Mark Zuckerberg Visits Nigeria and Sees the Digital Future of Nollywood
It was a very tranquil Wednesday afternoon on August 31, 2016 when Mark Zuckerberg, the famous Co-founder and CEO of Facebook came to Afrinolly Space in Oregun, in Ikeja on the mainland of Lagos, Africa’s largest megacity and the commercial hub of the continent. Mark and his Facebook team wanted to see the digital hub of Nollywood, Nigeria’s phenomenal film industry. Afrinolly is like the Silicon Valley of Nollywood created as a dynamic ecosystem for the provision of creative platforms and economic opportunities for established and emerging filmmakers (Content creators), mobile technology developers, innovative voices (Screenwriters), animators (Graphics and VFX), contemporary artists and the cultural industries.
Nigeria is Facebook’s largest market in Africa with over 16 million Nigerians monthly and more than 7 million daily visitors of which 97% of them on mobile phones and tablets.
Coming to Afrinolly Space was part of his first ever trip to sub-Saharan Africa and he came with his team of professionals who joined the staff of Afrinolly led by Mr. Chike Maduegbuna and his ebullient wife, Mrs. Jane Maduegbuna, the Executive Director; Legal and External Networks of Afrinolly and FCO limited to coordinate the programme of his tour of Afrinolly.
Facebook also used the important occasion to host invited VIPs from the Nigerian entertainment industry, including popular filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, Nollywood stars Stephanie Linus, Rita Dominic, Richard Mofe-Damijo, popularly called RMD, celebrated comedian, Basketmouth, beautiful singers Chidinma and Yemi Alade, the famous DJ Cuppy, beautiful daughter of Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola, Mrs. Tolu 'Toolz' Oniru-Demure and other dignitaries.
"One of the things I am most excited about my trip to Lagos is going to check out Nollywood. Nollywood sounds like a national treasure and the ability to produce video content that is moving and emotional transcends boundaries and will help tell stories of the amazing innovation, engineering and culture to the whole world," enthused Zuckerberg posing with the Nollwyood stars for photographs and also stumbling into a music video shoot in the Afrinolly Space studios.
Afrinolly received Facebook's Augmented Reality (AR) 360-degree camera with Head Mounted Display (HMD) goggles which Nollywood diva, Rita Dominic and others saw how to use it in their future film productions, because the future of Nollywood will be powered by the digital ecosystem.
• AR can let us see beyond the one-ten trillionth of the electromagnetic spectrum our eyes can register.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, Publisher/Editor of NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima @247nigeria.
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