LAN IA IS IDA: AS“RUM OUR HAS IT” ENDS, THE KING OF WEB SERIES SPEAKS
The third season of the popular web series Rumour Has It aired its last episode this past Friday, 27 August. Lani Aisida, a chartered accountant turned screenwriter, wrote all 10 episodes, and has been the recipient of immense praise—but also complaints as some viewers have been unhappy with one character’s fate. Besides his work on RHI3, Aisida has written, co-written or created Skinny Girl in Transit, Phases, and Oga Pastor. caught up with Nigeria’s King of Web Series and these are excerpts:
How familiar are you with your online popularity as Rumour Has It season 3 comes to an end? There are people who missed the first two seasons and are checking them out solely because of season 3.
I have been blown away. But there is always that thought that can we do better.Yes, I wrote it, but as you know, it takes a village. Director, actors and production team. I hope the next project is even better but honestly, the response to this season gives me so much joy. I have been writing for about 7 years, but this is the first time that viewers have slid into my DMs with queries.“So, you are the one that is giving me high BP”,“you better resurrect Nnenna”and many more comments. I am learning to compartmentalise my life so I can enjoy my private life and interact with the fans as well.
You are quite likely the most in-demand web series writer. What does it take to be Lani Aisida, king of Nigeria’s web series?
Being me isn’t so difficult. It takes creativity, focus and discipline. I am the quietest person in the room but I’m usually people watching and thinking of adapting things into stories. It’s both easy and not easy to be Lani.
RHI has had some famous writers since its first season years ago. Could you talk about how it came
to be that it is you who got to handle the writing for this third season?
A couple of years ago, Ndani contacted me to work on Season 2. I co-wrote it with Temitope Salu. They wanted to write this season and asked me to come up with a story. I pitched the story and they loved it. It was challenging to write the entire season alone, but the outcome is superb.
Some people believe web series are doing better than parts of big screen Nollywood. Do you agree? And why is that the case? Is it budget related?
For me, with a low or high budget, big or small screen, the goal is to entertain, inform and engage the viewer. I’m very big on strong stories. Cinemas have suffered because of covid, so more people are drawn to the small screen. You Tube is a free platform and hey, people like free things. But the challenge is the same: Give great content. It is what I try to do.
What is your process? I imagine there are different processes for a series you didn’t create and for those you did create?
The biggest thing is immersing myself in the story world. Letting the characters use me to tell the story rather than force a story through them. Obviously, it is easier with a show I create because I am the god of that world.With shows I do not create, where possible, I speak with the creator so I can understand the vision. Then I put pen to paper (or fingers to a keyboard) to build the characters, the story world, possible scenarios.
Interesting dialogue comes tome. Then script andvo ila!
Of the many interesting characters in Rumour Has It, which do you think has something of Lani Aisida in them?
[Laughs]. This is a tough one. If I said Deda would that make people wary of me? I’ve read comments about people saying they fear the mind of RH I3’ s writer. [Laughs]. So, I will just say none of them and all of them. That is a cheat answer but let me get away with it.
Fair enough. You have worked several times for
NdaniTV. They are a creative outfit owned by a corporate entity, an incredibly big bank. How much freedom do you have in crafting storylines?
I hope I am right to say that Ndani TV was one of the pioneers of online TV in Nigeria and the beauty about them is that we view content the same way. In the words of Robert McKee“If a society repeatedly experiences glossy, hollowed-out pseudo-stories, it degenerates. We need satires and tragedies, dramas and come dies, which shine a clean light into the dingy corners of the human psyche and society”. Ndani and I agree with McKee and it’s a pleasure.
It is probably harder now to break into the web series sub-industry now. For anyone looking to do so as a writer, what would you offer as advice and as step-by-step guide?
I tell younger writers to focus on the one thing you have absolute control over. You. Improve yourself, write, read books, write, read scripts, write, watch Nigerian and foreign content, write the bad writing out of your system. Write without being commissioned. Create shows. Write the whole season. That is what I did. When you have that one chance to sit in front of a decision maker, hopefully your hard work when no one was looking will stand you in good stead. Most people can tell if you are committed to your craft. Malcolm Gladwell has said you need 10,000 hours.