By Ayo Onikoyi

Brenda Ogbuka-Garuba has defended her credentials once again as an imaginative and visionary writer, displaying her artistry in a new movie titled, Love and Life, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on December 29, 2023.

In an interview with Potpourri the writer shares the creative process involved in putting the story together, admiting it was quite tasking because for the first time in her life as a writer she had to focus on more than one lead character.

In ‘Love and Life” Ogbuka-Garuba delved into the intricacies of relationships, highlighting themes of love, friendship, and grief in the life’s journey of three women who lived independently but joined together by different experiences they shared.

The movie is a First Features project, a collaboration between Native Filmworks and Michelangelo Productions. While it was produced by Dotun Olakunri, Ruben Reng directed it. Excerpts:

What inspired you to create a movie like “Love and Life” ?

I’m passionate about original stories and stories of how people can relate. I know people like to watch comedies in Nigeria as people want to forget their problems. However, it’s good not to shy away from reality, and in Nigeria, the reality people tend to run away from is grief, friendship, and how people deal and move on from grief, as well as how people find love in the midst of lust. So, I came up with a story, and we had a workshop, an extensive workshop about the story. We merged it with other ideas, and that’s how we came up with “Love and Life.”

The title changed over the period and workshop, but we took our time to work on the characters. It was a long process, but it was worth it because we had to do character development, develop the story, and break it down so that we don’t finally come up with something original.

You have written some movies that actually earned you awards. Can you tell us what makes this different from the ones you’ve written before?

I’m a writer and a producer, and I’ve worked in different genres. I think the only genre I haven’t worked on is maybe an action thriller, but I’ve worked on drama, romance, romantic comedy, thriller, psychological thriller, and psychological romance. The difference between them is that, for the first time, I’m working on an unsolved case. You know how you write a film with just one major character, but this one, I was working with multiple characters that were equally important. I had to make sure I created a wall that makes all of them shine individually, so not one character outshines the other. This was the first time I was writing a story about love and grief. Usually, it’s a love story—boy meets girl and they fall in love. This is different— a girl whose husband died and doesn’t want to find love again, another girl who doesn’t want love at all but can’t help it as love is in her way, and another person in an abusive or toxic relationship trying to hide it and move on from it. So, I was dealing with too many players. It’s the first time I’m doing a story and not focusing on one character; I was focusing on multiple characters—multifaceted. I had an exciting time doing it. It was a task but an exciting one. As a writer, sometimes people think it’s crazy because you have to live with all these characters. So, I had to feel all these emotions at the same time, and it was an exciting experience for me. I wasn’t focused on one character—that’s what makes it different for me. I had to work with multiple characters and make sure they’re equally strong.

The movie made its cinema debuts on December 29, 2023, would you say seeing it reflects what you had in mind when writing it?

I would have said I’d love to answer after the 29th when I get to see it, but knowing the directors and the producers of this film, I’m very careful because I can’t expect anything less. They have a track record of making excellent pictures and amazing films, so I’m not even bothered or worried at all. I haven’t seen the film; I went on the set during production and saw how dedicated the actors were and how much they loved and understood the characters. I was very relaxed, and I know that these people are going to kill it. I haven’t seen the film, and I’m not under any tension, and I’m not sure about the vision because we have developed it together. They were all part of the creative process, and I was very relaxed.

In every task, there’s always a challenge. Can you give us a little challenge you faced while writing the movie?

Basically, the challenge every writer faces at some point is writer’s time. We have spent so much time on this project, and after a while, we have met with these people for too long, and you just want to move on. That was one of the issues I had. I’ve dealt with the story too much, and I just wanted to move on, but it was so exciting that even if I had the opportunity to move on, I still came back to it again, like I hope I’m not missing something. So the biggest challenge is knowing the production company behind this project. I wanted to make sure I delivered nothing less for them. Should I say it was very challenging writing for a company like Myties Works because you always make sure that you already know their track record. You already know that these people are capable, so you don’t want to be the one to come and fall short of expectations. That was the biggest challenge, trying to meet up to the standard of my clients.

The movie actually portrays three concepts: love, friendship, and grief. How were you able to combine these concepts into a script?

Like I said, that was part of the thing I found very tasking—merging love and friendship is easy, merging grief and friendship is easy, but merging love, grief, and friendship, romance, that’s quite challenging. So what I did was I had to first understand who my characters were, what they were trying to achieve, what was stopping them, and how to get them to their goals. I had to do a story workshop, breaking down each character and creating individual stories for them. This way, they had their own lives to deal with, and I found a way for all of them to help each other and find peace. That’s it; there’s no easy story. Every script and story is challenging, but I was lucky to have Mrs. Dim Kokers and Mr. Opo, our story editor, especially in times where I wasn’t sure of myself—they were always there to guide me.

Did you have Rita Dominic, Esepe and Michelle in mind while writing the story or their different characters?

I wasn’t given any actor in mind; I just had my characters in mind. But when they read the story, they knew the actors to work with. I couldn’t have picked any better actors if I were to do this film myself. They made perfect choices. I didn’t have any specific actors in mind; the actors they brought in were perfect. Maybe if there was a character I had in mind at any point, it was Ese. The role I talked about for her was the exact role given to her. Nobody could have played this character better than Ese, Michelle Odede, Rita Dominic, Chidi Mokeme, and the other cast members—it was a perfectly cast film.

What’s your favorite scene in the “Love and Life” movie?

I love every scene, but you’re putting me in a tight spot. I’m thinking of which scene to pick as my favorite. I’m actually thinking about it right now. You want me to give you details about the scene, right?

No, you can just tell us, and if there’s a question to expand, what I mean is, why do you love it?

I think my favorite scene was where all the girls came together in Abike’s room. They were trying to get her out, but she was crying, grieving and thinking of her husband. It was sad. They made a large meal, sat down on the floor to eat, and talked about their childhood and life. That was such a strong friendship point for me. I hope to watch the film and see how the scene turned out.

I know that you’re not relenting; there’s still more we should expect from you. Can you give us a hint of what to expect from you?

This year, I’ve worked on a lot of projects. I was the head writer for a project coming to Amazon next year. I’m producing a film next year, which I think will be the biggest romantic film, and I’m sure you’ll hear about it. I won’t give you the title. I’ve also worked on an African Magic series starting in January 2024, called “The Theory of Breakfast.” I did a short called “My Mama Na Ashawo,” which is still screening. So basically, I’ve been quite busy.

You just mentioned Nollywood; what is your opinion about the First Project paving the way for fresh directors, and how can Nollywood benefit from it?

So, the first features project is set up to develop young filmmakers, young directors, and it was used to exhibit their talents. I think this will be a great opportunity for young filmmakers, and Nollywood will benefit from this. It will show that there are other young people who do not have the track record they’re looking for. You know how when you’re going to look for a job, people ask, “What have you done before?” So, what the first film has done is give these young directors and writers a space. When they are asked what they have done before, this is what they can fall back on. They just decided to give them a platform, let people know that when you ask somebody what they have done before because they don’t have anything, it does not mean that they cannot do it. It just means they can do it, but they have not been given the opportunity to do it. If you do not give people a chance to show what they’re capable of, you will never know. There are hidden gems everywhere in this country, and what we want to do is find those hidden gems and give them a platform to shine.

What advice would you give to upcoming writers in Nollywood?

First thing I’ll say is watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books. Write and keep writing. I’m not even perfect; nobody is perfect. Keep writing and grow. Try to get more knowledge. You can’t say you’re a writer, and we call you for a story workshop, but you can’t understand the story. So, read, keep writing, meet people, go for workshops, training, and seminars. Meet producers. Networking is the biggest way to sell yourself. So, network. That’s what I’ll tell them.