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I have faced similar challenges with other casting directors globally – Kolade Shasi

By Guardian Nigeria
30 June 2023   |   1:51 am
Kolade Shasi, Nigerian actor turned casting director in this interview, shares his journey into the movie industry, upcoming projects and lots more.

Kolade Shasi, Nigerian actor turned casting director in this interview, shares his journey into the movie industry, upcoming projects and lots more.


You recently gained recognition from the International Casting Directors Association, making you one of the only two African members. How does this achievement impact your career and the wider Nollywood industry?

I believe what you are referring to is the fact that I was spotlighted on the ICDA’s social media pages last week. Indeed, I became a member of the ICDA not so long ago as it’s just been over a year now. Truly, I and the other African member, are the first two members from Africa. Hopefully, this is a situation that will change soon, as I am hoping that we will have more members from the continent. As regards how it affects my career and Nollywood, I do hope it leads to more international collaborations as the ICDA encourages collaboration between its members.

What attracted you to the world of casting, and what has your journey been like in becoming one of Africa’s leading casting directors?

My journey into casting was a bit fortuitous. I had created the sitcom, ‘What are friends for’ in 2013 and as the producer, I needed to cast actors. As at the time, most producers used to wear the hat of the casting director. Also, as casting directing in Nigeria, wasn’t yet seen as a proper profession the way it is seen today. I enjoyed the process of finding the right actors for characters that I had created, and it was amazing seeing immensely talented actors bring these characters to life! There was no looking back for me.

Can you shed some light on your experience and journey from being an actor to a casting director and then a producer. How have these different roles influenced each other?

Being an actor came first for me. I started acting as a teenager and my first film was released way back in 2001. It was directed by the renowned Charles Novia. I took a long break when I started my tertiary education and as soon I got back into the industry in 2013, I got into producing and casting directing simultaneously. As regards how they influence one another, I believe it’s been like a symbiosis of some sort, with each part helping the other. For instance, I believe a lot of actors are more relaxed when they meet me in the casting room as I am one of them, and as a casting director, it’s important that you provide a relaxed and enabling environment for actors to perform at their best.

As an actor, you were nominated for Best Actor at the In-Short Film Festival in Nigeria for the multi-award-winning film, ‘Blood Taxi’. How has this acting background influenced your casting director’s role?

I think it has been extremely helpful for me, as I oftentimes, can understand the thought process of the actors that I am dealing with, in my role as the casting director. I can read the script and understand it both as a casting director and as an actor. I think it also helps in negotiations, as I can empathise with the actor, and this often helps make negotiations a tad bit smoother.

Your film, ‘Employee of the Month’, recently won Best Short Film at Diversity in Cannes and at the American Pavilion; at the Cannes Film Festival. What was the inspiration behind the film, and how do you feel about this international recognition?

I have oftentimes referred to ‘Employee of the Month’ as the gift that keeps on giving, as regards the inspiration behind the film. Goga Clay, the director of the film, is the best person to discuss this extensively. Be that as it may, having had extensive discussions about the film with him, I can tell you that the need for better governance and better policing policies in Nigeria were some of the reasons that inspired this film. As regards how I feel over the numerous awards and these two in particular, I feel really humbled and inspired, to have a film that I served as both producer and casting director win so many awards inspires me to want to do even bigger and better films.

As a casting director, what is your approach in selecting the perfect cast for a film and how do you ensure the right blend of established actors and up-and-coming talent?

A casting director must have a very large database of actors. Especially up and coming actors, not just established actors. In casting directing, it’s important to be able to read the script and breakdown the characters, analyse them, have discussions with the director to understand his/ her vision for the film and the different characters. All of these, help me to find suitable actors for the different roles. It’s also very important to me, that I have a team of actors who are believable as a team and not just individuals who can play the different roles.

A lot of factors are involved in getting the right mix, I always advocate for having as many up-and-coming talents as possible in projects that I am engaged as the casting director. I strongly believe that a casting director ought to help break out as many actors as possible and not just work with established actors. Yet, the factors that may affect the mix, include the producers, directors and executive producers choices and preferences, the distribution plans for the films and the film’s budget, to mention a few. Hence, what I can do, is to ensure that I provide as many options of suitable, good and disciplined up-and-coming talents as possible, to hopefully create a positive dilemma for the eventual decision makers.

Can you discuss some of the challenges you’ve faced in your career as a casting director and how you’ve navigated those challenges within the Nollywood industry?

Some of the challenges I’ve faced are not unique to Nollywood, as they are similar to the challenges that other casting directors round the world face. There is an under appreciation for the works of casting directors globally. This can be evidenced through the fact that there are very few casting directing awards globally, even the SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (or Ensemble) in a Motion Picture, is awarded to the actors and not the casting director. This is why the ICDA started the Semiramis Award, created by casting directors to honour them.

In Nollywood, it sometimes extend beyond under-appreciation to no appreciation at all. For instance, we do not have one single category in any film awards/festivals that recognises casting directors and the work that we do. This also extends to a good number of producers/executive producers who oftentimes do not see the need for a casting director. I have had many conversations with filmmakers where I have to defend the need for a casting director and this also means that they do not see a need to pay what’s commensurate as paying for casting seems more like an inconvenience rather than value for money. On my part, all I do is to try to get them to value casting directing differently, one at a time, through the work I put in on their projects when I’ve been hired. I’m glad that a lot of filmmakers in Nollywood now see casting as required service and I do not have to ‘justify’ my employment as much as before. It’s not yet uhuru, but we’re making progress, hopefully, we can have an award category that recognises casting directing soon.

You’ve been involved in some remarkable projects, both as a casting director and a producer. What upcoming projects or collaborations are you most excited about, and why?

I am extremely grateful to Nollywood for the opportunities it has afforded me. I was casting cirector for ‘Breathe of Life’ by BB Sasore, an Amazon Original that would be coming out soon. I am quite excited about the project and I look forward to its release. There are quite a few others too, and I must say, I am really excited about all of them.

There are discussions to explore making ‘Employee of the Month’ into a feature-length movie, and the writer-director has been exploring these discussions with many potential investors who have been intrigued by the short film. My Directorial debut, ‘Ripple Effect’, a film I co-directed with Folasakin Iwajomo, was shot on a smart phone and is presently in post-production. It sheds light on mental health issues and how they affect Africans. It’s been five years in the making and I am really excited to be this close to sharing it with the world. My Production company, Ephizzie Films, is also collaborating with 1200 Pictures to develop ‘Man on Ground’, an espionage thriller about insurgency in Africa. So there are quite a number of projects in the pipeline, all of which I am quite excited about.

Looking at Nollywood’s growth and its global recognition, what unique qualities do you believe Nigerian films bring to the international stage and how do you, through your work, contribute to shaping this narrative?

Nollywood has grown leaps and bounds over the years, it is an industry that I am proud to be part of. An industry that has risen to where it is today by sheer will and perseverance, with very little, in terms of government’s support. As regards the unique qualities that Nigerian films can bring to the international stage, it’s our stories.

Africa and Nigeria are rich in stories. We have so many unique stories. At a time when Hollywood has been depending a lot on franchises, remakes and sequels, they could lean on collaborations with Nollywood to tap from our rich stories. I am self- aware enough to know that we do not have the best scripts, due to a myriad of factors, but we do have rich stories that can be made into amazing scripts.Consequently, Nollywood would gain a lot from such collaborations as we have a lot to learn from Hollywood in many areas.

As regards how I contribute to this, I simply try to pay attention to the pre-production phase, regardless of what role I am playing on a project. I firmly believe that taking time to properly plan for a project gives us the opportunity to make the best version of that project possible. This detailed pre-production involves allowing the script to go through as many drafts as it requires to be ready for Principal photography. Albeit, most of that usually happens in the development phase. As a casting director, most of the work we do is in the pre-production phase, so it is of utmost importance that pre-production is done properly. The rule of thumb in Hollywood, is to spend twice the duration of Principal photography, on pre-production. Unfortunately, we do not often follow that rule here. But I try to do my bit to keep to this rule.

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