Lesson I learnt as a producer — Sandra Okunzuwa

Actress and filmmaker, Sandra Okunzuwa, has shared one of the lessons she has learnt since she began her career as a producer.

The filmmaker noted that being a producer has taught her that not getting a movie role doesn’t mean the actor is not good but it could be that he doesn’t fit into the desire of the producer.

Okunzuwa also revealed that her toughest struggle had to do with featuring on big projects, particularly cinema movies,

She said, “I wanted to get on good movie projects, such as cinema films or straight to streaming platforms, but the challenges I faced then was that whenever I went for auditions, I would give my best but I won’t get picked. I was always so hard on myself. Sometimes, I would go back and cry about it. Whenever I got a ‘no’ I usually felt bad. Now, being a producer, I have realised that when one is not picked at an audition, it doesn’t mean one is not good enough. It might be that one’s skin colour might not be what the producers have in mind, or one might not fit perfectly. It might not have anything to do with one’s delivery.”

Sharing her thoughts on the influx of Nollywood content on YouTube, she said, “Having a lot of people on YouTube has its advantages and disadvantages. I feel like the more, the merrier. More people are getting to watch and like our content. Now, with the platform, there are a lot of people in the world who want to watch our content. That’s an advantage. A disadvantage is that because there are a lot of people in that space, the viewers get confused.”