My experience working with Banky W

Ivie Okujaye, actress

Ivie Okujaye has always been a gem waiting to be discovered, cut and polished to reveal its brightness. And then, in 2008, she won the Amstel Malta Box Office (AMBO) reality TV show. It was the platform that served as a springboard for her. Following AMBO, Okujaye has shone like a beacon of hope for many aspiring young actresses in Nigeria and beyond. Through dint of hard work and a dogged determination, the actress is today one of the most sought after in Nollywood. She has won many awards including the Trail Blazer award at the maiden edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA 2013). In this interview, Okujaye shares her experience as the lead character in the television commercial for the revamped DStv Compact bouquet, her first on that turf. Excerpts:

Many actors and actresses say that their acting careers started on stage; did you also start your career on stage?

No, I didn’t start on stage. Even though, I do have considerable stage experience in the past, I wouldn’t necessarily say I started from the stage. My platform started with the Amstel Malta Box office, something I am still very grateful to God about.

What was your experience working on the set of the television commercial for the revamped DStv Compact bouquet?

Doing the television commercial for DStv Compact bouquet was a lovely experience. Getting to work with the DStv crew, Bank W and Mathias, they were an extremely lovely technical crew to work with, and he taught me a couple of new things. And for this, I am really glad for the opportunity and experience. For starters, now I know more about endorsing. I have never done a television commercial; it was very interesting, very humbling to know that of all the growing actors in the industries, they singled me out. It is very flattering. I hope to keep working hard to get more calls like this.

When you said that the experience was humbling, what exactly did you mean?

Doing the television commercial for DStv was humbling because I got to learn a lot of things I had never learnt before, things I didn’t know. Doing film is different from doing television commercial. Doing film is different from doing stage, and doing stage is different from doing television commercial. So, for me, it was a completely new experience and I was humbled to learn a lot from the entire crew and the organisers alike. It was a just genuinely educative experience.

How was it working with Banky W, knowing he is relatively new in the business of TV directing?

Working with Banky W as the director for this television commercial wasn’t at all different from working with any established TV or movie director. As a matter of fact, I got comfortable in the first five minutes because I saw that he knew precisely what he wanted, had excellent mental visual of what was expected, but most importantly, you could tell he knew what he was doing and he was very in tune with the rest of his technical crew. As a result of this, they had a good rapport going on and they leaned on each other a lot, and together I could just tell they were a very well learned crew together. I really could tell they were. And if you know Banky, you will know he is very professional, very thorough, no such thing as African time. So, it was great to work with somebody who knows his onions and has his principles intact. It was very nice.

You said Banky W was always on time during production, could you cite one particular example of this attribute?

Banky W appreciates when people are on time, not because anything out of the ordinary happened but because everything was just so well organised. If food and refreshment were supposed to come by 1pm, food was there by 1pm. If the crew was supposed to start rolling, that is shooting by 2pm then the crew starts rolling by 2pm. When things are that organised then you know the person in charge knows what he is doing. So, yes, it was very good.

What do you have to say about the revamped DSTV Compact?

The revamped DSTV Compact bouquet is simply perfect. It is a bouquet that will work for just about every family, so I advise Nigerians who love wholesome family entertainment content at affordable price to hurry and go sign up for the bouquet. Their television viewing experience would be better for it.