'At 16, I Had Access To Guns, Drugs And Women' - U.S-based Producer, Gugu Michaels

At 16, I had access to guns, drugs and women – U.S-based movie producer, Gugu Michaels

He was just 16 years old and should have his heart buried in home-works, house chores and a bit of tamed adventure here and there but for Nigeria’s American-based film maker, Gugu E. Michaels, this was a far cry from the kind of world he inhabited; even as a kid.

In far-away Texas in the United States, Michaels had the kind of childhood that would form a massive source of inspiration for a bestseller or a ghost writer in search a priceless non-fictional subject matter.

Today, the chocolate-skinned takes credit for producing one of the best movies in the cinemas today titled ‘Dangerous Men.’

Despite his bumpy childhood, Michaels had grown into a brand that saw him form an alliance with his banker partner; Chris Nwakpa to form what has today been christened ‘Gu International Pictures’ (GIP).

In 2008, GIP rolled out its first movie titled ‘Pastor’s wife’ and the movie didn’t fare badly. Two years down the line, so much has happened and GIP has grown from strength to strength as made evident in its latest visual offering titled ‘Dangerous Men.’ The movie, which was produced by Michaels was recently premiered at the Silverbird Cinemas.

The movie, Dangerous Men according to Michael took 30 days to shoot and has so far cost over N10million of hard earned capital.

Today, Michaels has gradually become synonymous with movies but interestingly, the dark-skinned producer has had his fair share of musical incursions.

After studying Musical Engineering at Skyline High School, Texas, he dabbled into music production and didn’t stray too far off when he began recording his own songs as well.

In the twinkle of an eye, Michaels had recorded so many songs, an album was beginning to take shape. Today, he has albums, which include ‘Other Side,’ ‘Money-Making Anthem’ and quite a number of others.

His musical interest further expanded to inculcate music videos and in a bid to fuel his growing appetite for creativity, he gave it shot and today, Michaels has over 100 music videos to his credit.

However, like every creative hero, Michaels has what an author would tag ‘flaws.’ He was born in Aba in Imo State but relocated with his family to Texas in the United States of America in 1977 when he was barely 6 years old. It was at this stage of his life that he began to discover his true identity.

Finding himself in a community predominantly inhabited by whites and black Americans, his spirits grew restless and when he was 16 years old, the rebellious voices in his heavy heart reached its zenith. When he couldn’t condone the conflicting thoughts that jostled for attention in his heart, he left home and never returned.

He found solace in his new home on the streets of Dallas Texas and as expected, he had access to much more than he ever bargained for. Michaels found himself on the fast lane and was confronted with the various shades of sin; fast cars, girls, drugs, cash, guns and every other thing that comes with it. As most people already know, life on the streets is not for the faint hearted because in a flash you could be there and in an instant, you could be off it forever – call in permanent lights out.

It was a battle for survival as every single day was a gift for anyone lucky enough to have it and it didn’t come as a shocker when Michaels became schooled in the art of self defense; precisely Muy Tai and Ninjitsu.

Interestingly, his knowledge of martial arts has done much more than help him stay alive as made manifest in the action flick, ‘Dangerous men’ where he teams up with Nigerian actor, Leo U’che to keep the ball of action rolling.

In this interview, Michaels opened a window into how it all began for him, life in Texas, running away from home to live on the streets and other issues bordering on the Nigerian movie industry.

Excerpts:

How did life start for you?

I can’t really remember how it all started in Nigeria because I was way too young to have any strong memories. I know I was like every other kid; I liked music and I was a big fan of Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Commodores and artistes of that generation. My family took me out of Nigeria when I was about 5 or 6 years old. The memories are really kind of vague. My entire family migrated to Texas.

Texas

I was different because my family enrolled me in a white community. Most people who are comfortable today always tell you that as kids, they suffered and all that. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer because my mum is a doctor, my family was educated and I was surrounded by white people.

Was he born with a silver spoon?

I wouldn’t say I had a silver spoon because I was rebellious. I’d rather say I didn’t struggle. Silver spooned kids are the ones that are spoilt and lazy. They’re the ones that go: ‘Daddy, I want a Porsche…’ It wasn’t like that for me. I got anything that had to do with education but if I wanted a car, no. They’d ask me to go get a job and get my own car so there was discipline. With that, I was rebellious as well. I was really rebellious.

Michael’s rebellious side

I was so bad that I ran away from home when I was 16 years old. The street influenced me to the point where I started living the lifestyle of black Americans; opposed to the Nigerian culture. I’m grateful my family taught me my culture and my language but as for the way of life, I got that from the streets.

Did Michaels have access to guns while on the streets if Texas?

Did I have guns? ...only guns… It’s chosen. We all play our part; whether good or bad. You find yourself doing what your home boys are doing. If they’re reading book, you’re reading books but black don’t read books. They believe in making money. When you start hanging around them, you get used to that lifestyle. You get corrupted by the way they swear, the way they talk, the way they carry themselves and the quick money they make. I’m sure that if I had walked another path like my parents wanted me to, they would have probably given me everything I wanted but I decided to go out and find my own way. That’s the kind of lifestyle that I lived. It’s not something I can say I’m proud of but it was something I had to do and it has made me who I am today.

Michaels never went back home

I never went back home. I love my family but there was very little they could do when I made up my mind to go. In the U.S, the culture is way different from what obtains here. I can physically take my parents to court and win. It’s not like Nigeria where they can force me to stay. You can’t do that in the U.S. Instead of losing me, they offered a borderline of support and coming back home whenever I wanted to. They made me realize they couldn’t push me but would always be available for me whenever I needed them.

The way forward for Nollywood action movies

When I was studying Nollywood action films, I saw it was a joke. I respect the effort they put into shooting but the action movies are a joke. I believe in using real martial artistes. When there’s combat in an action movie, you have to make contact. There’s no way around that one. What you need is stunt guys and we brought that into ‘Dangerous Men.’ When you throw a stunt man to the ground, he would know how to land without breaking his arm, leg or spine. Those are the tricks that ‘Oyibo people’ use to fool the world. It’s like a dance. We’ve shot a movie where swords were used and that’s where rehearsals come in but we have had accidents and that’s all part of the movie. I got kicked on the neck for real a few times while we were shooting the movie.

When will Nollywood get there?

We can’t compare ourselves to Hollywood, Bollywood or the Asian movie makers because they’ve been doing this for over 80 years so let’s take them out of the picture. For Nigeria, what I would say is that as long as the gap between our movies and theirs is not too much, we’re okay. We shouldn’t try to be like Hollywood. We will never ever be Hollywood because the more we grow, they also grow. It will get to a point where we will be spending N100 million to make a Nigerian movie but they would spend $300 million on a movie so we can never ever be like them. All we can do is compete with them. Nigerians are loyal to their movies and that’s why even though they shoot crappy movies, you still find Nigerians watching them. We should just give them better than what we’re giving them now.