I think fondly about my life-changing and career-defining experience on the set of Blood Sisters. As a newbie in the film industry, I could not have asked for a better introduction to Nollywood than Nigeria’s Premier Netflix Original Series. I had a swell time working with the creme de la creme of African cinema but it wasn’t all Vibes and Insha Allah! It has been one year since the production, but it sometimes feels like yesterday; I guess some memories never die. After the film was released, I promised my friends that I would share my experience during the production, and now, I am finally opportuned and motivated to pen it down. Cue the popcorn and soda; It’s showtime!
THE GENESIS
After graduating from Ebony Life Creative Academy (ELCA), I was called to Ebony Life HQ for an interview. I had not applied for a position in the company, so I showed up for the meeting clueless. After some tense minutes in the reception, I would learn that I was being considered for the role of Production Intern on two films owned by Netflix. I was anxious but I aced the interview and was offered the role on the spot. There was a clause, however; keep mum until the cameras roll. After the interview, I was psyched and eager to start this new career phase, so you can imagine the chagrin when my employment letter never arrived in the mail. I would later discover that due to a mix-up, it was sent to the wrong email address. After a rather desperate email to HR, my letter eventually arrived, and I signed the contract. Here We Go!
The first day of production was memorable in many ways that I will attempt to describe. As I sat in the reception at HQ, I began to feel anxious and nervous about what to expect from the internship because I had no professional filmmaking experience. Until that moment, my only notable credit was acting cameos in TV Series, and I was about to resume on a *checks note* Netflix production as a *checks note again* crewmember. I looked to my co-intern and ex-ELCA classmate, Ovie, who was beside me, to confirm that I wasn’t dreaming. I wasn’t. It was happening for real. A bevy of the crew in uniform entered the reception and ascended the stairs, causing my heart to skip several beats. Soon enough, almost forty crew members had made their way upstairs to set up for a scene. A young woman walked in, followed by one of the producers, whom I recognized from the interview. During the interview, she was impressed by my performance, but on that day, she did not acknowledge nor remember me.
Whatever elaborate notion I harbored about the internship quickly dissipated as the reality of my job description for the next two months became apparent. Here is how it unraveled. “Good morning, Ma,” Ovie and I greeted. “We are here for the internship,” I added with a broad smile. “Good morning,” she responded without a smile. “What department are you in?” “Production,” we chorused as if rehearsed. “Physical Production? Alright.” I turned to Ovie with gawking eyes ‘Physical production?’ In my three gruesome months at ELCA learning film production, Vincho, our delightful instructor, never mentioned anything of the sort. After our exchange, she introduced the young woman beside her as Dami, an associate producer. It was Dami’s duty to assign us to sub-departments in the production.
Ovie and I followed Dami around the set like a tail until she introduced me to my boss. “That’s Friday,” Dami said, pointing to a short, stout man. “He’s in charge of welfare and logistics. You report to him”, she added before disappearing into the sea of the crew. “Hmm! Welfare and Logistics. Not bad!” I thought to myself. Friday did not welcome this imposed addition to his team; that much became apparent when he sent me on my first errand. “Go downstairs and bring more chairs from the crew bus,” he ordered. That was my first lesson in Physical Producing 101. As I carried a stack of chairs up five flights of stairs, I thought about Ovie, who had been fixed in a different department. “Oh, what terrible suffering he must be enduring,” I wondered. I narrated my ordeal to him on WhatsApp, hoping to find comfort in his tale of doom. But, alas, while I was single-handedly transporting chairs up and down the five-story building; Ovie was in a fully air-conditioned office working on a computer. This life no balance, at all
To be continued…
