PRODUCER, MARTINS GBADOS REFLECTS ON HIS AWARD WINNING FILM, ‘A SOLDIER’S STORY’

Martin Gbados; Producer of the multi-award winning movie, ‘A Soldier’s Story’, widely adjudged the most successful movie out of Nollywood, having the highest number of awards in 2016 has described the movie as a story of bravery, blood and betrayal, love and sacrifice. He reflected on how it all began. “When my business partner, Frankie Ogar; the director and writer of the movie and I decided to do this movie, we felt we had to do it well, to make sure that the sacrifices that have been made and still being made by Nigerian soldiers are captured in the movie.

These are men who risk their lives every day to make sure we can live our own lives safely. Nigerian Soldiers have been known for excellence in peace keeping missions across Africa and beyond and we felt it was time to appreciate them through this movie. We wanted to show the world their sacrifice and what they do for us, which a lot of people take for granted.”

He also spoke on the selection of the cast and how it helped in giving popularity to movie. ‘A Soldier’s ‘ provided the platform for stardom to some of the cast members whose career have been on the rise since they featured in the movie. “The cast for was a breath of fresh air. We had Daniel K. Daniel, who won African Magic Viewer Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2016 for Best Actor through his role in A Soldier’s Story and repeated the same feat at African Movie Academy Awards AMAA 2016 as Best Actor for his role in A Soldier’s Story. We also had Sambasa Nzeribe who also won AMVCA 2016 Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Soldier’s Story, and currently the Best Actor in Africa for winning the African Magic Viewers Choice Awards 2017.

Adesua Etomi; AMVCA 2016 Best Actress; Linda Ejiofor the popular Bimpe on Tinsel; Tope Tedela AMVCA Best Actor 2014; Zainab Balogun from the popular TV Show on Ebonylife, The Spot; Olumide Oworu who is on the TV show – the Johnsons and MTV Shuga, Chico Aligwekwe who is on Tinsel and also an OAP with Classic FM; Baaj Adebule who is currently on the TV series HUSH. We had an awesome cast who all brought their best game on set of A Soldier’s Story.

The crew as well was the best. With Hakeem Effect Onilogbo doing his magic, which won Best Makeup Effect at African Movie Academy Awards AMAA2016 for the our movie ‘A Soldier’s Story’. The movie surpassed all our expectations. The love we got from viewers across the continent and beyond has been awesome. The movie won over 10 awards, locally and internationally and is currently showing in the biggest Online Video on Demand Platform in the world, Netflix. When Genesis Cinemas decided to distribute ‘A Soldier’s Story’ as its first Nigerian movie, it turned out a wise business decision, which has paid off.”