Hollywood, Health & Society Partner Nollywood Workshops and India Using Entertainment To Improve Lives

1 Nov 2013 13:00 Africa/Lagos  

World's Largest Film Industries Using Entertainment To Improve Lives New Global Centers in Nigeria and India Partner with Hollywood for Social Impact  

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- India's Bollywood and Nigeria's Nollywood film industries are leveraging the power of entertainment in an effort to prevent disease and improve the quality of life for the hundreds of millions of viewers of their TV shows and films. A two-year, $2.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S) is supporting a groundbreaking partnership across the world's leading entertainment industries to increase visibility of pressing social and health issues.


HH&S is a program of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. As research by the Lear Center and others has shown, entertainment has a profound impact on people's knowledge, attitudes and behavior. That's why, since 2001, the U.S.'s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other funders have enabled HH&S to connect Hollywood's creative community, including the writers of Homeland , Mad Men, House, CSI, The Good Wife, Breaking Bad and scores of other shows, with experts on the full range of public health issues, for free. 
Now HH&S is going global, teaming up with new centers in Lagos, Nigeria and Mumbai, India that will conduct sustained and systematic outreach to their entertainment industries in order to increase the accuracy, accessibility and frequency of health and other socially-relevant topics in television, film and new media.
In Lagos, HH&S is partnering with Nollywood Workshops, directed by Bond Emeruwa and Aimee Corrigan, to launch the Gist program. Gist will support independent filmmakers in Nollywood's thriving entertainment scene who are working to inspire and inform a growing audience across Africa. In early 2014, Gist will host at a high-profile industry event in Nigeria, where leading Hollywood writers will join their Nollywood counterparts and top medical experts in a series of workshops and site visits.
In Mumbai, HH&S and the Asian Center for Entertainment Education have created The Third Eye, which will produce original content dealing with pressing public health and development issues, and will also provide free expert resources on a wide variety of medical and scientific topics.  Long known for its entertaining musicals and comedies, Bollywood is now seeing the rise of a "parallel cinema" featuring more serious and provocative stories. Vinta Nanda, founder and managing director of The Third Eye, is a writer and producer known for her pioneering work as creator of the popular Indian TV series, Tara. HH&S trips bringing Grey's Anatomy co-executive producer Zoanne Clack and Writers Guild of America, West president Chris Keyser to Mumbai laid the groundwork for the Third Eye collaboration.
"We're thrilled to be able to bring what we've learned about social impact in the U.S. to our partners in Nollywood and Bollywood, which are even bigger industries than Hollywood," said USC Annenberg professor Martin Kaplan, the Lear Center's founding director and principal investigator of HH&S since its inception.


HH&S's Chris Dzialo will manage the global centers program from the Norman Lear Center in Los Angeles.
Hollywood, Health & Society, a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, recognizes the effects that entertainment media have on individual knowledge, attitudes and behavior and provides entertainment industry professionals with accurate information about public health, health care coverage and climate change. HH&S offers free resources to writers and producers, including briefings and consultations with experts, panel discussions at the Writers Guild of America, West, customized site visits, screenings, tip sheets, a newsletter and web links to health information and public service announcements.  The program also conducts studies of the impact on storylines on audiences. For more information, visit usc.edu/hhs .
The Norman Lear Center is a multidisciplinary research and public policy center that has been studying and shaping the impact of entertainment and media on society since 2000. From its base in the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the Lear Center builds bridges between faculty who study aspects of entertainment, media and culture. Beyond campus, it bridges the gap between entertainment industry and academia, and between them and the public. For more information, visit learcenter.org.

 
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. For information, visit gatesfoundation.org.


SOURCE Norman Lear Center
CONTACT: Chris Dzialo, (323) 782-3310, dzialo@usc.edu
Web Site: http://www.hollywoodhealthandsociety.org

Top Nigerians Report Online's MP3 Downloads

• The African Film Festival of Cordoba Reaches 13,000 Spectators in its 10th Edition  link
  4 Nov 2013 | 02:26 AM (2397 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Nigeria is Not Among the Top 10 Biggest Film Countries in the World  link
  3 Nov 2013 | 07:13 AM (2791 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Global Movie Production & Distribution: Market Research Report  link
  3 Nov 2013 | 06:33 AM (984 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Connect the Dots  link
  3 Nov 2013 | 03:52 AM (169 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Dear President Goodluck Jonathan, I Am Not Going To Flatter You  link
  2 Nov 2013 | 07:47 AM (3972 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• U.S. News - Best Lawyers® releases 2014 "Best Law Firms" List  link
  2 Nov 2013 | 02:17 AM (2893 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Those Who Know God Fear Nothing Else Except God and They Don't Live Like Fools  link
  1 Nov 2013 | 03:22 AM (2900 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Top 10 Most Educated Countries in the World  link
  31 Oct 2013 | 10:53 AM (399 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• One Africa, One Money?  link
  31 Oct 2013 | 06:45 AM (1928 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Bill Clinton and Olusegun Obasanjo to Judge Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge  link
  29 Oct 2013 | 12:07 PM (3678 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Avoid Paying Expensive College Application Fees  link
  28 Oct 2013 | 06:47 AM (1955 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Sharon Stone Wins 2013 Nobel Peace Summit Award  link
  25 Oct 2013 | 10:33 AM (1040 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• American Blackout Premieres Sunday, October 27 on the National Geographic Channel  link
  25 Oct 2013 | 06:40 AM (5229 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• The Gruesome Murder of Sister Afra Martinelli  link
  25 Oct 2013 | 03:15 AM (1769 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Most Outrageous Excuses Workers Have Given When Calling in Sick  link
  25 Oct 2013 | 02:37 AM (2979 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• U2opia Mobile Launches Facebook without Internet with MTN Nigeria  link
  23 Oct 2013 | 12:23 PM (1777 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Rotary Hinges 2014 Polio-free Target on Consistent Vaccination  link
  23 Oct 2013 | 08:11 AM (3604 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• 'Good Wife' co-star Archie Panjabi partners with Rotary, Northwestern to put polio eradication on center stage Oct. 24  link
  22 Oct 2013 | 08:27 AM (3430 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Nigeria Box Office Index  link
  21 Oct 2013 | 12:15 PM (2076 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Top 18 Jobs.for College Graduates  link
  21 Oct 2013 | 08:09 AM (377 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• 16 Years of Uninterrupted Power Supply on Bonny Island in Nigeria  link
  19 Oct 2013 | 03:36 AM (1394 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Top 5 Wealthiest People in Africa  link
  18 Oct 2013 | 11:26 AM (2000 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• There Are Many African Filmmakers, But There Are No African Cinemas  link
  18 Oct 2013 | 10:28 AM (4939 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• The First "Girl Rising" Success Story in Nigeria and How A Free MTN School Bag Made A Great Difference  link
  18 Oct 2013 | 07:18 AM (2443 KB)
  Download MP3  
  
  
• Catholic Church of Resurrection's 2013 Pre-Harvest Dinner at the Sheraton Hotels  link
  17 Oct 2013 | 02:52 AM (899 KB)
  Download MP3  
   

Tweet

 

The African Film Festival of Cordoba Reaches 13,000 Spectators in its 10th Edition

The African Film Festival of Cordoba reaches 13,000 spectators in its tenth edition Annual date of reference in Europe for African cinemas

Cordoba, 4^th November 2013. The African Film Festival of Cordoba-FCAT has reached 13,000 spectators in its tenth edition, celebrated from the 11^th to the 19^th of October. In its second year at Cordoba, after eight editions in Tarifa (Cadiz), the audiences have enjoyed a panoramic view towards the realities of cinemas in Africa and the Arab World, through 70 films from 32 different countries, and a series of round tables, conferences and exhibitions, among other activities. 

 FCATstaff.

The director of FCAT Cordoba, Mane Cisneros, has highlighted that the festival “has managed to maintain the number of spectators despite the very hard times that Spain is going through”. In this tenth anniversary, the organisation has designed a very modest festival regarding funding (200,000€), yet “under high standards of quality”.

Cisneros considers that this piece of data confirms that Cordoba has made a good choice by consolidating the festival in its city. However, she has pointed out that “if we want the festival to grow, we will need to find solutions fighting against the scarcity of means that we have worked with this year”.

In this way, the festival –organised by the NGOD Al Tarab, supported mainly by the City Council of Cordoba, and sponsored by Magtel, Halal Institute, El Corte Inglés, Turkish Airlines, Diputación de Córdoba and Eurostarshotes, among others – cements its place as the annual date of reference in Europe for African cinemas. Today, it is the only Spanish event devoted to the film productions in Africa and one of the most important events in the world.

During the festival, a total of 13,000 spectators have joined the screens and at Cordoba to enjoy the wide range of activities offered by the festival. Among them, 3,000 children and teenagers have participated in the Learning Space of FCAT Cordoba, an on-growing number thanks to the work carried out by the areas of Education and Cooperation in the City Council of Cordoba, as well as the contributions of a large number of teachers.

Under the aim of bringing African cinemas for all publics, the festival has integrated in its programme screenings across the province and municipalities of Cordoba, as well as a storyteller in the squares of the town.

The director of the festival has also highlighted the importance of the volunteering team in this tenth edition, “as an indispensible link with the city” and organising numerous activities of citizen participation during the weeks prior to the festival. These parallel activities proposes “as festival open to the citizens, offering it much more than a week of cinema”. Thus, and always thanks to the volunteering team, “we will try to keep all these activities for the whole year, so that there is a consolidation of audiences for the incoming editions”.

Once again, FCAT Cordoba has organised the FCAT Espacio Profesional, gathering together a number of international experts on African and Arab cinemas as well as European and African producers, distributers and filmmakers, seeking to find new ways of funding these projects and prompting new links between Africa and Europe, allowing young African filmmakers to develop their film projects.

The festival has reached around 550 publications in the national media, valued in over 750,000€. Also, the international media coverage has reached around 300 publications, bringing new countries on board, such as China, India, Madagascar and Peru. Almost 100 journalists have been accredited to come and cover the festival for their media. 

A city of cinema

The African Film Festival of Cordoba, celebrating its tenth anniversary, has proposed, between the 11^th and the 19^th of October, a panoramic trip across 32 different countries, loyal to its aim to contribute to a better understanding of the neighbouring continent through its cinemas.

Over 70 films have been screened during one week, whose subjects revolve around Africa and the Middle East. Out of these 70 films, 27 were part of the three competitive sections: The African Dream (feature length films), The Other Side of the Strait (documentary films) and Africa in Short (documentary and feature short films).

National Media Office:

María José Martín

Tel.: +34 659 80 88 16

gabineteprensa@fcat.es

International Media Office:

Estrella Sendra

Tel.: +34 667 39 26 13

media@fcat.es

Tweet
 

Nigeria is Not Among the Top 10 Biggest Film Countries in the World

It is really misleading for many filmmakers, marketers (and that includes the pirates too) and other stakeholders in Nigeria's Nollywood to keep on ranting that Nollywood is the second largest movie industry in the World. Since when if I may ask? Of course, they will rush to quote the over hyped report on Nigeria surpasses Hollywood as world's second largest film producer – UN of May 5, 2009; based on the unconfirmed figure of 872 Nollywood movies produced in 2006. And the Nollywood noisemakers keep on ranting about this claim even today after four years!
When many of them have turned their attention to opening and running restaurants and bars and fighting over associations instead of making movies. How many of their movies are showing at the few cinemas in Nigeria where we have only 0.4 cinema screens to 100,000 people in the most populous country in Africa with over 160 million people? How many of their run-of-the-mill home videos have they produced so far this year? The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) should give us the facts and figures and not unverified claims and rumours.

According to Forbes, the United States is still the world’s largest film market with box office revenues of over $10.8 billion in 2012, a 6.5 percent increase over 2011. And that is current and based on facts and figures from the IRS. And China is now the bona fide number two after the U.S., generated box revenues of approximately $2.7 billion in 2012, a 30.2 percent increase over 2011. According to Forbes, "even with 13,000 theaters, one for every 220,000 people, China’s film industry remains relatively unsaturated. In the United States, there is one screen for every 9,000 people. At this rate, China could top the U.S. film market by 2020". And the most expensive Chinese film The Flowers of War" cost a whooping $94 million! But in Nigeria, I doubt if we even have one screen for every 1, 000, 000 people! Just divide the population of Nigeria by the number of screens at the few cinemas in the country. Simple maths would do.

 If Nollywood is making millions of dollars as the Nollywood noisemakers claim, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) should have the facts and figures as the IRS of the United States can tell you what the American motion picture industry contributes to the U.S economy every year. Nigeria does not even have a film market! You can also see the Global Movie Production & Distribution: Market Research Report.

I have already analyzed and published the facts and figures in my Nollywood Mirror Series published and distributed by Amazon, but since majority of Nigerians prefer gossiping to reading, they are still either ignorant of the truth or simply want to continue with their "illusion of grandeur" in typical Nigerian fallacy and hypocrisy of conceit and deceit. Well, the following are the facts and figures again with a map of the top ten feature films productions countries in the world.

1. North American $10.8bn.

The USA is still far ahead of any other Country for now and in no danger of being over taken but they will surely be looking over their shoulder as China continues its march forwards world domination.

2. China $2.7bn

As with everything about China these days, they have become the world’s second-biggest movie market, taking over from Japan.

3. Japan $2.4bn

Dumped off second spot, Japan must be resigned to the evitable position of playing second fiddle to China from now on in the film industry.

4. France & UK $1.7bn

 Coming in joint fourth France and the UK’s appetite for films shows no signs of declining, as both still maintain very strong cinema going cultures.

5. India $1.4bn

The Indian film industry has been a powerhouse for many years now, making the largest number of films in the world, buying the highest number of tickets and having the second largest screen count. However, they only come in at number 5 in box-office revenues mainly because on average their home market has the amongst the lowest ticket prices in the world.

6. Germany $1.35bn

Despite being in the Euro Zone, 2012 saw Germany generate their highest ever Box office revenues increasing by 7.8%, with 135.1 million Cinema tickets sold representing an increase of 4.2%

7. Russia $1.2bn

With only a fraction of the United State’s screens, Russia is the seventh-largest film market by Box office take and is making steady progress.

8. Italy $1.01bn

Italy is another Country whose film sector is being weighed down in recent times by the impact of the Euro Zone economic crisis.

9. Spain $900m

Plagued by the economic woes of a shrinking market, rampant piracy, subsidy cuts, Spain’s film industry is down on the list.

10. Brazil $800m

Brazil is considered to have the most accessible film industry amongst the so-called high-growth emerging BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China).
 Source: TALKING DRUM ENTERTAINMENT.

 ~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima.


 Tweet

 

Global Movie Production & Distribution: Market Research Report

Market Share of Companies

Disney 

NBCUniversal 

News Corporation 

Time Warner 

Industry Statistics & Forecast

Revenue $90bn	Annual Growth 08-13 0.2%	Annual Growth 13-18
Profit	Employment ('000) 860	Businesses 58,100

Industry Analysis & Industry Trends

In the past five years, advancements in technology stimulated demand for movies, despite a dip in disposable income in established industry markets during the recession. A rise in cinema establishments throughout newly industrialized countries and online streaming website development facilitated wider access to movies. Higher quality exhibition options like high-definition TVs and digital cinema and an expected rise in GDP growth for newly industrialized nations are anticipated to support industry revenue through the rest of the year, while high-definition home media products will spur industry demand over the next five-year period... read more

Industry Analysis

During the past five years, advancements in technology stimulated demand for movies, even as disposable income dipped in established industry markets. As a result of these conflicting trends, industry revenue is expected to grow just 0.2% annually on average over the five years in 2013 to total $89.5 billion. Consumers had tighter budgets due to lower disposable income since the Great Recession in 2009; however, a rise in cinema establishments throughout newly industrialized countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and online streaming website development facilitated consumer access to motion pictures. Higher-quality exhibition options like high-definition TVs and digital cinema also justified increased pricing across many regions... read more

Tweet

 

Connect the Dots

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

 – Steve Jobs

 Tweet

 

Dear President Goodluck Jonathan, I Am Not Going To Flatter You

Dear President Goodluck Jonathan,
I am not going to flatter you and I have no apologies or regrets for saying the truth whether you care about criticisms or not.
I will not join the bandwagon of sycophants who prefer to flatter you and pay you eye service and lip service to curry your favour.
I am not a member of the opposition and I am not a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).
I am not a member or sympathizer of the New PDP, because I believe in one PDP, one Nigeria. Because as our Lord and Messiah Jesus Christ said: A house divided against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:22-28, New King James Version (NKJV). So, they are just wasting their time. The sooner they reconcile with the bona fide PDP, the better instead of heating the polity.
Yes, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, CON, was once my boss, but I have not seen him since 1990 when I was an active aide in the publicity department of his presidential campaign before the June 12 crisis.

Your excellency, no human is as excellent as the Almighty God who alone is the perfect excellency. So, if anyone criticizes us mere mortals for our imperfections, we should not say we don't give a damn.
It is better to swallow a bitter pill that will heal you than eat sweet that is nothing but sugar that will do you more harm than good in the long run.
When you do good, I will commend you.
But when you err, I will also point it out to you.

Following ignorant Christians to Israel on their pilgrimage to hit your head on the Western Wall in the midst of the Old City in Jerusalem has nothing to do with Christianity, because our Messiah Jesus Christ never commanded us to do so.
As the government wastes millions of naira of public funds on sponsoring religious pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem, our beloved tourist attractions in Nigeria are neglected and left in ruins. And the best our honourable minister and director-general of tourism and culture can do is organizing costume parades called carnivals that have little or nothing to do to boost our cultural heritage. Nigeria is not Brazil.

The power reforms are fine. But no applause for you until I see those who forced Prof. Bart Nnaji to resign from your cabinet closing their generator shops and looking for more patriotic jobs to do than fishing in troubled waters like your kinsmen posing as Niger Delta militants in the polluted creeks and worsening the cases of crude of thefts and you know those who are the kingpins of illegal oil exports from our shores.
Those errand boys paraded on television and on the pages of newspapers are not the real oil thieves.
The real criminals are their paymasters and their private bank accounts in local and foreign banks are enough to catch them.
They know themselves and are members of the same club.
Of course, the importers of generators and oil thieves are partners in crime.

Your Excellency, the resolution of the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not a herculean task and lest we forget, you have also joined similar strikes when you were a lecturer and if you of all people who should know better cannot solve the recurrent problems doing collateral damage to government tertiary institutions, then millions of Nigerian students who voted to elect you have wasted their votes.
Strike or no strike, the state of government schools in general is pathetic.
Hostels on campuses are not better than urban ghettos and the horrible conditions of their toilets will make any normal person faint.
I cannot understand why there should be lack of regular supply of water on campuses when sinking boreholes is not rocket science and every hostel can sink as many boreholes as possible and solar power installations on campuses can provide power supply for the benefit of both the students and others on campuses.
Installing solar panels is a great way to save money on electricity bills. And we have more than enough sunlight in our hot climate to generate solar energy.

Your excellency, another problem giving me nightmares is the nauseating state of both the military and police barracks.
If you go on tour of these barracks, you will be heart broken, except you have no shame or scruples.
Majority of our military and police barracks are not fit for human accommodation and most of them are now overcrowded with broken down bathrooms and toilets and I weep to see what the innocent children of military and police officers are suffering in these inhuman living conditions.
The solution is simple.
The total renovation of dilapidated military and police barracks.
Give direct contacts for the renovation to Julius Berger and other proven construction firms to make them modern military and police barracks and also install solar panels in every block and on every street in the barracks.
When we improve the living conditions of our military and police officers; pay them better wages, it will boost their morale; they will be well fed; well trained and well kitted to do their best in law enforcement duties and defending the precious lives and properties of the citizens of Nigeria.

Your excellency, if you have really done well for government hospitals, then why should you and your beloved First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan spend millions of dollars on foreign medical trips with other top public officials?
The N250bn Nigeria spends annually on medical tourism is more than enough to make our own hospitals among the best in the world.
And the best way to begin is to increase the funding for our medical colleges and I want all medical students in Nigeria to be on full government scholarship, because we need more medical doctors and we have to train more and poverty should not stop any brilliant student from studying medicine locally with the best facilities.

Your excellency, you deserve more accolades for the billions of naira you have invested in Nollywood and Kannywood. But many people say you are simply pampering our actors, actresses and other practitioners in the motion picture business in Nigeria to mobilize them for your selfish political interests. Well, as far as I can see, the few beneficiaries were not asked for their memberships of the PDP. But, I would prefer you increase the N3b grant to N300b; to give grants to those who want to invest in building more cinemas or movie theaters and studios, because mass producing CDs and DVDs of our movies will not create more jobs. Only building more cinemas and film studios will create millions of jobs like the motion picture industry in America that employs more than 2.1 million workers, including costume designers to make-up artists, stuntmen to set builders, writers to actors, accountants to dry cleaners and contributes more than $175 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
Do you know that the global entertainment industry is worth more than $1. 23 trillion. And we have the largest market in Africa and so Nigeria should be making billions of dollars and not asking for your handouts.

Your excellency, that is all I have to tell you now until further notice.
I wish you the best as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And don't tell me you don't give a damn.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, prize winning writer and Author of "In the House of Dogs", "The Prophet Lied" and other books. He is also the Founder of the annual Eko International Film Festival, Publisher/Editor of Nigerians Report Online, CEO, International Digital Post Network Limited, CEO, Screen Outdoor Open Cinema, CEO, Nigeria IMAX Project, Executive Director of Screen Naija One Village, One Cinema Project and CEO, of King of Kings Books International.

In the House of Dogs eBook: Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi: Kindle ...

www.amazon.com › Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Historical‎

In the House of Dogs - Kindle edition by Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features ...

Tweet

U.S. News - Best Lawyers® releases 2014 "Best Law Firms" List

1 Nov 2013 13:15 Africa/Lagos

U.S. News - Best Lawyers® releases 2014 "Best Law Firms" list

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --  U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers , for the fourth consecutive year, announce the 2014 "Best Law Firms" rankings.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131101/PH08731LOGO)
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100603/PH13717LOGO)

Firms included in the 2014 "Best Law Firms" list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.
"U.S. News has more than two decades of experience in providing the public with the most accurate and in-depth rankings of a wide range of institutions, including our Best Law Schools rankings," says Tim Smart, Executive Editor of U.S. News & World Report. "Law firms are an integral part of our rankings and a natural accompaniment to the law school rankings."


The 2014 rankings are based on the highest number of participating firms and highest number of client ballots on record. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have a lawyer listed in The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys in the US. Over 12,000 attorneys provided over 330,000 law firm assessments, and almost 7,000 clients provided close to 20,000 evaluations.  In addition, to provide personal insight, a new Law Firm Leaders Survey was implemented in the decision-making process.


"Because we combine hard data with peer reviews and client assessments," says Steven Naifeh, President and Co-Founder of Best Lawyers, "more and more clients inform us ours are the most thorough, accurate, and helpful rankings of law firms ever developed."


Ranked firms, presented in tiers, are listed on a national and/or metropolitan scale.  Receiving a tier designation reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.
Awards were given in 74 national practice areas and 120 metropolitan practice areas.  One "Law Firm of the Year" is named in 87 of the ranked practice areas.


The 2014 "Best Law Firms" list will be featured in two publications, distributed later this month. The national first-tier rankings will be featured in the first edition of the "Best Law Firms" Legal Issue, which will be distributed to over 30,000 C-level executives. National and metropolitan first-tier rankings will be featured in the "Best Law Firms" General Counsel Publication, which will be distributed to more than 30,000 in-house counsel and in digital format to more than 60,000 private practice lawyers worldwide.
The 2014 "Best Law Firms" rankings can be seen in their entirety by visiting bestlawfirms.usnews.com.


ABOUT "BEST LAW FIRMS"
The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer listed in 19^th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America^© list for that particular location and specialty.

 
ABOUT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
U.S. News & World Report is a multi-platform publisher of news and analysis, which includes the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Personal Finance, Education, Travel, Cars and Public Service/Opinion, U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. U.S. News & World Report's signature franchise includes its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its annual "Best" series of consumer Web guides and publications that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, mutual funds, health plans and more.


ABOUT BEST LAWYERS
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected attorney ranking service in the world. For more than 30 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the attorneys best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers lists are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe. The Best Lawyers in America list recognizes the very best lawyers in each practice area and metropolitan region in the country.


http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com
Twitter: @BestLawyers
Facebook: Best Lawyers, LLC
LinkedIn: Best Lawyers Company Page
SOURCE U.S. News & World Report

CONTACT: Ruby Hayes, Public Relations Coordinator, ruby.hayes@bestlawyers.com, T: 803-648-0300
Web Site: http://www.usnews.com

Tweet

 

Those Who Know God Fear Nothing Else Except God and They Don't Live Like Fools

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria praying for divine intervention of God.

Millions of people in Nigeria who confess and profess their belief in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit don't manifest it and are in fact adrift living in fear and trembling of their future unlike their fellow believers in South Korea

Christianity is South Korea's largest religion, accounting for more than half of all South Korean religious adherents. There are approximately 13.7 million Christians in South Korea today, with almost two-thirds of Christians belonging to Protestant churches, while about 37% belong to the Roman Catholic Church. And when you compare the lifestyles of South Korean Christians to Nigerian Christians, you will be shocked by the corruption of the Nigerians unlike South Korean Christians.

South Korean Christians live what can be best described as Victorious Christian lives while the Nigerian Christians live inglorious lives of conceit, deceit and also very unhygienic.

They are among the most corrupt people in Africa and so shamelessly unrepentant in their rebellious lifestyles of fallacy and hypocrisy.
They will lie and still be quoting from the Holy Bible.
They will steal and still be claiming that God gave them the riches.
It is here in Nigeria that notorious kidnappers told their victim to remember to do thanksgiving after his release after torturing him and collecting a hefty ransom.

Nigerian Christians are perhaps the most incredible Christians on earth. 

From their lifestyles of covetousness, greediness and wickedness, you can see their fears of insecurity and uncertainty, because it shows that they don't trust God and in fact they fear men more than God. 

You will see them telling lies to hijack and steal the ideas of others and use them for bragging rights among their peers. But when the consequences of their evil lies and wickedness come, they begin to live in fear and trembling and have nightmares of both real and imaginary enemies and they turn their houses into cages.

They are often panic-stricken, because their hearts and hands are not clean.

Why are majority of Nigerian Christians so powerless?
Because they are fake and not true Christians.
Their froward and wayward lives are enough proof of their falsehood.

Majority of them even forget that when we say "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", we mean that we should be as clean as we clean the pulpit and the pews everyday, because they are so dirty and filthy and I wonder why their pastors and ministers don't preach to them the importance of daily hygiene! And when they fall ill due to their unhygienic habits, they blame the devil and demons and look for miracles for their self-inflicted and self-conflicted infections and afflictions.
They blame the devil and demons for their failures which they caused themselves.

It can be really annoying to see Nigerian Christians misbehaving and living horrible and terrible mischievous lives.

How can a Nollywood star who claims to be a happily married Christian be operating a small hotel that is more of a brothel where knowingly he welcomes his equally married friends to bring their girlfriends and mistresses to his hotel to have sex with them?
In fact he was angry when I saw one of them with a shameless "runs babe" and asked him: "I hope your wife and children are fine?"
He said why did I blow his cover?
So, he must have lied to the "runs babe" that he was still a bachelor. And his Nollywood star buddy was encouraging him to cheat on his wife and also collected money for providing the room for his adulteries.

Money and time that would have been better spent on his wife and children. And every Sunday, they go to church as usual to pay lip service and eye service to God.

But who is fooling whom?

Can man fool God?

How can a woman who claims to be a happily married Christian mother pimp her daughters to married rich men and then allow them to have abortions or have  innocent children out of wedlock? 

These evil and wicked acts have brought curses on the lives of millions of Nigerian Christians.And rendered them powerless spiritually and that s why Nigeria is still wallowing in the mess of corruption, hypocrisy and wickedness.

Our disobedience to God is the cause of the violence destroying lives in Nigeria today. And to worsen our woes, majority of us are so unrepentant and without repentance, violence will continue to destroy more lives and properties in the country.  And majority of homes in Nigeria have gone to the dogs in our desperate dog eat dog lifestyles of conceit, deceit and greed; competing for the vanities of our buffoonery, chicanery, debauchery and treachery

Daniel 11:32-33
King James Version (KJV)
32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, prize winning writer and Author of "In the House of Dogs", "The Prophet Lied" and other books. He is also the Founder of the annual Eko International Film Festival, Publisher/Editor of Nigerians Report Online, CEO, International Digital Post Network Limited, CEO, Screen Outdoor Open Cinema, CEO, Nigeria IMAX Project, Executive Director of Screen Naija One Village, One Cinema Project and CEO, of King of Kings Books International.

In the House of Dogs eBook: Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi: Kindle ...

www.amazon.com › Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Historical‎

In the House of Dogs - Kindle edition by Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features ...

Tweet