Nigerian American filmmaker, Solomon Onita Jr. has partnered with Cash Money’s Birdman for his new film, ‘Tazmanian Devil’.
The partnership between Birdman and Solomon Onita to make a new film also has Benny Boom on board.
Interestingly, ‘Tazmanian Devil’ is a first for many of its main players. The film is the first feature film to be made by Onita Jr. and the first feature film from Birdman’s Cash Money films.
Birdman and Boom will be providing the necessary financing to market and distribute the independent feature.
The film, which was written and directed by Onita Jr., is poised to position the filmmaker in Hollywood.
According to a recent report by Deadline, principal photography was wrapped earlier in 2019 and the film has gone into the post-production stage.
‘Tazmanian Devil’ features ‘Beasts of No Nation’ actor,
Abraham Attah, ‘12 Years a Slave’ actress, Adepero Oduye ,
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine , ‘Black Panther’ actor, David Opegbemi and Kwesi Boakye.
Speaking on the project, Birdman said, “I am honored to work with Benny; we share a great history in the music business over the past 20 years. Benny and I have often discussed making films together and this project presented us with the perfect opportunity to produce a great movie .”
‘Tazmanian Devil’ is produced by Tricia Woodgett of TigerEye Films while Gerald Rawles joins Birdman and Boom as executive producer.
Onita Jr. has worked on a few short films which include ‘My Joy’ which featured ‘Black Panther’s Sope Aluko and aired on HBO in 2016.
In 2016, the filmmaker returned to Nigeria to attend the African International Film Festival, AFRIFF.
‘Tazmanian Devil’ tells the story of a young Nigerian, who moved from Nigeria to the United States of America to be with his estranged father and got involved in a college fraternity.
Speaking on the film, Onita Jr. said his first feature film makes a positive case for fraternity.
“This film is a film that deals with fraternity culture, this film makes a positive case for fraternities rather than just repeating all time stereotypes… I believe the film with resonate with a large audience because it’s an immigrant story, and people who are not native to this land will find a lot of honesty, a lot of truth… I believe this film will grab a lot of attention and show a more accurate view of what this organisation means to its members ,” he said in an interview with BET Networks.
Speaking on filmmaking, Onita Jr. said, “Filmmaking and storytelling are important to me because it gives me a voice, it allows me to explore my different personalities within different character. It allows me to express a diverse point of view, it allows me to put all of my ideas and concepts and put them in the face of a character. Filmmaking also gives me a way to dive into social and cultural issues and it allows me to expand on the different perspectives that you see in different communities. It transports you and takes you to all aspects of life .”
Bryan “Birdman” Williams is on the project with his Cash Money Films and Benny Boom is on the project with his Groundwurk Studios.
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