LEADING actor and producer, Femi Adebayo has adapted his 2013 hit movie, ‘Ile Alayo,’ to a commissioned comedy series for StarTimes.
This was made known at a press briefing organised by StarTimes in conjunction with Wakaati TV and Femi Adebayo.
43-year-old Adebayo said the series will borrow heavily from the original storyline of the movie, stressing that it will centre on humourous characters with conflicting behaviours.
Adebayo said ‘Ile Alayo’ will bring back more than 70 per cent of the original cast, and will introduce new characters like Mr Macaroni, Woli Agba, Broda Shaggi and Lateef Adedimeji.
“Some years ago we produced ‘Ile Alayo’ as a home video, and when we ended it, there was a great demand for ‘Ile Alayo’ to come back majorly as a series,” he said.
“When the opportunity from our association TAMPAN to synergise with StarTimes showed up, we gave it a shot, and after so much consideration by the company they felt it was good enough to bring on board as a series.
“The essence of the series is to create a comedy that will make sense. As far as we are trying to make it as humorous as possible, we also want to touch on some social messages that affect our environment. ‘Ile Alayo’ is a comedy flick that I know people will appreciate. I can assure that the sponsors will get value for what they have invested.”
Speaking at the event, the CEO of StarTimes Nigeria, Alex Jian said the partnership comes as a result of the company’s desire to satisfy the growing demands of viewers for local content.
“Nollywood is the second largest content production centre in the world, in the past 10 years, StarTimes has come to the industry in our own way, whether through content acquisition and production,” he said.
Continuing, Jian said, “However, when demands from our audience increased, we began to realise the need to do more. Yes, we are going to do more. ‘Ile Alayo’ is just a start. In the near future, more Nollywood artistes and professionals will bring more exciting local content to the screen of our viewers.”
The newly adapted comedy series is billed to feature Mr Macaroni, Broda Shaggi, Woli Agba, Odunlade Adekola, Mercy Aigbe, Adebayo Salami, Lateef Adedimeji, Dele Odule, Femi Adebayo, Ebun Oloyede, Cute Abiola and Wale Akorede.
Others present at the event include StarTimes Content Director, Viki Liu, COO, Tunde Aina; the CEO of Wakaati TV, Rotimi Akingbogun; ED of OMD, Yinka Adebayo, and representatives of major brands in the country.
Source: The Nation
