Chico Ejiro (1953 – 2020)
Editorial
HE finished shooting a new movie “barely two days” before he died on December 25, 2020. He was 67. It wasn’t supposed to be his last film. Known as ‘Mr Prolific’, Chico Ejiro was a highly productive filmmaker in the English-language sub-industry of Nollywood, Nigeria’s motion picture industry. Indeed, it is said that the films he directed are too many to count.
A 2002 article on Nollywood, published in The New York Times, said of him: “He boasts of shooting a movie in a single weekend. At times, he has directed several movies at once.” The article described his 2001 film Outkast as “racy” and a “runaway success.” Ejiro explained: “One of the advantages I have is that I’m also a cameraman; so I know what to shoot. I’m also a film editor, so I know what to edit. It helps me to do so many movies at the same time.” He added: “In those days I was so busy! I churn out four to five movies in a week!”
His elder brother, Zeb Ejiro, a Nollywood great who introduced him to filmmaking, described his “directorial production style” as “pacy and innovative.” Whether as director or producer, or both, he stamped his signature on the movies he was involved in. His Lagos-based production company, Grand Touch Pictures, collaborated with more than 30 organisations in television and film productions.
Films he directed or produced include First Cut Is the Deepest, Dream Lover, Agony of a Lover, True Romance, and Silent Night. Others are: Polygamy 2, The Final Clash, Night Bus to Lagos, Blood Money, Deadly Affair, Scores to Settle, Ashanti, Ofeke, Tears in My Eyes, All My Heart, Black Malaria, A Second Time, and Computer Girls.
He was interested in storylines that were relevant to Nigerians and Africans, and his works ranked among popular Nigerian movies in West Africa. He also had an eye for talent, and discovered a number of actors who became Nollywood stars.
Ejiro’s stature in Nollywood earned him a place in Welcome to Nollywood, a 2007 documentary directed by American Jamie Meltzer. The documentarist followed him as he made Family Affair 1 and Family Affair 2. The documentary premiered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, and was shown at the Avignon Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival in the same year.
His success helped to promote Nollywood, regarded as the world’s third-biggest film-producing industry after Hollywood and Bollywood. He was a significant player among the country’s second-generation movie makers who took the stage in the 1990s following the availability of inexpensive video-production equipment.
It is striking that he switched to filmmaking, though he had a diploma in Agriculture from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, and a degree in the same field from Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State.
“In 1985-86, I started working with my elder brother, Zeb in NTA productions like Ripples and from there, I started off on my own,” he told an interviewer. “In my early days in the industry, I came in as a cameraman. From there, I developed to become an editor and from there to a director. So I rose through the ranks and learnt lots of things too.”
There is no doubt about his important contribution to the development of Nollywood, which has progressed from when it was criticised for low-quality films. Rating the progress, he said: “In terms of technicalities, it’s better off now in terms of the type of camera used, stunts and location. I will just say we are not there yet but very soon we will compete with the outside world.”
When his final film is eventually released, it will show the point he had reached in his profession before his departure. His phenomenal career had the qualities of a gripping movie.