Phone Swap
Phone Swap is a 2012 Nigerian romance comedy-drama film written by Kemi Adesoye, directed and produced by Kunle Afolayan. It stars Nse Ikpe Etim, Wale Ojo, Joke Silva, Chika Okpala, Lydia Forson and Afeez Oyetoro, and focuses on a series of events unfolding when two polar opposites accidentally exchange phones. The film was conceived after a brief from an advertising agency to create a movie that would cut across ages 15 to 45. It received 4 nominations at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards which includes the category Best Nigerian Film and won the award Achievement in Production Design.
Plot
Struggling fashion designer Mary Oyenokwe and arrogant businessman Akin Cole are handed the wrong phones after they collide at the airport. After parting, Akin receives a message on Mary's phone from her boss Alexis which reads "Enjoy your flight to Owerri". Thinking the message is from the similarly-named Alex - Akin's loyal but incompetent assistant - he books another ticket to Owerri. Mary, whose father has called her to act as a mediator at a family meeting, accidentally purchases a ticket to Abuja but realises her mistake after the flight attendant informs her the plane is actually headed for Abuja. Similarly, Akin discovers he has boarded the wrong flight but is already airborne.Mary arrives in Abuja and calls her own number on Akin's phone; both are uncivil at first but agree to cooperate, and Akin suggests she stay with his free-spirited mother Kike, provided Mary delivers his phone's memory card containing valuable files to his company chairman at a business retreat. Believing Mary to be her son's girlfriend, the ecstatic Kike immediately warms towards her, and all Mary's attempts to explain fall on deaf ears. The pair bond over fashion, and Kike invites Mary to a get-together with friends the next day.
Meanwhile in Owerri, following an altercation with Mary's sister Cynthia, who is on police duty, Akin is taken to Mary's father's archaic and overcrowded bungalow in the town's hoi polloi district where Cynthia introduces Akin to their father, believing he is her sister's boyfriend. Akin struggles to adapt to their simple lifestyle, much to the family's amusement, but after Mary asks him to speak to her sister on her behalf, Cynthia agrees to turn a new leaf and control her temper for her children's sake. At the meeting Mary was supposed to mediate, Cynthia asks her in-laws for forgiveness, and they accept her apology.
Realising she has no suitable attire for a social occasion, Mary borrows the skirt she is still sewing, but notices the rightful owner - Alexis' customer - at Kike's party. Although the client is displeased, she approves of Mary's work and offers to recommend more clients. Akin and Mary call more frequently, thawing the previous frostiness. On the second day of the retreat where participants waste no time revealing their contempt for Akin, Mary comes face-to-face with Akin's uncouth Ghanaian ex-girlfriend Gina, who believes Mary has stolen Akin from her. Simultaneously, Mary's ex-boyfriend Tony unexpectedly arrives at Cynthia's father's house, ready to confront Akin. The two men come to blows just as Mary and Gina have their own physical brawl in Abuja, although onlookers separate the two women. Cynthia recognises Tony as the man who concealed his true marital status from her sister, and their twin brothers - Alpha and Omega - throw him out, warning him never to return.
A dishevelled Mary goes in search of Akin's new chairman who is revealed to be Kike; she had acquired the company shares to gain her son's attention after her alcoholism ruined their relationship. Akin is displeased with this, but his mother apologises for the past. Mary, who has now started her own fashion label Mary O, calls the stringent Alexis to hand in her resignation. At the airport, Akin and Mary finally meet in Lagos, they swap their phones. He helps her carry her luggage, and they both enter his car as the credits roll.
Cast
- Nse Ikpe Etim as Mary Oyenokwe
- Wale Ojo as Akin Cole
- Joke Silva as Kike Cole
- Chika Okpala as Mary's Father
- Tyrone Evans Clark as Tyrone
- Ada Ameh as Cynthia
- Lydia Forson as Gina
- Chika Chukwu as Hussana
- Afeez Oyetoro as Alex Ojo
- Chris Iheuwa as Tony
- Charles Billion as Alpha
- Jay Jay Coker as Omega
- Jadesola Durotoye as C.E.O
- Sophia Chioma Onyekwo as Alexis
- Bose Oshin as Mrs Ibekwe
- Christopher John as Cynthia's husband
- Toyin Onormor as Tony's wife
- Jara as Seamstress 1
- Biola as Seamstress 2
Production
Development
Phone Swap was conceived after a brief from an advertising agency, who were taking proposals on behalf of Samsung to create a movie that would cut across ages 15 to 45, and was shot in Lagos and made in partnership with Globacom and BlackBerry. It also got financial support from Meelk Properties, IRS Airlines, Seven-up Bottling Company, Honeywell Flour Mill and several others. The scripting stage for the film took two years, while the production and post production stages took six weeks and three months respectively. The film received critical acclaim and was highly successful at the box office. Ten scripts were submitted from different people and companies, but Afolayan's script eventually won the pitch. Although Samsung later dropped out of the project, Kunle Afolayan went ahead to solicit funds from other major sponsors as he was keen on concluding the project. Afolayan believed that although the film is not "arty" like The Figurine, it also had the potential of doing well at the box office because it is a commercial film. Afolayan however decided to steer clear of slapstick comedy, which had become a tradition for the comedy genre in Nollywood. He also stated at the press screening of the film in Lagos that the choice of a comedy genre is inline with the bid to diversify his production company; the previous two films from Golden Effects Studios had been thrillers, so Phone Swap was to show that his company was not running on a "one-way traffic". Kemi Adesoye and Afolayan came up with the story idea for the film; with the scripting stage taking a total period of two years.Kunle Afolayan noted that investors were slow in responding to his business plan. However, the film eventually got financial support from telecommunication companies such as Globacom and BlackBerry. Some brands were also approached to take part in the production and Some of them did product placement. Such companies include: Meelk Properties, IRS Airlines, Seven-up Bottling Company, Berrys' Couture, Honeywell Flour Mill and Maclean. This helped subsidize the budget of the film by thirty to forty percent.
Casting
The lead male character, Akin was considered initially for Joseph Benjamin but he was later dropped when it was discovered that he had recently been paired as a couple with the signed lead actress Nse Etim for Mr. and Mrs., a film which was also in production at the time and was also released in March 2012. Jim Iyke was then called to play the role but he was unavailable at the time - shooting Last Flight to Abuja, so Wale Ojo eventually became the new lead actor. The character of Mary's father was slated for Sam Loco, who died on 7 August 2011 from an asthma attack before filming began. Chika Okpala, best-known for his role as Zebrudaya in The New Masquerade, was signed to replace the deceased actor, who was honoured by dedicating the film to his memory in the Opening credit of the film.Ada Ameh and Nse Ikpe Etim, who are from Benue and Akwa Ibom respectively, were required to learn the Igbo dialect of Owerri for a period six months before the commencement of principal photography to fit into Cynthia and Mary characters, as both are portrayed as Owerri natives. Etim in an interview with Leadership Newspaper stated: "I am not exactly a rookie when it comes to the Igbo Language, but until Phone Swap I never needed to speak Igbo as a native would. I will admit that it was quite challenging, because I had to learn a specific dialect. I am very glad for the experience, though. Igbo is a very interesting language and I enjoyed myself immensely in the process of learning it".
Director, Afolayan, had a major dispute with Globacom, regarding the casting of Hafeez Oyetoro in the film. After seeing the first edit of the film, Mike Adenuga requested for Oyetoro to be dropped from the cast line up, and his scenes reshot with another actor. This was due to the fact that Oyetoro was at the time a brand ambassador for Etisalat Nigeria, a major competitor in the Nigerian telecommunication market. Afolayan however refused, with the belief that dropping Oyetoro would "kill" the film. As a result, Globacom partially withdrew its investment from the film and Afolayan's ambassadorial contract with the company was not renewed.