Comedian Ayo Makun popularly known as AY scored big with his ‘30-Days in Atlanta’ which reputedly broke box office earnings in Nigeria in 2014. On this feat, he spoke with Orukpe Nelson on marriage, relationship with colleague, Bovi Ugboma, and other sundry issues…
Breaking the Nigerian box office record; having made over N76m in weeks and the awards it clinched; what is your comment on your movie, ‘30-Days in Atlanta’?
Well, for anybody it will be a good feeling most definitely. I feel happy that it was something I set out to do and it turned out great. I was just sitting one day and my wife said, “You’ve been doing your stand-up comedy but you are a theatre arts graduate and you majored in directing.
Why don’t you think of something in line with that discipline and do your movie?” That was what actually gave birth to ‘30 Days in Atlanta’. I feel good that it’s one movie that a lot of people in Nigeria are so much in love with. I feel elated knowing that it’s a movie doing pretty well at the cinemas and being rated as number one at the moment. It’s still the most watched movie ever at the Nigerian cinemas.
How were you able to get Richard Mofe Damijo to the US despite his busy schedule as a commissioner in his home state?
RMD has always been a big brother, a father and what exists between us is like a father to son relationship. A lot of people are wondering, ‘how did you take RMD out of his office to Atlanta not even to Lagos for a movie?’ Yea, I’ve always wanted to be like RMD and he’s aware of that fact that this is somebody who looks up to him.
And the opportunity came, he’s like my father now and we just share that bond that anything I want to do, he’s fully involved.
How easy was it to get Vivica Fox to be on that movie?
When we set out to do the movie, we said we wanted to achieve amalgamation of two industries, Hollywood and Nollywood and that was it. For me, it’s not just about going to America and you want to take a known actor here to play a role an American actor should play. Then the story wouldn’t have been properly told. It’s a question of negotiation, relationship and some other stuffs that are part of the movie.
Many people have said the movie gulped as much as N100m, how true is this?
Well, it’s okay for people to make insinuations but all I can tell you is that it cost a lot of money to put ‘30 Days in Atlanta’ together. It’s actually not up to N100m and it’s nothing close to N150m. Fair enough, we were able to enjoy the support of Lekki Gardens who came in as one of our sponsors. If you notice, in the film, we devised a splendid way of spotlighting the company which differs from the mundane manner you give a company visibility.
You’ve often been called Nigeria’s most enterprising comedian, how well do you accept the honour and where did you imbibe the spirit of enterprise?
I hear that all the time. And I appreciate those who think I should be seen in that light. I’m first of all a trained theatre artiste and not the typical businessman. But then anybody calling me one makes me feel good. It’s just that it usually starts with the passion I have for whatever I decide to do. When your passion starts bringing you money, who are you to stop flowing with the tide?
You were having a comedy show on TV with Bovi Ugboma a while back, suddenly you drifted apart and he would pitch tent with Bright Okpocha instead. Was the separation rancorous?
There’s no such word as misunderstanding. This is an industry where we all grow up to become individual brands and when that happens, you need to sell your own self as well. As a matter of fact, people can start together and later pursue individual goals. It even happens in churches. But in this case, nobody is a general overseer of any faith-based establishment. We were schoolmates; we are theatre artistes who strive to better our lives by coming to Lagos. And then the time came for us to do it separately and we are doing well, that’s what’s important. Being seen together doesn’t count. What counts is that we’re in the industry and we’re both doing well. We give God the glory.
It’s been six years in marriage for you; how has it been?
It’s been blissful and as a matter of fact, I look at myself and I look at my wife and remember how we met like 10 years ago. And we’re six years together now, it feels good and calls for some degree of celebration for us to be together as husband and wife doing our best to keep the marriage going.
What have you done differently to remain together in an industry that records high rate of break-ups?
As a matter of fact, it’s not perfect anywhere or everywhere but it’s just that basic understanding to discern when and how to settle misunderstandings and make the best use of the intimacy. If you have this going for you, you will enjoy almost a hitch-free marriage.