Pages

Saturday, June 29, 2024

The Nuances of Igbo Narrative Drama in Nollywood


The Nuances of Igbo Narrative Drama in Nollywood

There should be film studies on 
the nuances of Igbo Narrative Drama in Nollywood. Because the studies are important, relevant and significant in Nigerian Cinema, contemporary art of Igbo culture and history and African studies for both academic scholarship and public knowledge.
There is a study on "THE NUANCED FEMINISM IN GENEVIEVE NNAJI'S LIONHEART" by Uche Omar.



I have viewed the trailer of a new Nigerian drama in Igbo language with some dialogue in English sent to me from the UK.
From the intriguing and thrilling scenarios, I can tell that this would be one of the must see movies of the year in Nigeria.




A Chief Judge fails to mature from her experiences at a Covent as a murder case threatens to eclipse her.

I can see the genius of the director in the clips in the trailer.
The casting, acting by the accomplished actors, including the current most popular Nollywood actor at the cinemas in West Africa; the cinematography; sound; costume and makeup are impressive in the storytelling in motion picture comparable to the best dramas by accomplished filmmakers in the world.

I have been calling for Nigerian drama as good as the best Korean drama, English drama, American drama and Indian drama.
This Igbo drama most likely would be what I can call, "This is it!"

I have deliberately decided not to mention the names of the principal actors. The hint of the current most popular Nollywood actor in West Africa is enough for anyone who truly knows this outstanding actor of international repute.

This should be the best Igbo drama since Genevieve Nnaji's "Lionheart" released in 2018.
This one will attract more people in Nigeria and other countries, because crime thrillers pull more crowds to the cinemas and attract more viewers on TV and streaming channels, especially psychological drama with romance and intriguing characters.

The trailer is not yet available for public viewing.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.






Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Content Development Strategy and Content Marketing Strategy for Film Production, Acquisition and Distribution for Nollywood

 


Content Development Strategy and Content Marketing Strategy for Film Production, Acquisition and Distribution for Nollywood

There is no film production without preproduction of which the most important components are research and development of the film project, script development and recce.
For example, I spent four years on the location for the script development of "Naked Beauty". I have completed the research and development during the recce on Bonny Island in Rivers State before the accomplished multiple awards winning Nollywood filmmaker and film studies scholar, Dr. Chika Christian Onu came to visit me where I was staying in the Residential Area 1 of the Nigeria LNG Limited. And we coauthored the screenplay which I published the book as a case study for screenwriting for film production in Nigeria. It was printed in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
The content development included development of the principal characters in the drama based on the people in Agaja village on Bonny Island.



Naked Beauty is available on 

Research and development of the screenplay comes first in preproduction of a film for television or the cinema.

What is Content Development Strategy?

Research on the kind of content you want to produce; the genre and the target audience.
Whether it is a movie, documentary or music video.
What kind of content will attract your target audience.
Your target audience should decide the kind of content you want to produce.

Do surveys for the needs assessment of your target audience.
What kind of entertainment they want.

Your content must connect with the target audience.
You cannot communicate with someone you cannot connect to or with.
There is no communication without connection.
You have to speak to the target audience in their own means of communication; in their most common language.
This is when you have to use content localization for the best interests of your target audience wherever they are located.
The details of the rest are common knowledge of the culture and haute couture of the target audience.
Beware of tribal and religious taboos.
Appreciate and respect the peculiarities of the personalities of the target audience.
Don't provoke them with what you have written in the screenplay as shown on the screen.
Common sense is enough to know that you don't show people eating pork with relish to Muslims.
Avoid heresy. 

You have to produce what appeals to them.
Your story and the characters must have characteristics they are familiar with; people they can relate with in their society.
Your content must resonate with them on their lives and lifestyles in the events and incidents in the story.
A good filmmaker should be a good storyteller.
The success of storytelling depends on planning.
You must have a plan.
What's the subject on?
What is the purpose?
The conclusion and resolution of conflict in your story.
Planning is like weaving in cloth making. 
You must know how to spin your yarn so that you don't spin your wheels in the long run.

Content Marketing Strategy

You must have a content marketing strategy.
The most successful filmmaker in Nollywood, Funke Akindele is the best case study in both content development strategy and content marketing strategy in the Nigerian film industry.

Funke Akindele

Funke's comic character of "Jenifa" was based on research and development of the personality of the semi literate Yoruba village girl who speaks her own peculiar form of Pidgin English in both coherent and incoherent speech. She is an impressionable and vulnerable naive young woman who is desperate to improve her life no matter the odds against her in the boisterous city of Lagos in order to get a proper education to fulfill her ambition in the highly competitive Nigerian society.





From the making of the iconic comic character of "Jenifa" for the cinema to the TV series of "Jenifa's Diary" and to the making of her Nollywood Blockbuster, "A Tribe Called Judah" (partly based on the true life experiences of her mother), Funke Akindele has shown the successful route of content development strategy and content marketing strategy. 
She is currently the highest grossing filmmaker in the Nigerian film industry with a total Gross of over ₦2.9 billion from the box office.




I told my younger sister who is one of the millions of her fans, that I can commission Funke Akindele to produce my proposed romantic comedy, "Omo Naija in London" and be rest assured of the box office success. 

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
The Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.






Monday, June 10, 2024

The 15th General Assembly of the African Union of Broadcasting To Take Place in Gaborone

 



PRESS RELEASE
The 15th General Assembly of the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) will be held from September 3 to 5, 2024 in Gaborone, Botswana
This year's event aims to explore the challenges and opportunities offered by evolving digital technologies in the audiovisual media sector

Access Multimedia Content

DAKAR, Senegal, June 10, 2024/ -- The African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) (www.UAR-AUB.org) will hold its 15th General Assembly from September 3 to 5, 2024 in Gaborone, capital of the Republic of Botswana, under the theme: “The future of African media facing the challenges of new technologies and changes climate”.

This high-level meeting will bring together Chief Executives of the media and broadcasting industry, officials, experts, academics, content creators from across the African continent as well as representatives of sister Unions and partners.

This year's event aims to explore the challenges and opportunities offered by evolving digital technologies in the audiovisual media sector. For the AUB, it is a question of discussing the place of Africa in the generation and management of metadata for the creation of audiovisual content in the era of artificial intelligence, of working on the transformation of the professions of audiovisual through AI, to find innovative strategies to meet the changing needs of African audiences in an increasingly digitalized media environment.

The AUB General Assembly will also provide a unique platform to strengthen regional and international cooperation to create awareness and engage citizens in the fight against climate change.

The discussion will also focus on the best way to boost the participation of countries not only in sharing of content on the AUBVISION Platform, but also to make it the source of news about countries in Africa.

The 15th general assembly of the AUB will serve as a framework for rewarding journalistic excellence through an AWARDS ceremony organized in partnership with SOLSAN Communications.

It will open a window of solidarity with people who are victims of cancer thanks to fundraising and a benefit concert offered for the occasion.

Grégoire NDJAKA

Director General
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union of Broadcasting (AUB).
 
Press contact: 
contact@uar-aub.org
Tel: +221 338 21 16 25

About the African Union of Broadcasting: 
The African Union of Broadcasting is the largest organization of media professionals in Africa which brings together national and private radio and television organizations from African states. The AUB is responsible for developing all segments of the television and broadcasting industry in Africa. It works to develop exchanges of authentic African content through its content distribution platform, AUBVISION.

SOURCE
African Union of Broadcasting (AUB)



How To Write The Perfect CV - The Economist


How To Write The Perfect CV - The Economist

How to write the perfect CV

A job applicant walks into a bar


Imagine meeting a stranger at a party. What makes for a successful encounter? Lesson one is to heed the wisdom of a shampoo commercial from the 1980s: you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Lesson two is to remember that you do not need to wear a beret or a fur stole in order to stand out. Lesson three is not to forget that what you leave out matters as much as what you say.

These same principles, it turns out, apply to writing a cv. A résumé is not a list of every job you ever had. It is not your autobiography. It is, like that hair-care advert, a marketing tool. Your audience is made up of recruiters and hiring managers. Like cocktail-party guests, they do not take a long time to decide if they want to keep talking. According to one study, such professionals spend an average of 7.4 seconds skimming a job application. 

Read more on 
https://www.economist.com/business/2024/05/30/how-to-write-the-perfect-cv

BRICS Gathered in Geneva To Discuss a New Digital Order



PRESS RELEASE
BRICS Gathered in Geneva To Discuss a New Digital Order
Experts and antitrust officials met in Geneva to propose solutions to the challenges faced by antitrust authorities in the digital markets of the BRICS countries to find common ground between them, especially in the area of regulation of digital platforms and AI
 
GENEVA, Switzerland, June 10, 2024/ -- The UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Webinar on Competition law and policy approaches towards digital platforms and ecosystems in cooperation with the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre (https://www.BRICSCompetition.org/) and the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) was held on June 3, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The digitalization of the economy - legislature, trade, customs, logistics, etc. - is just entering its most active stage of development, itself a preparatory stage for the automation of the economy. One of the most pressing issues now, at the initial stage of digitalization, is still the streamlining and creation of a regulatory framework for future global processes. This includes the issue of antitrust regulation, both within individual countries and various interstate associations, such as the EU or BRICS.

"Today, the actions of antitrust agencies in different countries remain disparate and fragmented. Lack of consensus leads to weakened enforcement, and ecosystems increase anti-competitive pressure on the market. Antitrust law is on the verge of losing its relevance and strength in the digital economy. We need some form of international agreement on the regulation of digital ecosystems, especially given the development of AI technologies,” emphasized Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Center.

As the expert explained, each BRICS jurisdiction has its own objectives with regard to competition law. There is a common core, which has been defined as consumer welfare, efficient allocation of resources and economic freedom. But so far, one of the bottlenecks in dealing with digital markets is market definition - the application of traditional market definition tools is challenged by the tendency of digital markets to be highly innovative and dynamic.

The development of new definitions and indicators is one of the most important tasks of the meeting. As part of the presentation, Victor Oliveira Fernandes, Commissioner of CADE, stated that within their organization a number of new indicators have already been developed to define the platform market: for example, the ability to unilaterally impose conditions, including as a show of bargaining power, ownership of key datasets, ability to influence choice through online platform architecture, lack of transparency.

Since this year, the number of BRICS member countries has grown, and further expansion is being discussed. Moreover, the association, which remained formal for a long time, is beginning to work more actively. The more active the more real contradictions and problems. Nevertheless, experts noted that there is a significant convergence among BRICS jurisdictions in recognizing the importance of certain essential standards, such as consumer welfare standards, but there are also some differences that are worth highlighting. Authorities in different countries, especially Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, recognize other objectives, such as ensuring economic freedom or a level playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises. And these goals can somehow be translated into more elaborate legal standards for assessing abuse of dominance.

Alexey Ivanov also focused the participants' attention on the fact that cooperation exactly within the framework of supranational associations can give real results in the fight against violations of fair competition rules by global monopolists in local markets. "Much more opportunities for developing countries lie in the area of cooperation. BRICS, as you know, is expanding and working in the area of developing joint enforcement actions, remedies, investigations, case reviews, because this is how you essentially balance the playing field in the fight against global companies,” Ivanov explained.

The meeting was attended by a wide pool of international experts and representatives of national and international competition authorities: Victor Oliveira Fernandes, Commissioner, CADE; Rajinder Punja, Economic Director, CCI/ Representative from SAMR (tbc); Masako Wakui, Professor of Law, Kyoto University; Maria Ioannidou, Professor, Queen Mary University of London; Deni Mantzari, Associate Professor, University College of London; Alexey Ivanov, Director, BRICS Competition Law and Policy Center. The experts agreed to continue working on the creation of a harmonized system of supranational instruments of antitrust regulation.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre.
 
About BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre:
The BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre was established in 2018 by the BRICS competition authorities. The Centre’s work is aimed at collecting and analyzing information from competition agencies, identifying best practices, but primarily at preparing recommendations and developing approaches to competition policy that reflect the interests of the development of the BRICS economies. The key mission of the BRICS Competition Centre is to advance the development agenda and strengthen the role of competition regulation in overcoming imbalances in the global economy. The Centre brings together leading international universities and independent researchers who are actively involved in the Centre’s main research projects: on global food chains, on sustainability policy and on new approaches to antitrust regulation of the digital economy.

SOURCE
BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre




Tuesday, June 4, 2024

The Numbers of Subscribers of Netflix in Nigeria and in South Africa and the Way Forward is Content Localization



The Numbers of Subscribers of Netflix in Nigeria and in South Africa and the Way Forward is Content Localization for Nigerians

Currently the numbers of Nigerian subscribers on Netflix are only  169,600+ out of a population of 106 million bankable adults. 

South Africa has by far the most paid subscribers on Netflix with 1,172,800 subscriptions, accounting for 73.3 percent of the 1.6 million subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa has 69.5 percent of the $135 million subscription revenue from the region in 2022. Netflix made $93.82 million from South Africa alone.

What are the challenges of Netflix in Nigeria?
What are the solutions?
I have written on the challenges and solutions in my previous articles in 2022 and 2023.

Showmax of the MultiChoice Group, the biggest and largest entertainment company in Africa has overtaken Netflix on the continent. I prefer to call the MultiChoice, the King Kong of African Entertainment Industry.




The MultiChoice Group and Comcast’s NBCUniversal Media are investing more than US$177 million into Showmax
The strategic partnerships with Comcast and HBO and the access to the biggest football leagues in the world have increased the international milage and patronage of Showmax in Africa and beyond.

Nigeria with the largest population in Africa actually has the largest viewers of content online on the continent.
There were 103.0 million internet users in Nigeria in January 2024. Nigeria's internet penetration rate stood at 45.5 percent of the total population at the start of 2024. Kepios analysis indicates that internet users in Nigeria increased by 2.2 million (+2.2 percent) between January 2023 and January 2024

Majority of them watch Nollywood videos on YouTube spending millions of dollars monthly on data.

Read the following reports:

Streaming swells monthly internet spend to N216bn - Businessday NG-

MTN Nigeria’s data revenues have risen from N102.99 billion in the six months ending June 2019 to N349.51 billion in the three months ending March 2024. Airtel Nigeria’s data revenues have grown from N28.81 billion ($80 million at N360.06/$) as of the three months ended June 2019 to N151.15 billion ($116 million at N1,303/$) as of the quarter ended March 2024. Average data usage per customer has grown from 1.63GB to 6.3 GB per month on Airtel. MTN’s average data usage per customer rose to 8.6GB as of the end of Q1, 2024.

Amid penetration surge, Nigerians spend over N500b on data in Q1 | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News — Technology — The Guardian -

In 2023, MTN alone raked in N1.07 trillion from data subscriptions, representing a 39.8 per cent growth from N764.82 billion in 2022. Similarly, active data users on the network of MTN jumped by 12.7 per cent to 70.66 million in 2023, rising by over five million.

Facts and Figures

There are more than 20 million people in Nigeria who can afford the monthly subscriptions for Netflix. But Netflix has to CONNECT with them in their most spoken languages by doing the following:

1. Content localization which MultiChoice has used to attract millions of more subscribers in Nigeria.
There should be Netflix Yoruba;
Netflix Igbo and Netflix Hausa
These are the biggest and largest tribes in Nigeria with more than 150 million people in Nigeria and over 20 million in other countries.

There are different types of content localization.

2.?
How the Numbers of Subscribers of Netflix in Nigeria Can Increase To Over 1 Million Before 2025

It has been done before by a multinational company in Nigeria. And the same method will attract thousands of new subscribers to Netflix.

The fact is millions of people in Nigeria spend 100 percent more on paying for data to watch videos on YouTube monthly than what subscribers to Netflix pay monthly in the country.
My younger sister buys 25GB of data on the MTN network monthly to watch videos on YouTube paying N500 for 2GB.
She is one of the millions of people in Nigeria watching movies daily on YouTube.
She is addicted to Nollywood and Hollywood movies; watching more than four movies daily in-between her duties in the house. And she also reads novels and her King James Version of the Holy Bible. 
Her neighbor on the third floor spends more than my sister watching movies on DStv channels of the MultiChoice Group in Nigeria.

Netflix can consult me for how to overtake Showmax before the new year.

I am an expert on what I have proposed to Netflix.
I was commissioned by the John's Hopkins University's Population Communication Services (JHU/ PCS) to produce fully illustrated booklets on family planning methods in Pidgin English, Igbo,Hausa and Yoruba for Nigeria in 1984 and updated in 1990. 
Therefore, I am an expert in content localization in Nigeria since when I was 21 to date.
I have also done field trips on demographics of the population of Nigeria.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry since 2013.
Affiliate Partner,
Cinewav of Singapore
https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi

Have you seen Nancy Isime, the Sexiest Woman in Nollywood in "UNFORGIVABLE"?

The most daring Nigerian movie on love and rape.



Saturday, June 1, 2024

2024 Cannes Film Festival: Winner of the Palme d'Or the Other Winners

 

2024 Cannes Film Festival: Winner of the Palme d'Or the Other Winners


77th EDITION

May 14-25, 2024

Palme d’Or

ANORA

Directed by : Sean BAKER

Year of production: 2024

Country: United States

Duration: 138

"Anora, a young sex worker from

Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled."

https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/anora/#

Grand Prix

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT

Payal Kapadia

Jury Prize

EMILIA PÉREZ

Jacques Audiard

Best Director

MIGUEL GOMES

for Grand Tour

Special Award

MOHAMMAD RASOULOF

for The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Exiled Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was given a Special Prize for The Seed of the Sacred Fig. 

Best Performance by an Actor

JESSE PLEMONS

in Kinds of Kindness directed by Yórgos Lánthimos

Best Performance by an Actress

ADRIANA PAZ

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

ZOE SALDAÑA

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

SELENA GOMEZ

in Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard

Best Screenplay

THE SUBSTANCE

Coralie Fargeat

Short Films

Palme d’or

THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT

Nebojša Slijepčević

Special Mention

BAD FOR A MOMENT

Daniel Soares

Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard Prize

BLACK DOG

by Guan Hu

Jury Prize

L’HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE

by Boris Lojkine

Best Director Prize ex-aequo

ROBERTO MINERVINI

for The Damned

RUNGANO NYONI

for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

Best Performance by an Actress

ANASUYA SENGUPTA

in The Shameless

Best Performance by an Actor

ABOU SANGARÉ

in L’Histoire de Souleymane

Youth Award

HOLY COW

by Louise Courvoisier

1st film

Special Mention

NORAH

by Tawfik Alzaidi

1st film

Caméra d’or

ARMAND

Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

Un Certain Regard

Special Mention

MONGREL

Wei Liang Chiang & You Qiao Yin

La Cinef

First Prize

SUNFLOWERS WERE THE FIRST ONES TO KNOW…

Chidananda S Naik

Joint Second Prize

OUT THE WINDOW THROUGH THE WALL

Asya Segalovich

THE CHAOS SHE LEFT BEHIND

Nikos Kolioukos

Third Prize

BUNNYHOOD

Mansi Maheshwari

Meet the 77th Festival winners - Festival de Cannes

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2024/a-la-rencontre-des-laureats-du-77e-festival/

See the films of the Official Selection 2024 - Festival de Cannes

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/press/press-releases/the-films-of-the-official-selection-2024/



Happy New Month of June!


HALLELUJAH! 

Happy New Month of June of Prosperity, Success, Triumph and Victory with all the thanksgivings to Almighty God. 

Cheers!

#God

#june

#happynewmonth

#happiness

#progress

#prosperity

#success 

#triumphant 

#triumph

#victory