‘Why My Father Completely Discouraged Us From Filmmaking’ – Kunle Afolayan

Veteran filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, has opened up on why his father, Adeyemi Afolayan, popularly known as Ade Love, discouraged him and his siblings from going into filmmaking.

CityNews reports that the actor in an interview with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, said his father completely discouraged them from going into the entertainment industry, stressing it was not a lucrative business.

Kunle noted that his father wanted them to be lawyers, to avoid the challenges of movie making, however, the challenges helped him structure the business side of his career.

According to the ‘Figurine’ producer, veteran filmmaker, Herbert Ogunde also helped his career and he was able to find solutions to some of the problems of movie making.

In his word: “My father completely discouraged any of us from going into filmmaking. He said there was no money, that we should just become lawyers. He asked if we want to be running around like he was, and those were the things I learnt, which helped me structure the business side of what I do, because I don’t want to end up like them.

“After he passed, Nollywood grew, and I would see these films with beautiful stories and compare them to the films of my dad and Herbert Ogunde on the basis of the production quality and all of that. Of course, the films are great, stories are great, but I was always wondering why the audio was bad, and the makeup was lousy.

“In trying to find what we could do about that, I became a filmmaker. But Herbert Ogunde insisted that I have to learn the art, that I had to go to school, complete my education, and I agreed. Then he told me that if they had to do anything they would let me know.”