper time for me to do this.

What is this movie all about?

The movie is centered around responsibility and commitment. A parent’s love for a child. It’s about a guy who doesn’t want to come into relationship and suddenly finds an unknown baby. And this baby opens the way of God for him to discover himself. So he’s going through the glass of the situation around him and then there’s his relationship with this Nigerian girl.

So it’s all centered around a man?

Yes, a man, the baby and the girl.

Where was this movie shoot and who are the stars?

It was all shot in Los Angeles (LA), and I used Americans, African American, and also some of our African actors.

And who are the American actors?

Well you wouldn’t know but they are quite big in America

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