The city of Lagos is a host to an academy for young talents to be moulded as film producers, scriptwriters, directors and other professional cadres in film making with the take-off of the West Africa MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy in Lagos on Monday. The 20 lucky participants selected from over 3,000 applicants were unveiled at a ceremony to formally launch the film factory experience in Lagos on Monday.
The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, while welcoming the participants to Lagos, acknowledged and commended MultiChoice for bringing the Talent Factory Programme to Lagos and enjoin the participants to discover and explore Lagos beyond Lekki and Victoria Island. He advised the 20 participants which includes four Ghanians to visit Badagry and see Lagos in another light in terms of historical tourism attractions, visit Epe, to see the transformation of the landscape and enjoy the ambience of the African Shrine at Ikeja like President Macron of France.
Mr. Ayorinde, further stated that Lagos state effectively partner with MultiChoice for this year’s African Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) based on the synergy in vision and policy with private organisations like MultiChoice for the promotion of creativity and arts. He added that the Talent Factory Programme represents what Lagos means to the creative industry in Africa in terms of content production and inspiration provided by the presence of Nollywood.
The Lagos State Commissioner informed the participants that Africa expects much from them, in terms of quality productions that will compete with the best in the world. In his words, ”Nollywood and Ghanian film industry churn out between 2000 to 2500 films in a year but you should be part of the crop that will turn at least 10% of our film productions to compete with the best in the world in Berline, Canne and Oscar”. He advised the participants to “be a story teller and businessmen to change the narratives about Africa”.
Also, the Ghanian Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ziblim Iddi, appreciated and congratulated the selected 20 students for the life changing opportunity provided by MultiChoice.
The Managing Director of MultiChoice, Mr. John Ugbe, in his remark, stated that “we have been telling authentic and well produced stories that only Africans themselves can tell … there is a lot of raw talents that need to be nurtured and polished. The academy will give such talent the opportunity to drive home their skills, thereby increasing the pool of world class talent within the industry”.
The West African Director Academy Mr. Femi Odugbemi, while giving an overview of the skills to be learnt by the participants within their one year stay at the academy, disclosed that the students will be trained in critical aspect of film making and will also be prepared as future business owners, who will in turn play their own part in building the economy around the film industry in Africa.
The 20 candidates from Nigeria and Ghana will begin their 12 months training in telling authentic African stories through a comprehensive curriculum comprising theoretical knowledge and hands on experience in cinematography, editing, audio production and storytelling.