Producer and casting director Joseph Coker says casting remains one of the most important stages of pre-production, a principle he applied while assembling the cast of his upcoming thriller Day of the Games Night.
Speaking with The Nollywood Reporter (TNR), Coker explained that while casting for some projects can take months, the process for Day of the Games Night lasted just one month because the team already had several actors in mind during story development.
“I already knew the actors that I would best use to interpret these characters. For this project, all characters played key and important roles in the story so I had to take my time,” he says.
Coker noted that he pays close attention to character interpretation, considering factors such as skin tone, physique, personality, and how each character is presented within the story.
According to him, this approach also requires detailed conversations with actors about their roles and their understanding of the characters.
“Just so that I’m sure they understand and embody their characters,” he added.
The producer also reflected on one of the biggest challenges encountered during production. He revealed that a key vehicle prop, originally secured for three days of filming, was damaged after the second day of shooting.
“There was a car prop that was made available to film for 3 days. We shot with it for 2 days and on the 3rd day we were unable to film with it. It had physical damage and scratch on the body on its way home after the end of day 2,” he shares.
Coker said the situation created a major continuity concern because replacing the vehicle with a different one would have been noticeable during post-production.
“There was no way we’d shoot with another vehicle and not have continuity issues in post production,” he said.
To solve the problem, he assembled his art department to find a replacement vehicle of the same colour and modify it to match the original prop.
“And then we recorded a short footage to compare the picture with the previous car’s picture, and it was the exact way. By the way, this took over 11 hours to correct. Literally one day of shooting.”
Recently selected for the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival, Day of the Games Night follows 18-year-old Chisom and her close friends, Elvis, Bisola, Mudi, and Hillary, who sneak out to attend what they believe is an exclusive high school reunion. Upon arriving at a remote location, they discover they have walked into a deadly trap.
Produced under Coker Films Production, the thriller stands out, according to Coker, because of its central premise.
He believes the film explores an angle that has not been previously examined in Nollywood and said he is particularly excited for audiences to experience the intrigue and suspense the story offers.
