PTV News Media: June 2022

Friday 17 June 2022

Writers Converge in Lagos as IFBA, LSFVCB Holds Screenwriting Workshop

By Perekeme Odon

In light of the need for capacity building and a higher level of professionalism in the Nigerian motion picture industry, A 5-Day intensive Master Class in Screenwriting workshop by the International Film and Broadcast Academy, Lagos, Nigeria has distilled the essential elements from the world's best screenwriting programmes to create a super-intensive screenwriting workshop.

The workshop, which was a partnership between the International Film and Broadcast Academy (IFBA) and the Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board (LSFVCB), was held at 13 Simisola Street, Surulere, Lagos on June 13-17, 2022 and received over 100 submissions via email from aspiring screenwriters with little or no screenwriting experience who wish to improve their storytelling skills and explore the fine art of writing visual narratives.

According to the lead resource person, Mr Yinka Ogun, President, Screen Writers Guild of Nigeria (SWGN), and a screenwriting mentor whose credits include ‘Tinsel, Oloture (Netflix original), Your Excellency, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, who openly expressed his respect for the organizers and Mr Victor Okhai was excited with the turnout and hailed the outcome. “They have been equipped to go out there and excel as storytellers. The sky can only be their springboard going forward."

Mr Ogun affirmed that “But hey, I have a lot of respect for Mr Victor Okhai as a practitioner, director and film proprietor. Screenwriting is getting better with each passing day. If more people dedicated their time to improving themselves personally, I think that we will soon arrive at a very good pace and soon have good writers."

A Session With Participants

With strict adherence to the rituals of writing and learning, the workshop concentrated on the professional development of various aspiring screenwriters in the film and television industry who can work in a fast-paced, high-pressure, focused and experienced environment to seasoned career writers, as recommended by Mr Victor Okhai, President of the Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN), and participants had the opportunity to develop a fully structured outline for a feature-length screenplay, including several completed scenes, and complete short.

Mr Kingsley Omoefe, former Vice President, Directors’ Guild of Nigeria and one of the participants who are not strange to IFBA organized workshop appreciated the moves taken by IFBA and LSFVCB to equip writers in the industry. “It’s quite an insightful, interesting and impactful programme which I benefitted a lot. It couldn’t have come at a better time than this time. Mr Victor Okhai is a perfectionist and wants everything to be done rightly, and that translates to whatever he’s doing. He did the best in the person of Mr Yinka Ogun, our resource person who is an experienced writer, and one of the best creative screenwriters in Africa. For LSFVCB to partner with IFBA shows how credible the institution is, and very important for Lagos state to want to take the creative industry to the next level.”

(l-r) Mr. Yinka Ogun, Mr. Victor Okhai & Mr. Kingsley Omoefe

2022 Overall Winner of Aforevo Nollywood Screenwriting Competition, and the N1 Million winner, Cosmos O. Abasi expressed his excitement about his participation while commending the organizers for their contribution to the success of screenwriting in the film industry in Nigeria.

“I thank the organizers, LSFVCB and IBFA for doing a great job to put this together, and I wish stuff goes into several other departments of filmmaking. The training has been novel, exciting, interesting, educating and sort of an eye-opener, because I’ve learned a lot about different kinds of pitch decks from the resource person, Mr Yinka Ogun, and our amiable DGN president, Mr., Victor Okhai. So now, I can conveniently say, I know how to pitch.” He stated.

The President of the DGN, Mr Victor Okhai, who was enthusiastic about the workshop, remarked that the method of storytelling through screenwriting is both an art and a science. According to him, the workshop is intended to be a quarterly event as we have several ongoing classes and master classes in directing, production, cinematography, art design, and costume and makeup.

“This workshop is supposed to be a quarterly event, as we have several ongoing classes and master classes on directing, producing, cinematography, art designing, and costume and makeup. We must learn the art of storytelling and master it, but you need to know how to package them so they can pitch them successfully to potential investors and platforms to get funding to the next level.“

(l-r) Mr. Yinka Ogun, Mr. Victor Okhai & Mr. Cosmas O. Abasi

The DGN President explained that human stories are stories that every human being can relate to, and if you know how to tell them well, regardless of the setting and location, people will relate to the story, exactly how you do it with some movies will never be forgotten even growing up as a kid.

“Screenwriting is both an art and a science. Everyone is capable of speaking, but not everyone can captivate an audience. Anyone can write, but everyone can write the kind of material that holds audiences captive for more than 90 minutes in a dark room. You cannot do magic if you have a brilliant director and a poor script. People will relate to a tale if it is told well, regardless of location or climate, much like with some films that you will never forget even as a little child. Human stories are stories that anyone can relate to.” Okhai stated.

Okhai also expressed gratitude to Mrs Bukola Agbamiloja, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board and the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu for their proactive support for Nigerian filmmakers.

Saturday 11 June 2022

Lagos Agog As CDGN Debuts Culture and Fashion Exhibition

By Perekeme Odon

It was pomp and pageantry in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos as the Creative Designers Guild of Nigeria, CDGN, in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board (LSFVCB), hosted the first-ever cultural and entertainment exhibition in Nollywood, Nigeria, with the theme "Expanding Cultural Creativity Through Entrepreneurship."

The one-day event, held on Friday, June 10, 2022, at the CitiHeight Luxury Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos state, highlighted and showcased the exhibition of cultural designs and attires spanning different Nollywood movies, ethnic groups, beads, various forms of makeup, and African hairstyles, resulting in the existence of cultural diversity in Nigeria, as well as a renaissance of its fading cultural heritage due to the influx of western domination.

Mrs. Joy Osawaru-Akinyemi, the Lagos state chairman of the Creative Designers Guild of Nigeria, in her opening address, applauded them for attending. “I welcome you all to this great event, and I appreciated the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board for their cooperation in hosting the programme. The exhibition is about the way we are, who we are and the way we do our things. We Nigerians should love who we are and be ourselves. We need to go back to our culture and represent our ways of dressing and doing things. Each time you see or notice a piece of artwork, that beautiful dress, that traditional makeup in a movie, it is because our members made it happen, and through that, we have continued to preserve and promote our culture to the world through our arts.”

Mrs. Joy Osawaru-Akinyemi

Mrs. Akinyemi went revealed that the event was organised pursuant to the State Government’s commitment to repositioning the entertainment sector to fulfil its potential as a primary revenue generator and employer of creative talents, through entrepreneurship, as well as how young people can turn their creativity into significant wealth.

“Our creativity should be export bound and encourage tourism like how countries like India and China are doing, that is why we have the panelist session where we talked about creativity and entrepreneurship to the youths and students to know there is livelihood in creativity so as to have positive decisions. This exhibition would be an annual event to ensure that the youths are conversant with aspects of the creative industry that could be explored for wealth creation." She stated.

The Hon. Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharm. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Oyinade Nathan-Marsh, in her keynote address at the event commended Mrs. Joy Osawaru-Akinyemi and the CDGN for providing a one-stop culture and creativity exhibition to Nigerians, particularly Lagos residents, with all-inclusive facilities to cater to various interests in the arts and filmmaking.

Mrs. Oyinade Nathan-Marsh

“I greatly commend the Creative Designers Guild of Nigeria for the incredible work. Africa for the longest time has remained a giant and a leading voice when it comes to creative space, and the testament to this can be seen in the various creative arts that are being delivered from the continent daily, especially from Nigeria’s Nollywood. To say that Nollywood has become a significant contributor to Africa and global creativity is to put it very subtly. As the industry has become recognized as the fastest-growing movie industry on the continent, I am extremely pleased to join creative in the house today at this culture and entertainment exhibition, the maiden one.”

She stressed that the Nigerian movie industry has grown into one of the country’s greatest exports and also into national pride. As the economic hub of the nation, we must begin to blaze the trail and seek to transform the entertainment industry in accordance with global best practices.

She added that, “Most times, when we watch movies, we are overtly amazed by the actors and actresses, and we tend to forget the outstanding efforts of those behind the scene, like the costume designer, the makeup artist, hair stylist, prop managers, set designers, and everyone else who put an indescribable amount of energy and hard work to ensure our movies are top-notch and amazing. Progress is being registered in our cinematography and picture quality, storytelling method, script writing, special effect makeup and so many other aspects. And all this is all thanks to creative professionals that are here today.”

(l-r) Mrs Akinyemi, Victor Okhai, Kenny Brown, Paul Obazele

The Commissioner expressed her appreciation to the Guild for honouring her and deemed her deserving of the guild award for her services to the Nollywood audiovisual sector and efforts to promote the arts. She told them that she would not rest on her achievements, but would do everything she could to ensure that their joint vision for Lagos' broader arts and entertainment sector becomes a reality.

“My profound appreciation goes to the guild for honouring and deeming me fit to be a recipient of the guild’s award for the recognition of my effort in uplifting the art and my contributions to the audio visual industry in Nollywood. I assure you not to rest on my oars but continue to put in my best for the collective dream for the greater Lagos art and entertainment sector to be achieved.” The Commissioner stated.

A panel discussion for schools and educational institutions was the event's high point. Mazi Uche Anyamele moderated the session, and the panelists included, Mrs Iyen Agbonifo-Obaseki, production designer and former CDGN President, Mr. Patrick Lee, President, Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), Ms Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, thespian and doyen of the art, Sewedo Nupowaku, Communications Consultant. Also in attendance at the panel discussions were Dr. Tony Akposheri, filmmaker/DGN Vice President, and Arc. Dr. Kuti Ezebiro, Architect, academic and public intellectual.

Mr. Yibo Koko & Millicent Jack

The panelists shared experiences and engaged in stimulating conversations about possible collaborations and partnerships between producers and cinema operators, against profanity, vulgar language, scenes of excessive violence and negative African stereotypes in films to guide against social decline.

Veteran Nollywood actor, Dr Tony Akposheri, encouraged the youth to explore their inherent artistic talent as a weapon for economic growth for themselves and the nation. He advised actors to explore more themes relating to love as opposed to rituals.

He said, "They should focus more on telling African history in movies to educate children and keep them abreast of the dictates of African culture and history."

Sewedo Nupowaku, a communications consultant, also urged the youth to explore the latest technology to promote the nation's cultural heritage. “We can make money off our culture, but what are we doing about it? How are we galvanizing ourselves to tell our stories with the latest technology, with well-crafted and welled research scripts? We can tell our stories as good as anyone else.”

Nupowaku emphasized that the idea of this workshop is for people to learn and know more about our heritage. They need to be more up-to-date with our history and show more interest so that they are very excited to support our heritage. “Our culture goes beyond the movies, the music, our dressings, books, and dancing. The young folks have already been short because, for a long time, history has not been taught in our classrooms.”

Mrs Nathan-Marsh Receiving An Award

Ms Ajai-Lycett caused a stir when she said people need to be careful about the health effects of skin bleaching as it affects the liver and could lead to skin or liver cancer.

“If we accept to maintain our natural skin and hair, we will be creative with them to improve our economy as a nation because there is a massive business in it for us, but we are unconscious of it. And what breaks my heart most is that celebrities are found in that habit of promoting skin bleaching and wearing wigs, and they go as far as selling it to the public, this is bad, and I advise that they desist from that bad habit. We do not need to imitate the western world; I advise that we remain black, bold and beautiful,” she said.

Dr Kuti Ezebiro, architect, academic and public intellectual, educated the audience on the economics of culture and the thriving entrepreneurship within it.

“Every great thing goes through three basic stages in life. The first stage would be an expression (argument), ridicule (antagonize) and discussion/reception (acceptance). Culture is economics, and unless we understand how culture produces economics, then we will continue to identify with relics. Culture in the real essence is the spirit that drives the expression that you see as aesthetics or activity. Unless we understand that spirit and affirm it, then we are all exhibitionists of relics. If you want to see African culture in terms of fashion, then we begin to look at the Zulus, Ghanaians, and maybe in Nigeria, the Tiv, and Yoruba for the Asoke.” He said.

The entertainment business, according to Dr Kuti Ezebiro, may reorient itself. When you genuinely comprehend the anthology of your being and that culture is the life stream that gives you your being, identity, and aspiration, you are truly an activist and protagonist of your own culture.

(l-r) Sonny McDon, Chuks Ejiofor, Blessing Agofure & Dr. Ighalo

Mr Patrick Lee, President, Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria and Cinema Owners affirmed that “We are unable to find movies that tell our history, culture and tradition. When I went round the exhibition today, one of the things that struck me was that when we show our movies or showcase them, these very important people in the background are never ever credited to a large extent to the work they delivered.”

The one-day event was not just about culture, but also entertainment through comedy, spoken words with cultural melodies and beats, and awarding of honours to deserving guild members and the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos, who have contributed enormously to the state's film industry.

CDGN National President Comrade Sele O. Sele recognized the people and organizations that contributed to the success of the event and stated that the event looks forward to a positive outcome in the near future.

In his vote of thanks, Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi acknowledged everyone and said, “If we really want Nigeria to be great as we all dream it should be, then we should be thinking Nigeria”.

Present at the event were gospel singer, Kenny Saint Brown, Millicent Tamunokuro Jack, 2022 AMVCA Best Costume Designer, Bishop Dr. Joseph Ighalo-Edoro, Paul Obazele, former AMP President, Yibo Koko, Director General/CEO Rivers State Tourism Development Agency–RSTDA, Theo Akatugba, President, Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP), Mr. Soibifaa Diminas, former Interim President (CDGN), Sonny MC-Don, AGN BOT, Mr. Victor Okhai, DGN President, Blessing Tunde Agofure, Chairman/CEO, BTA Investment, Chukwudi Ejiofor, Osezua Stephen-Imobhio, Mr. Tony Anih, former President SWGN, students of Starfield College, Lagos, and members of the public.