The Gang of Lagos movie’s producer and director, Jade Osiberu, and others have discussed the inner workings of the action film and how they were able to assemble the casts and shoot the film in Isale Eko, “the heart of Lagos Island,” in just fifty days.
Gangs of Lagos was released to the public April 7, on Amazon Prime streaming platform and it’s the first on the Africa Originals section. The movie is centered around three characters; Ify, Gift and Obalola, and has a rich cast led by Tobi Bakre. Others include Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Bimbo Ademoye, Chike, Chioma Akpota, Damilola Odunsi, Ola Rotimi, Funke Williams, Zlatan, Pasuma and former Big Brother Africa runner-up , Tayo Faniran.
The brain behind Gangs of Lagos, Jade Osiberu said that the movie was conceived ten years ago while shooting ‘Gidi Up’ on top of the roof of a building at Isale Eko. Jade noted that the story was inspired by society and the people on the streets who carry dreams and aspirations desiring to be fulfilled amidst their backgrounds and negative situations.
“I fell in love with Prime Video team from the onset and in just more than a year that I have met with the team, has been incredible. My overall deal with Prime Video is a wide variety of genres of films. Choosing my cast is something I and my team have painstakingly done. The cast has to be authentic to the characters of the movie.
Talented thespian, Adesua Wellington who plays the role of gift said that the story is incredibly authentic. Commending Jade Osiberu, she said that Jade is someone that brings every aspect of arts in sync adding that she excels I’m the arts, craft, business of movie making.
The lead cast, Tobi Bakre who is a product of Big Brother Naija, said he can’t wait to see the movie and attest to the fact that Gangs of Lagos’ a big budget movie that will stand the test of time. Tayo Faniran, who was a runner up in Big Brother Africa of 2014, thanked Jade Osiberu declaring that being in the huge project was a second chance for him to be in the spotlight for he has waited this long.
Wangi Mba- Uzokwu, Head of Originals Nigeria at Prime Video, said the body of work made in the movie is something viewers will cherish for a long time, commending Jade and the casts for the work put into the movie.
“Gangs of Lagos is a local language movie which has predominantly Yoruba, some parts in Igbo and also pidgin English, it is subtitled. The film is being positioned for the global audience.
What we do at at Prime Video is to promote young talents and big dreams. We have a lot of talents and producers in Nigeria and we are here to tap the resources available in the industry. This is one of many projects we are undertaking,” says Wangi.
Ned Mitchell, Head of Middle East and Africa Originals of Amazon Prime, who was at the media conference said that the global movie company is investing in original stories across Africa.
“When we think of Originals at Amazon it’s a big Experience. The authenticity in ‘Gangs of Lagos’ was something that we identified and wanted the story to be told
For is at Amazon Prime, each movie should feel like an event.
We have other contents that is coming like LOL with Basket Mouth, which we have ten comedians who will have 6 hours to make each other laugh.
