I Was Rejected At Movie Auditions, But God Gave Me A Turnaround – AMVCA Award Winner Korede Soyinka

For as many that are familiar with films of the Yoruba genre, especially the ones produced in the early 2000s, you would perhaps recall how popular Korede Films production company was back then. Korede films were part of a few producers that influenced the use of kid actors in Yoruba movies, after the era of Ola of “Iru Esin” fame. And prominent among them are Korede Soyinka and Samuel Olasehinde (Ajirebi’s son). These two were usually paired in some of the movies that dominated the period.

While this set of kids took a break from the industry to focus on their academics, staging a comeback into acting which was their first love, after over a decade, was not an easy task. However, the need to measure up with the current demands of an industry that had since evolved from what it used to be, became the most preferred option.

Meanwhile, just recently, one of them made a good spectacle at the 8th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award, AMVCA. This is no other than Korede Soyinka who got an award for a best short film titled, “I AM THE PROSTITUTE MAMA DESCRIBED.”

For the Ogun state born actor, the feat was indeed a break in another phase of his career. It was also a result of his desire to break even in an industry where he used to be a kid celebrity.

As congratulatory messages poured in from different quarters, Korede, who is a member of C&S Movement Church, Surulere District, Ayobo branch, was also celebrated across Seraph media platforms.

Sharing the good news in an audience with Acts of Seraphs, the multi-talented Seraph, said his win would not have been possible, but for God’s intervention and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“I really can’t pinpoint anything that made me special from childhood. But maybe I would say, 3 years ago, someone surfaced and that is God. Trust me, I really can’t write my success story without involving Jesus Christ, because He just gave me that turnaround. While writing, I trust the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I have written many stories of which many were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

“My father, Sunday Soyinka, is a well-known film producer. He is the C.E.O of Korede Films production. So, I started acting at a very young age. I started acting when I was four. I remember telling my father that I wanted to act. Because they had a problem with the kid they wanted to use for that particular film, I told him I was going to do it because he was worried, I told him I’d do it and he agreed.”

Aside from continuing with his education, Korede opened up about how his family suffered a setback because of what happened to his father’s film company.

In what adversely affected his acting career, he said, “My Dad’s office was burnt down and it was a major setback for us as a family. With so many projects and so many things, he had to start paying debts that affected the family. So after secondary school, I studied in Benin Republic. While studying, I never really thought of acting again. It was when I was in 200 level or 300 level that I decided I was going to build a career in acting. Honestly speaking, I never thought I was going to be a director, I was focused on acting. After I was done with school, I was going for different auditions, but I was never called back.”

Although, Korede was not discouraged as he held tenaciously to his dream as a filmmaker, and as fate would have it, his path crossed with Taiwo Ogunimo; the producer of the award-winning short film. But not after he had made his first short film.

“I met Taiwo Ogunimo online, we met on the basis of prayer, I posted something on my Instagram; Let’s talk about God. She came into my dm and we started talking about God. She trusted me enough to send me her story and the budget, and we shot it not knowing it was going to be an AMVCA. Truthfully, Taiwo told me she followed me when she saw one of my videos when I was still performing a monologue. So I was going through a series of emotions in the videos. After we got talking, Taiwo travelled out of the country, we still kept talking. She read one of her scripts to me; I am the prostitute Mama described. After reading it to me, I encouraged her to shoot it. I don’t think she thought of producing herself, she has always been a writer, she has worked for some big production companies in Nigeria before as a writer. So I encouraged her to shoot it, so she asked me to send her the budget.

“After she has disturbed me for so long, I sent her the budget. And I think in less than 3 weeks, we shot I am the prostitute Mama described. It was a day shoot. We shot it at Ilupeju, at Taiwo’s house. The bedroom we used, was Taiwo’s bedroom in Nigeria, including the sitting room we used. After the whole thing, we edited, we did the video production and we posted it on my YouTube page, at Korede Films on YouTube.”

According to Korede, the reviews started coming in, and while some people understood it, some didn’t. He noted that the storyline of the film also raised concerns because it was coming from a director and a producer who are known to be strong believers. “We got some backlashes, we were challenged,” he said.

But before the production, Korede had found himself in a fix, as he was disturbed in his spirit due to the storyline of the script, as well as the title. According to him, he didn’t want to do anything against the will of God.

“When I wanted to decide to shoot the movie after Taiwo read the scripts to me, I was really battling with it because I knew what it contained. The filmmaker in me just wanted to shoot, but the believer in me was still struggling to shoot it, because I didn’t want to do anything contradicting God’s will. So I had to pray about it. And my teammate, Kayode Olakin. (He was on stage when we went for the award) he was the D.O.P I told him and we prayed about it.

“After I had sent the budget to Taiwo, we prayed about it for like a week and I knew it was settled in my spirit and I got a go-ahead from the Holy Spirit, but I was still not satisfied. I didn’t want to depend on just my convictions, so I had to reach out to one of my sisters in the Lord.

“I was on a call with her and I told her, I just told her, ‘I want to do something, I want you to help me ask God if I should go ahead or not.’ I had not even finished asking the question and she said, “yes” go ahead. I was like, ‘I haven’t stopped talking o, and you’re telling me to go ahead.’ I told her what the story was about, and she told me, that if it was her canal mind she would tell me not to do it, but when I started talking, the Holy Spirit spoke to her saying, ‘Yes, do it.’ It was then I got convinced and we did it.

“We posted it on YouTube, it was after a month or two, YouTube struck it, saying the contents aren’t for kids and all that. Well, we had posted from the beginning of the video that it was 18+ rated. So we had to delete it from my page, then Taiwo uploaded it on her page. It was after then I got the news that AMVCA was coming up. I told Taiwo, so we submitted I am the prostitute Mama described. We had shot another one then; “How are you?” was the title. So we submitted both for AMVCA.

MEANWHILE, KOREDE’S JOURNEY TO AMVCA WAS SUCH AN INSPIRING ONE. WATCH OUT FOR THIS IN OUR NEXT UPDATE.