An encounter with Mike Ezuruoye: How Ruke Amata discovered me at a gas stationBio-data

Mike Ezuruonye

The beginning
Right from primary school, Michael showed a keen interest in the world of television. He worked behind the camera writing scripts on Clapper Board television.

A good friend of movie producer Jetta Amata, Michael has always been involved in some capacity in the world of Arts and Theater despite having studied Accounting.
The break

He was buying fuel at a gas station when he was spotted by Ruke Amata of the Amata Dynasty and this happy coincidence set him on tracks to pursue his most cherished dream of becoming an actor.

The rise to fame
Popularly nicknamed Fair Mike, the handsome actor quickly proved his talent and capabilities to convince some of the most influential decision makers in Nollywood, namely director Aquilla Njamah and producer Emem Isong to give him a chance. Director Dickson Iroegbu gave him his big break in the movie “Broken Marriage.”

Stardom
“Critical Decision” was the huge commercial success that revealed Micheal’s talent home and abroad. It also made him a household name as well as it established him on the very select list of the most sought after leading men in Nollywood. His shot to fame is the quickest ever observed in the history of Nollywood by any standards, male and female alike. His story is sometimes likened to the fairy tale Cinderella. Though he started his professional career in December 2003, he is today the undisputed most popular leading man and he never looked back.

Credits
To give credit where credit is due, Michael gives accolades to the people who gave him his break and believed in him when he still had everything to prove, namely Aquilla Njamah, Emem Isong, Gabriel Moses and Dickson Iroegbu. He is ever grateful to the public home and abroad who adopted him instantly and made him the fastest rising star in the Nollywood sky. He is devoted to stay worthy of their following by remaining the hardest working leading man around.

And last but not least, his eternal gratitude goes to his loving mother for standing by him all the way.

Movies
To date Michael has featured in more than 40 home movies among which the critically acclaimed “Critical Decision”, “Endless Passion”, “Occultic Kingdom”, “Unforeseen”, and “Beyond Reason.”

US writers will not block Grammys

The Grammy Awards will go ahead as normal on 10 February after the striking Writers Guild of America agreed to let writers work on the show. The guild says it wants to offer support to musicians also facing challenges getting "compensation for the use of their work in new media."

The strike began in early November over payments for DVD sales and downloads. It has already derailed the Golden Globes ceremony and leaves a question mark hanging over the Oscars. Last week the guild agreed not to picket the event, suggesting an agreement was possible.

Patric M Verrone, President of the Writers Guild of America West said: "In the interest of advancing our goal of achieving a fair contract, the WGAW Board felt that this decision should be made."

The Recording Academy, which organises the Grammys, had already pledged to run the show with or without the support of writers. Academy president Neil Portnow said it was "gratified by the WGA's decision to grant the interim agreement we requested for our milestone 50th annual Grammy Awards.

He added: "Having our talented writers on the team further ensures the highest level of creativity and innovation, something our audience has come to expect every year." The writers' strike is now in its 13th week. Informal talks are continuing between guild leaders and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents more than 350 production companies.

It follows a similar procedure used to resolve a dispute with the Directors Guild of America. But the writers want about three times as much money for DVD releases and downloads than the directors achieved.