Filmmaker Steve Gukas has said that one of the reasons he shot A Place in the Stars is to create a manpower pool of experienced film people in the country. He was speaking at a meeting with the industry and media in Lagos on August 20 to announce that the film is ready and to garner support for its release.
Steve Gukas
“I set out to produce a film and also create a manpower pool that will support going forward those kinds of productions. Though I brought crew from outside the country I also paired each of them with an understudy. That cost a lot but I am happy that since then a lot of the people have become established names in their own right,” Gukas said.
The filmmaker, who said that he spent $5 million to shoot the film, explained that he believes the score for the film is done greatly “and for us it is as important as the pictures of the film”. Perhaps that is why the score was professionally put together in far away Budapest.
The audience that included filmmakers and corporate Nigeria got to see for the first time the trailer for the film, the making of the score and the music video for a new song, a soundtrack in the film produced and directed by Jeremiah Gyang.
“It took us a while to do this film and we need your support to push this film forward,” Gukas, who was many thanks to those who supported the project throughout the night said.
Known for taking his time to make a film Gukas has experience spanning television, theatre, advertising and film and it took seven years to make A Place in the Stars.
With a diploma in TV Production from the NTA Television College in Jos and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts at the University of Jos, Steve is the producer of Africa’s biggest film to date. Namibia – The Struggle For Liberation. starring Danny Glover and Carl Lumbly, the film premiered at the 2006 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles and has gone on to win many awards.
His other works include: Keeping Faith, Katanga, Three Scores and Ten, A life to View, Soweto and Mr Johnson. He has also produced and directed several commercials and documentaries.
As a director, Steve’s strong suit lies in coaxing great performances out of actors as well as a strong sense of story and character. These he combines with a collaborative approach to film making that allows each picture he makes benefit from the creative vent of all the key creative crew members on the project.
The members of cast at the event in Freedom Park, Lagos were : Segun Arinze, Yemi Blaq and Gideon Okeke.
A Place in the Stars is from the stable of Native Filmworks Limited, one of Nigeria’s pioneer Film and TV Companies. The film is a riveting account of drug trafficking; it focuses on how fake and adulterated medical drugs are being traded for billions of dollars – dangerous men willing to kill to protect this money and a young man with a nagging conscience sworn to get rich or die trying in a very corrupt country.
The movie is scheduled to Premiere in – Lagos/Abuja, South Africa, Kenya and in the West – London & New York/Houston Texas.
