If Titanic Were Nollywood Movie

(By Meyimi O.) - 11 Things That Would’ve Happened if “Titanic” Was a Nollywood Movie 

Titanic is a story of forbidden love between two young people separated by social class but brought together by fate. It might as well be a Nollywood production, with Kunle Remi as Jack and Osas Ighodaro as Rose. Here’s what would happen in that version. 

No iconic railing scene 

What will carry Kunle and Osas to the railing? The rescue scene would’ve been different because Osas (Rose) would choose death by poison, and Kunle (Jack) would bring out juju from his pocket to raise her from death. 

They’d meet at a wedding 

The meet-cute would be at an owambe. Rose would be on the bridal train, and Jack would be a waiter. He’d rescue the drunk Rose from her older lover who’s trying to take advantage of her. 

Rose would have a clique 

What’s a Nollywood rich girl without a group of spoilt rich friends? They’d make snide remarks whenever they see Jack, and because they’re jealous of Rose — and secretly want her rich fiance for themselves — they’d help him find and kill Jack. 

On Pope Benedict Emeritus: Life and Legacy

As the Catholic Church and the world bid farewell to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Thursday, 5 January 2022, I was on TVC News where I spoke on the life and legacy of the pontiff. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let you perpetual light shine on him.

On Christmas and Its Significance

I was on the one-hour Indepth program on Rivers State Television, Port Harcourt, Wednesday, 21 December 2022, to discuss Christmas and its significance. Had a most genial and engaging conversation with host Lilian Okonkwo and fellow guest Venerable Goddey Eleeh of the Diocese of Ikwere, Anglican Communion.

Again, on Friday, 23 December 2022, I was on NewsHub, the Silverbird Television breakfast show to also discuss the significance of Christmas. Anchors Mercy Frank and Seun Oyedeji engaged me in a profound and thought-provoking conversation on the topic.

Toward Educating an Ethical Journalist

I spoke to Africa Independent Television at the one-day workshop on "the Roles of the Public and the Press Towards Peaceful Elections” hosted Tuesday, 13 December 2022, by the Center for the Study of African Culture and Communication (CESACC) at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), in collaboration with the Cardinal Onaiyekan Foundation for Peace and the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Rivers State Council, at the Ernest Ikoli Press Center, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I represented and presented an address, “Towards Educating an Ethical Journalist,” on behalf of CIWA Rector Fr. Prof. Jude Abidemi Asanbe:

We live in interesting times; the era of fake news and alternative truth. The effect of living in a globalized world - with access to modern communication technologies, the internet, and the social media - is that even though these phenomena started in distant lands/far away places, they eventually get to our clime.         Today in Nigeria, with our elections coming up in early 2023, these issues have become our realities too.

Round Table: Nollywood, Religion, and Media

In collaboration with the Nollywood Media and Research Center (NOMAREC), Lagos, the Department of Communication Studies at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt, Nigeria, hosted a most engaging and insightful virtual round table on Nollywood and the media, Wednesday, 30 November 2022 to explore the rich and deep relationship between cinema and religion by discussing, on the one hand, Nollywood and the impact of religion on its films and filmmakers and, on the other hand, the place and role of the media in reporting the industry.

Of Hats and Representations of Culture

It's been more than a year now since I got back into the classrooms. Within this period, and without meaning to, I have made the wearing of hats my sartorial signature. I wear hats to lectures. I wear hats to school events. I wear hats everywhere. Colleagues have teased me about the hats. Some joke that they almost do not recognize me without my hats. Trust the students to always come up with the most clever comments about the hats. They admire my collection as well as how I mix and match them with my outfit. But some of them want to know which culture I represent in particular with the hats. "Multiple cultures," I always respond, because more is usually better than one. There's no method to my hat preferences though. I just enjoy wearing the hats and repping the culture.

#ForChristAndForCulture

#SmilesAMDG

Cinema and the Media Create Movie Stars

A Book Review of Azuh Amatus's Famous Faces: Interactions with Nollywood Stars and Stakeholders

 

Cinema creates movie stars—i.e., individuals who, through the masterly interpretations of their make-belief roles on the screen, enjoy a stellar level of admiration from the audience. Nollywood – the cinema of Nigeria and the second largest film industry in the world – parades such individuals in cosmic proportions. 

    Without doubt, Nigerian cinema had been engaged in the enterprise of creating movie stars before the advent of Nollywood. Actors like Adeyemi “Ade Love” Afolayan, Moses “Baba Sala” Adejumo, and Herbert “Osetura” Ogunde, for instance, gained prominence in the mid 1970s from Ola Rotimi’s Ajani Ogun (1976). 

     However, it is Nollywood’s pioneer movie, Living in Bondage (1992), that revolutionized the star culture of the Nigerian cinema, with its sleek Hollywood-style, full-color jacket. The glossy sleeve had the faces of the film’s key characters emblazoned on it. 

     Although some of the actors (like Francis Agu, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, and Kanayo O. Kanayo) were already popular on television, Living in Bondage launched them, and the myriad others who have come after them, into the stratosphere of stardom. 

In Memoriam: Peace Anyiam-Osigwe

Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, MFR (1969 - 2023)

Filmmaker, entertainment executive, founder of Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA)

Glamour Girls Remake: Boring, Confusing, Disappointing

(By Shola-Adido Oladotun) - Glamour Girls will make you reconsider watching Nollywood movies 

     Nollywood films have continued to teach valuable life lessons over the years, and Netflix’s latest original film, Glamour Girls, is no exception. After watching the remake of the 1994 classic, it is safe to say that Play Network Studios should abandon the idea of remaking or rebooting 90s series or films. 

    Glamour Girls, as the title suggests, is a film about a group of escorts and how they deal with their relationships and problems. 

    Unlike other Netflix originals I’ve seen, I had little hope for this one because the trailer looked like something a first-year film student would make. However, I decided to give it a shot because it starred some of the industry’s top actors. 

    Confused and disappointed are two of the least accurate words to describe my feelings after watching Glamour Girls. The film was flat and uninteresting in every way. It felt like I was watching Chief Daddy 2 all over again, except this time the movie was about four ladies, it explored the theme of prostitution, and it was more boring. 

LaVida Studios Secures USD50m Deal

(By Shaibu Husseini) - Good news for Nollywood from LaVida Studios and The Story Lab U.S. 

    Nollywood practitioners are gearing up to exhale in a big way soon, as leading Nigeria production studio, LaVida Studios, has secured $50 million production investment and signed a 10-project slate with Dentsu’s The Story Lab, USA. 

    Chioma Ude, founder of AFRIFF and Managing Partner in LaVida Studios who broke the news on Wednesday, disclosed that the deal, a three-year collaboration with The Story Lab is for 10 films and television properties, focused on bringing African stories to the global stage. Ude also disclosed that the alliance, which focuses on both scripted and unscripted film and TV projects, would birth production serviced exclusively by LaVida Studios for all Africa-based production out of The Story Lab. 

    A statement on the deal indicates that PAC Capital Limited has committed an initial $50 million for LaVida’s film and TV projects, including the collaboration with The Story Lab. The funding is being accessed from PAC Capital’s PanAfrican CCI Fund 1, which is a $100 million fund dedicated to financing film production and distribution in Africa. 

Amazon Prime Video Commissions Nollywood Slate Deal

(By Damilare Dosunmu) -

Amazon Prime Video commissions Nollywood’s Nemsia Films for 3 films 

    On Tuesday, Nollywood production house, Nemsia Films, announced that it closed an exclusive slate deal for 3 commissioned feature films with American streaming giant, Amazon Prime Video, which made its foray into Nollywood in December last year. 

     In theory, a slate deal in filmmaking is when one party (in this case, Amazon Prime Video) has agreed to either co-finance or solely finance multiple films of a particular film studio (in this case, Nemsia Films). In practice, Amazon is reserving the IP rights of the 3 films on the slate deal, and will cover their production costs. They would likely be called Amazon originals. 

    “We are very excited to collaborate with Nemsia Films on this pioneering slate deal, which will complement our growing lineup of local Nollywood content for Prime Video customers,” Ayanna Lonian, Director of Content Acquisition and Head of Worldwide Major Studio Licensing Strategy at Prime Video, said in a statement sent to TechCabal. “This slate deal supports our goal to showcase Nollywood at its best, by telling authentic home-grown stories in a range of genres to Prime Video customers around the world.” 

Amazon Prime Video Comes To Nollywood

(By Thomas Page, CNN) -

Amazon's going to Nollywood -- and its deals with studios could shake up one of the world's most prolific filmmaking hubs 

    In its hunt for content, Amazon Prime Video has turned to Nigeria, where it has secured key deals with studios that could shake up business in Africa's most prolific filmmaking hub. 

    In recent months, the US giant has signed exclusive streaming agreements with Inkblot Productions and Anthill Studios -- which say the deals will fundamentally change the way they operate. 

     Chinaza Onuzo, co-founder of Inkblot Productions, the studio behind domestic hits "The Wedding Party" and "Up North," told CNN Business the company has signed a three-year licensing deal running through to 2024. The deal will see Inkblot's upcoming releases move onto Amazon's platform after showing in cinemas. 

     "This allows us to plan long-term," Onuzo says. Instead of film-by-film commissioning, the company is looking at possible intellectual property deals and franchise potential in Inkblot's existing titles. "It has given us the opportunity to broaden the genres that we explore (and) given us the opportunity to work with a with a wider mix of filmmakers and talents," he adds. 

"I Loved Malcolm Because Malcolm Never Lied."

 "I loved Malcom because Malcolm never lied, unlike the schools and their façade of morality, unlike the streets and their bravado, unlike the world of dreamers. I loved him because he made it plain, never mystical or esoteric, because his science was not rooted in the actions of spooks and mystery gods but in the work of the physical world. Malcolm was the first political pragmatist I knew, the first honest man I'd ever heard. He was unconcerned with making the people who believed they were white comfortable in their belief. If he was angry, he said so. If he hated, he hated because it was human for the enslaved to hate the enslaver, natural as Prometheus hating the birds. He would not turn the other cheek for you. He would not be a better man for you. He would not be your morality. Malcolm spoke like a man who was free, like a black man above the laws that proscribed our imagination. I identified with him." 

Ta-Nehisi Coates, 2015, 36

Between the World and Me

Nollywood, Internet Streaming Boom, and Piracy

(By Frank Eleanya) Nollywood battles internet pirates as streaming booms 

    

Blood Sisters, which is supposed to be exclusive to Netflix, has been uploaded on NetNaija, a free-to-air streaming platform notorious for movie piracy 

    Nigeria’s film industry, popularly known as Nollywood, is grappling with rising cases of internet piracy as streaming is booming. 

    ‘Blood Sisters’, produced by Mo Abudu, premiered in May 2022 to rave reviews from movie fans, has since ranked number 9 on Netflix globally and attracted about 11.0 million hours of viewing. 

    However, the movie, which is supposed to be exclusive to Netflix, has been uploaded on NetNaija, a free-to-air streaming platform notorious for movie piracy. It is not only Blood Sisters that is now streaming free on NetNaija, nearly all the Nigerian movies, including ‘King of Boys: Return of the King’ released on Netflix, have been uploaded on the piracy platform. 

    ‘Blood Sisters’, ‘King of Boys: Return of the King’, and many other Nollywood productions are also being downloaded from 02Tvseries. As of May 15, the platform has recorded 51,533 views for ‘Blood Sisters’. 

Wale Fanu: Adieu to a Nollywood Enabler

(By Femi Odugbemi) - Wale Fanu: Patron saint of possibilities  

Adieu to a Nollywood enabler! Wale Fanu (21st April 1950-10th June 2022) 

    ONE of the tragedies of an insurgent creative movement like Nollywood is that a few important heroes of its emergence are martyred uncelebrated in their time. Ask any random young filmmaker in Nollywood who is Wale Fanu or even Cinekraft Studios and you are most likely to draw a blank. 

    Whilst there is no deliberate conspiracy to deny due credit to these heroes, we seem to only wake up to count our loss after they depart. It is what has deepened the grief of many like myself when we learnt of the passing of dear Wale Fanu Co-Founder/CEO of Cinekraft Films at the weekend. 

    He was a veteran and venerable TV/film Producer whose career works spanned broadcasting and film. He was also the energizer of many heritage projects in independent production in the late 80s and 90s and personal mentor to emerging storytellers across spectrum. 

    Wale Fanu was trained and worked as a cineast in the days of celluloid. And sometime in the 80s he bravely stepped out of the security of civil service to co-found with Tunde Kelani and others what then was an insurgent production company from the garage of his family house at 7 Jakande Close Surulere. That address would become iconic in the history of film/TV production in Africa.