New Year Special Edition 2008
 
 
 
 
 
ECHOES crew, actors and team
 
Lean on me - Michael Bolton
TOSH Mag : Wishing all our fans, viewers and subscribers a mind blowing 2009.

The reason why I'm so nervous is because there are so many beautiful ladies in the studios and some handsome chaps. We have got a South African, some Nigerians, a German and many more in the house. So I introduce to you the Director of the newly awaited Afro-British soap drama, ECHOES - Frank Egbetamah. Being a German and Nigerian, could you kindly wish our fans a merry Christmas and a happy new year in German?
 
TOSH Mag: Let me jump to Prince now. You played the role of Adam. Tell us how you got it.
TOSH Magazine presents ECHOES to you. The latest Soap drama coming to your TV set in 2009.

Enjoy interviews with the set Director - Frank Egbetamah and watch the exclusive trailer of ECHOES  and some of the TV stars on ECHOES - Linda Eziaghi, Rebecca Miya, Jedidah David, Jan Boye and Prince Oforji.
Frank Egbetamah : Frohes Fest und guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr.
TOSH Mag : Welcome again to our studio. Kindly tell us what Echoes is all about.
Frank Egbetamah : Echoes is a soap drama (24 episodes) relating the story of a young girl and boy just like the teenagers we have in London. The boy being an illegal immigrant was dating this girl who is a British resident. In one of their outings, an accident occurred.
TOSH Mag : A car accident?
Frank Egbetamah : Oh no. He stabbed someone in a club. So he was really paranoid and afraid of deportation especially after committing a gravely offence. His girlfriend took control of the situation in the midst of the panic and when the police arrived, she took the fall for him (She had the murder weapon with her). As she was a teenager, she thought she might get away with any rap but unfortunately, she got a jail sentence. After spending a lot of years in the prison, she was released only to realise that her ex-boyfriend (who never visited her in the prison) is now married and settled with a family. So she sets out to destroy and ruin this guy's life in order to get her revenge. This is complicated and turns to various plots and thrillers that would make your mouth watery! So watch out for it.
 
TOSH Mag : Wow. You guys have heard about Echoes here first. Well, we would not let anymore cats out of the bags so that the drama would remain exciting. We would tell you later on when and where you can access it. Frank, do you want to introduce the stars we have on the set to our fans?
Frank Egbetamah : Well, we have Linda Eziaghi who played the role of Alicia. (One of the Adams daughters). We also have Rebecca Miya who played the role of Eve (Adam's wife). There is Jedidah David playing the role of Rachael who was Adam's ex girlfriend that served some term in the prison. Next to her is Jan Boye – playing the role of Stephanie (One of Adams daughters)  and finally we have Prince Oforji who is playing the role of Adam.
TOSH Mag : So guys do you just want to say hello to every fan out there?
 
ECHOES TEAM : Hello and wishing you a prosperous and happy 2009.
TOSH Mag : Let me start with Linda (playing Alicia's role). Emm, have you done any acting prior to this? How exactly did you get into acting?
 
Linda Eziaghi: (playing Alicia's role)
Okay. Prior to this I had not done any acting nor did I have any acting experience. A cousin of mine who traveled into the country introduced me to the director. He in turn asked me if I wanted to become an actress. I said yes and that was it. I came for the auditions, read the script and nailed it. I got my contract and the rest is history.
Frank Egbetamah : Actually I was looking for an extra. I was not too keen on performance or characterization. Alicia's role was supposed to be some few lines. Whilst she was doing the rehearsal, I had to arrange another audition for her. I gave her a script and asked her to try some lines. Meanwhile, the original Alicia was not doing a great job so we swapped them and reviewed everything. During our review, we realized that Linda had some natural characteristics that fitted Alicia's role and she was also improving every time on the set. She has this unique voice, which fitted Alicia's character. That was how she got the role.
Prince Oforji: (playing the role of Adam)
It was very strange the way I got into Echoes. I acted before in a Nollywood movie called, "Sinful Saint' but then I left the shores of Nigeria in 1998 and all I was interested in being in the western world was earning money so sort of pulled me out of the acting world. Then out of the blues, a friend of mine introduced me to the Director and also told me about the project they were working on. I just approached Frank and told him I would be interested in being part of the project.  After a while, Frank now got back to me and invited me to one of the auditions. I got the script, gave it my all and got the part. Acting is what I love doing and it is so nice to be back in it.
 
TOSH Mag: Interesting. I am learning a lot myself. Now to Rebecca. Tell us about your role and how you got into it too.
 
Rebecca Miya: (playing the role of Eve)
Though I am a professional singer, I do have passion for acting too. A friend of mine introduced me to the director - Frank but I was working on my second album. I had done a bit of acting back in South Africa but was really touched with the confidence my friend had in me causing him to introduce me to Frank. I was invited to the auditions and after I got the script, I put some life into it. That was how I got the role. Well, the rest is history. Eve is the mother of the house in the Adams family and being a mother the character was natural for me to key into. I do have 3 children in the play. Two are here but the eldest (Malcolm) is not around at the moment.
TOSH Mag: I feel like an actor already being amongst so many. I think aspiring actors and actresses should have a good look at Frank Egbetamah. When you see him on the streets, ensure you grab him so that you can get a contract off him.
 
Frank Egbetamah: It was not that easy though. They are just saying they did the auditions and got this part and that one but they were short listed from 100's of actors and actresses. We had to look into many factors before selecting them and giving them a contract. You might not believe it but all the team we have here were originally not part of the original characters. We had a complete different Adam, Rachael, Malcolm, Eve, Alicia, Stephanie and other main characters. Altogether we have 22 characters excluding the extras so it is a big team.
TOSH Mag: Oh. So what happened then?
 
Frank Egbetamah: We started shooting with this first set (the previous one) and we were almost halfway through the drama. Some of them were top actors and actresses from Nollywood but all of a sudden the whole project took a dramatic twist. Though we had a contract with everyone, one day the guy originally playing Adam's role called me and requested for a new contract in the middle of the project. I was with him the previous evening and we were actually having drinks and a nice time but on the morning afterwards, he did not turn up on the set. It was then that I received a call and he was asking for an increment of 300%. He claimed he was aware of how much I was making from the project and he wants more basically. I had to release him from the contract but unknowing to me, he had contacted some other characters on the shoot and they pulled out as well. I was not up for a legal battle, as that would de-focus me from the project. So we had to start all over again and count our losses. I am associated with an organisation known as Best Touch. They make movies and shoot Musical videos – one of the best in town. Knowing the CEO (Femi Akinbobola) who is also working with me on the Echoes drama project, I unburdened all to him and he pressed some buttons. That was how we auditioned for a new set of actors and actresses. I also called some people who are in the movie industry and after auditioning – we got the final team. The two roles that gave me a bit of challenge was Adam's and Rachael's. Adam is the main character of the drama so I had to be assured on the final choice but we got it all right at the end. One of the guys that turned up was a Liberian who claimed he was very good but could not act at all, He actually wanted to take my Directing role so I had to kick him out.
TOSH Mag: Amazing. I cannot wait to hear what Rachel has to say. She is the terrible character on the set but I am sure she is not like that in real life.
 
Jedidah David: (playing the role of Rachael)
I used to be in so many TV dramas back in Edo State (Nigeria) and I acted in some other movies in the late nineties. I kind of drifted away from acting and after a while the passion was drawing me back. You will agree with me that you cannot run away from your shadow.  So somehow I got back into it. I am also a musician and I am working on a Gospel album at the moment. I had worked with Frank before on a totally different project but he only knew about my singing not the acting. We were just having a discussion one day and he mentioned that he is looking for some actors and actresses. I then told him what I had previously done and that was how I got to the auditions, tried the role and eventually got the Rachael character. Rachael had gone through a lot in life and after losing Adam and going to the prison, she was raped in the same prison and gave birth to a baby. Coming out and finding that the guy -Adam (who she took his place in prison) had moved on and has his own family, Rachael ensures she destroys everything in Adams life and family in a frenzy of hatred and jealousy. It is really interesting.
TOSH Mag: Is there a case of you finding it difficult to switch off your character when you are off set?
 
Jedidah David: No. I switch off even a times just before the end of the set. It comes naturally.
TOSH Mag: I think I want to become an actor too. Maybe I should be Rachael's new boyfriend. Well now to the last but not the least, we have Jan Boye playing the role of Stephanie. How did you get into acting? Does it come naturally?
 
Jan Boye: (playing the role of Stephanie)
Acting is something I had always wanted to do and it comes naturally. So being a part of a production like this means so much. A friend of mine who is in the entertainment industry introduced me to Frank and after auditioning, I got the role. I must say I was really impressed with the script when I first saw it. I had done some acting previously in the theaters, studied drama at college and appeared in some shows whilst I was in college but nothing very big.  I had also played some extras in various films but this is the first of hopefully many that casted me as a main character. Echoes reflects the sort of state in which London is at the moment with a lot of cultures being represented here. This attracted me to the project in the first place. Playing the role of a 15 year old was a bit tricky at first but I just had to cast my mind back to when I was 15. At times, I would look at younger girls in the bus and try to project that into my role. Stephanie dealt with a lot of issues that millions of youths are facing at the moment in the real life scenario so Echoes can actually make a real change in the mind of our nowadays youth as it projects how to relate with drugs, sex and personal problems.
TOSH Mag: Prince, can you advise the youth and the public generally on how to get into the entertainment business, stay on top of the game and achieve an acting dream like you have.
 
Prince Oforji: (playing Adam's role)
The youth of these days do not have enough courage. Nearly every single one of them is blessed with immense talents but have no courage. If you want something, you have to go for what you want. Most of them get discouraged so easily. This makes them give up on their dream, which is achievable. Also the group you move with goes a long way in determining your future and achieving your dream. Whatever you want to be, you have to work toward it. For example if you are thirsty and you want to drink water, you cannot just sit in a place and be uttering the phrase, "I want water…' You would go and get it. Now imagine you are about to get it and someone stops you from trying to drink the water? So if you are good at what you do, get connected. Move toward where you can achieve your dream. 
TOSH Mag: The last question goes to Frank. How can people watch Echoes? Where can they get the information from?
 
Frank Egbetamah: Echoes would be on your TV from February 2009 on Sky channel 184 – BEN TV. We planned to be on air much earlier but due to some complications beyond our control, we could not. Just this morning, I was having a talk with someone at OBE TV (also on Sky – Sky channel 207) with the possibility of showing Echoes.
TOSH Mag: So it might be on both BEN TV and OBE TV?
 
Frank Egbetamah: Yes, but simultaneously. You can watch some clips and the trailer online – www.ovfeproductions.com
TOSH Mag:  And you can watch it here on TOSH Magazine with some other clips. So watch out for Echoes coming on to your TV set soon.
ECHOES Trailer