Judith Audu: Making Waves On Air And Screen

CALL her the Internet radio host with the most and you will not be wrong. Ask for the engaging and fast rising actress cum producer and fingers will surely point to the delectable Judith Audu Foght who is clearly having a good run as an actress, and lately as a radio host, producer and blogger.

Best known for her role in the award winning short film ‘Not Right’ and for grabbing the lead role in the epic movie by veteran producer Bayo Awala titled ‘Shijuwomi’, Judith was in the news recently over her decision to combine acting, blogging and presentation with movie production. Though she has made a couple of short films and starred in a few, the amiable and unpretentiously friendly Edo-born actress and model decided recently that it was time to join the club of full length movie producers.

So the On-Air-Personality (OAP) with the Lagos domiciled Internet radio station igrooveradio walked the talk when she led her production outfit—Judith Audu Production to team up with Blacreek Pictures, Principal Photography and Asurf Films for the production of the engaging movie titled ‘Married’. The movie tells the story of two brothers who find themselves on opposite paths—Duke, a brilliant undergraduate determined to see that his mum lives and Victor, an ex-convict who tries to piece his life together. “It’s a narrative that I told she be told and I am glad we told it,’’ she quipped.

An actress who is passionate about the make believe profession, Judith, an old girl of Navy Town Secondary School, Lagos who holds a Masters degree in Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts degree in French, both from the University of Lagos explained that though she is cut out for acting, she delved into production because it will afford her the opportunity to tell her own stories and to have them told cinematically. Judith says she has also found producing a medium to communicate to people and be an employer of labour.

“It doesn’t stop me from concentrating on acting. Acting is still my first love and I take on my personal projects when am not on set. I have produced two short films and am working on two TV shows and another feature film, which will hopefully be released in 2018’ she explained.
A workaholic who revealed that she is easily attracted to hardworking, honest, kind and ‘people with progressive ideas and thoughts’ and a proud member of the prestigious African Film Consortium (AFC), a collective for African filmmakers that are passionate about developing the African film industry, Judith has successfully combined working in the motion picture industry with hosting a celebrity interview radio show on the leading extraterrestrial internet radio—igrooveradio.com. Broadcast every Saturday, beginning from 1pm, Judith plays host to notable on and off entertainment personality on her show— ‘Meet the Actor with Judith Audu’ which has become a must listened-to- Internet based radio show.

Last week, Judith played host to the filmmaker Kunle Afolayan and she has played host to several other top rated practitioners including Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey, and Bimbo Manuel. When Afolayan took his turn last week, Judith and her teeming listeners grilled the hardworking and award winning filmmaker who has produced several critically acclaimed movies including Figurine, Phone Swap and October 1. Afolayan was taken up on everything about his career including how every movie project he takes on turns gold. According to Judith, the show was conceived to bring the major actors in the entertainment industry ‘up, close and personal’ with their fans in different parts of the world.

“We get calls and tweets from as far as Fiji Island, the America’s, Europe and all over Africa and our fan base is huge”, she enthused. Interestingly, ‘Meet the Actor with Judith Audu’ clocked one today and Judith is excited that she and the crew at igrooveradio have kept the flame alive ‘for one year’. She speaks of her experience so far: “I have always craved to be on radio so every time I meet someone that works in a radio station I am always quick to tell them how I would love to work on radio. I never really got the chance until I met Augustine ‘Tintin’ Imevbore the founder of Igroove Radio. I told him of my interest and because of my acting job I want something flexible that I can handle, and we kept on going back and forth anytime we see until early November last year. I already had in mind to take a segment from my blog ‘meet the actor’ where I profile actors but this time because it is an online radio listened all over the world I felt it was best to feature actors from all over the globe and not limit it to just Nigerian actors’’.

On the challenges she has encountered while trying to be the host with the most, Judith said: “I have encountered so many challenges ranging from actors not showing up to difficulties in convincing people that this is the new era, online media is taking over and it is the best platform for them to come advertise their products, because internet is still not relatively affordable here people get scared thinking all their data will go, but gradually people are beginning to understand and I get happy when I get calls from people telling me how they cant afford to miss any of the shows. We have so far aired 48 shows and have hosted 70 actors, from Denmark, South Africa, Kenya, Palestine, Rwanda, Cameroon, Ghana and so on’’.

The anniversary edition comes up today Saturday November 14 and Judith and her team at the station plans to host 15 actors on the show. The actress is excited about today’s outing.