He’s of average height, chubby-checked, dark-skinned and also good looking. His name is Tajudeen Adepetu. And for the entertainment pleasure of very many of us, he has come up with such family-oriented works like Family Circle, Everyday People (on AIT) and First Love (on home video). He’s also the brain behind Soundcity et al. AZUH ARINZE chatted with him…
Let’s meet you.
My name is Tajudeen Adepetu. I am from Erin-Oke in Osun State. I had my primary education at Army Children’s School, Jos, then St. John’s College, also in Jos, then I went to Television College and the University of Jos. So, basically, I had all my education in the North.
What course did you study at UNIJOS?
I studied Theatre Arts, but I majored in film production and directing.
When did you finish?
1990.
Do you have any regret in life?
No!
Do you have any happiest day?
Everytime that people appreciate any of my works, I’m happy. My happiest days are numerous. They happen everyday, especially when people talk about what my work has done to their lives.
What about your saddest day?
Do I really have any? As a person, I always try to forget my sad moments. I don’t dwell on them. I just lock them up somewhere and forget them or maybe dump them inside a trash can and forget them there.
Which food is your favourite?
I love rice and chicken. If you really want to thrill me, just fry or curry the rice.
What about drink?
I don’t drink alcohol at all because I’m a Muslim. Apart from that, I think it is bad for the body.
What about your favourite colours?
I love emerald green.
Cars?
My favourite car? Any four wheeler will do. Let it just be a 4 x 4.
What brand of music do you enjoy listening to?
I love soul, urban contemporary music. I like the music of Monica, Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, etc.
What’s your phobia?
Failure.
What about your role model?
I’m my own role model. But if you ask about people that I respect their works, I will tell you the likes of Steven Speilberg, George Lucas and Afolabi Adesanya.
The inspiration to do Family Circle and Everyday People, where did it actually come from?
The inspiration to do social drama has to come from one’s upbringing. I don’t think it can come otherwise because you are essentially projecting your own values to be appreciated by your viewers. So, the inspiration for Family Circle and Everyday People is from my upbringing which was designed by my grandmother. She taught me really to understand between right and wrong and the gray areas in-between.
What problems did you face at that initial stage trying to get those programmes on air and what problems are you still facing?
Basically, the major problem has been that of finance, sourcing revenue for the productions. Another is logistics. You see, television does not pay as much as movies for the actors and crew. So, you find yourself always trying to schedule within the time that these professionals can offer you.
Will you still come out with another family-oriented programme after these two or will you do something different?
At the risk of sounding immodest, we have programmes designed for a whole station, but we have said internally that we will not do anything now until we have gotten sponsors. So, we do have various materials that we have not yet exposed, various genres of television programmes. From children programmes to adult contemporary programmes. However, this is not to say that this is the only kind of programme that we will be doing because in a very short while, we will be shooting a new game show called Hard Tackle.
What is Hard Tackle all about?
It is a football game show. Again, our film, First Love just came out and we are quite excited about the response we have been getting from people who have watched it.
Sales-wise, how is it doing?
It is doing quite well. We were able to dispose off the first batch that we pushed into the market. So, we are really happy that everything is going smoothly.
What’s your assessment of the industry?
Well, I believe that right now nemesis is catching up with all of us for allowing mediocrity to prevail. The buying audience is now wiser and as such, they don’t allow the over-promotion of not-too-good works to sway them into buying. I believe that producers should strive to create better works to uplift the standard of the industry.