POST MORTEM HONOUR FOR SAM LOCO EFE - Kunle Afolayan dedicates new film "Phone Swap" to late actor

Multiple awards-winning director, Kunle Afolayan, son of legendary filmmaker, Adeyemi Afolayan , is headlining Phone Swap, a romantic comedy, as producer and director. The man behind huge box office hits on his movies "Irapada" and "The Figurine" is set to work with a full fleged cast on his new work - Phone Swap - a romantic comedy about an arrogant business executive and a warm-hearted fashion designer who exchange lives after accidentally swapping their mobile phones at a busy airport.

At a press party, put together by the enigmatic Golden Effects Pictures and 1960 Media, with sponsorship from Pepsi , SevenUp and HoneyWell Noodles, Afolayan noted that the film, Phone Swap is dedicated to the legendary actor, Sam Loco Efe who recently passed away. “He’s supposed to be part of this project, as he was on the script for over 5 months,” he adds.

Filming is said to start on Sunday August 21, 2011 in Badagry, as the story is set in Abuja, Lagos and Owerri. “This is a Nigerian story,” Afolayan assures us. “It has the trappings of a true Nigerian story, with all the slangs, the languages and everything. Infact, it is an Igbo story, but with a mishmash of multiculturalism.”
One thing is that brands and companies have started aligning with Afolayan’s dreams, but still film investment has a long way to go in Nigeria. “When we got Mr. Afolayan’s proposal, it didn’t take us time to decide on what to do with it. He has been tested and trusted,” Marketing Manager of HoneyWell Noodles, Mr. Sola says. For SevenUp’s Marketing Manager, Mrs Patricia Iletogun, ‘belief’ is another keyword to their partnership with Afolayan. There are surprises too – the art director will be constructing the interior of an airplane, since it’s needed in the film and a lot of things will appear intrinsically different in this new Afolayan production. But this will show that that he’s much more thoughtful and smarter as his films end up commercially and artistically successful.

The acclaimed cast includes Chika Okpala (Zebrudaya), Wale Ojo (The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency), Nse Ikpe-Etim (Guilty Pleasures), Joke Jacobs (Tango with Me), Chika Chukwu (GRA Women) and more. “Phone Swap” was written by award-winning Kemi Adesoye (The Figurine), and is said to be a friendship story with a technological advantage.