"THE SHINE LIKE A STAR" ACTING TRAINING FOR ASPIRING ACTORS

It has been long in the working but finally THESCRIPTFACTORY SCHOOLS which provides professional training for movie industry professionals has opened it's doors for its first intakes. This kicks off with a nationwide training for actors, writers and directors starting with the first phase in Lagos, Enugu and Owerri. The certificated trainings will start on the 20th of July 2013 and run until the 20th of August 2013. If you are interested in attending, call the numbers.

VICTOR'S VICTORY. THE GAINS, THE PAINS- by Reginald Ebere.

victor

I have always been a movie director and a writer. Unofficially I am a member of the Screen Writers Guild. Unofficially because i have not been paying my dues and the reason for that is not far fetched. I do not see why I should waste my money on a guild that is basically moribound. Now somebody is going to tell me that i am being a sanctimonius bastard. I mean "if the guild is moribound why don't you do something about it after all you are supposed to be one of the leading screen writers in Nigeria." Fine arguement, but right now i am not in the mood for arguement.
I can safely claim to be a member of Director's Guild. I say safely, not because I am a financially updated member of the guild too but because i basically mooted the idea of the Director's Guild of Nigeria and along with my senior colleague Mathias Obahigbon worked for its actualization. I remember a night when Mathias' Mitsubishi Colt parked us up on top of Mile 2 bridge by 2am. Do not bother about what we were doing on top of the bridge by that time. Just understand that politics is best done in  the dead of the night when righteous men are in their  beds. What i am pointing out here is that i risked my neck and my life helping to birth the Director's guild so i do not think in all good conscience i can be thrown out.  From that point on because of my apathy towards partisan politics I have played little or no part in the affairs of the guild. But a few days ago my good friend Victor Osuagwu came to me and told me that he was contesting for the position of Chairman, Actors Guild Of Nigeria Lagos Chapter, I revived my interest in Guild politics. I am not an actor so you might be wondering what role I played in Victor's election. I am not about to divulge that on these pages, suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself in making sure that Victor won. Why did I allign myself with the robust, rambunctious comedian?
Victor might be in the business of humor but he is a completely serious person. Before now we had sat down and analyzed the problems with our Industry. Now these problems are not mutually exclusive. they cut across every facet of this industry and have been well documented. When he mooted his plan of running I was excited at the fact that somebody who has a vision for the growth and betterment of the guild was finally stepping into the murky waters of Nollywood politics. Truth be told i have never really believed in any of the other guild heads except maybe Andy Amenechi my President at the Director's Guild. I think with all humility and as apologetically as I can express it that Zik Zulu Okafor the President of Association of Movie

reginald

Producers is full of air and has not impressed me in any way. I also thought until my eyes were opened by the same Victor that Ibinabo who is also a friend is a round peg in a square hole. Iyen Obaseki the president of CDGN has been in office for donkey years and nothing has changed. My president at the Screen Writer's Guild has basically moved out of Lagos and is not internet friendly so he cannot even function effectively. He has also refused to call for elections after over two years in the office. So Victor was a breath of fresh air until I heard that Paul Obazele was sponsoring Don Pedro to run against Victor and my hackles rose. See, my friend Paul has always cast himself as a divisive force in the industry and is keen to foster the assumed superiority of Edo and Delta Nollywoodians on the rest of us and i disagree with him on that front. I worked silently underground for Victor to win so that we all can join hands and grow the industry, so that politics of bitterness and greed will stop, so that marginalisation and subjugation will stop, so that everybody will have a fair chance and shake in Nollywood. I said "we all" because i intend to come out and run for the office of the Pesident of the Screenwriters Guild of Nigeria whenever my president remembers to visit Lagos. Thank you Victor for your courage and for inspiring other good men to step up and speak out.

opinions are welcome
 

OPEN LETTER TO IBINABO FIBERISIMA

Ibinabo Fiberisima
President Actors Guild Of Nigeria AGN

On Tuesday the 2nd April i put up a post on this blog with the title ASABA THE SHAME OF NOLLYWOOD which revealed some of the horrible underhand deals that are rocking the Nollywood scene in that little capital. I got a lot of response from that post and since then a lot of people have been calling telling me about their experiences. I honestly underated the rot in the system and the angst of those who have been victims. A lot of people have also asked me to expose those who are involved in this scam. I was not really inclined to do that, I mean who doesn't want to live a long life? But then I got into this very brief  conversation with this young woman and I will take the liberty of publishing the conversation verbatim so that you can judge for yourself. Here goes

 

Agatha Emmanuela

Good afternoon sr,pls i want to take part in ur movie i have being in one movie production as an up coming actress & i have acted in one movie.

 

Agatha Emmanuela

Bro please help to as d agn lf this is true.i joined a movie production since and it has been pay this pay that.  After paying agn licence, i paid for agn id card and i also paid for movie traning and now they are asking me to pay for NNPC certificate so i ask what is this for, they said is for d president and governor to welcome me and insure me after traning and they said is 20,000 so please help to me to verify from agn.

Reginald Ebere

there is nothing like agn license and i have never heard of anything like nnpc license. what is the name of this movie production unit and who is in charge of it?

 

Agatha Emmanuela

Walehadekunleproduction and mr gregory wilson d manager of agn .u can also ask yuledochie because he have a production.today when i write to his production he said yes.

Now i will stop the converstaion there. This is part of what we have been talking about. We are calling our lovely President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria and the leaders of all the other guilds that are in charge of Nollywood. These criminals are not faceless now we at least have a name. However I am not a member of the Actors Guild Of Nigeria so i do not know when they developed affiliations with NNPC that the apex organisation in charge of petroleum matters in Nigeria are the ones who now determine which artiste will act in a movie and have also become so proficient that they now hand out certificates. I also don't know which Governor of which state is in charge of insuring actors or maybe i have gotten the whole conversation wrong. The young woman said that she is based in Asaba.
Somebody help me judge.

 

 

 

NOLLYWOOD AND THE NATIONAL AWARDS: WHO DESERVES TO BE HONOURED?

Stephanie Idahosa nee Okereke

I have seen quite a few pictures of athletes especially at the Olympic games standing at the podium, receiving their medals. I have seen tears in the eyes of many as they were garlanded and the pride on their faces as their national anthems filled the air. Unfortunately I have never been to any Olympic games so I cannot accurately describe the atmosphere of those moments but from what I have seen on television, I believe those moments are probably the most precious moments of an athlete’s life.

The most precious moment of my life was when my first son was handed over to me by doctor Akagbuo our family doctor. As I gazed into that squeezed up face with the luminescent skin, the tiny but perfectly formed finger nails, the long soft hair and the little legs that refused to keep still, as I stared at the sweating woman who had just pushed out this replica of me and of life from her stomach, I could not have loved either her or the baby more. That was not just a defining moment of my life as a father and husband but also my crowning moment in life.

I have had several defining moments in my career but I am still waiting for that crowning moment. I believe, that every artiste, every athlete and every performer lives for that crowning moment. Deserved or not, some of my colleagues in Nollywood have had their crowning moments which  in my understanding, must have come when their names appeared in the National Honours list and they were given awards like MON, MFR, OON. Those awards are the height of recognition that our country can bestow on individual citizens for bringing honour to Nigeria and contributing to the growth, development and advancement of the nation.

Genevieve Nnaji

Now I do not know how many Nollywoodians have been awardees but I know quite a few and I also know plenty more who should have been, who are not. So last night I start thinking about the National Honours list and how it concerns Nollywood. I get to start asking what is the criteria or is it criterum for handing out these awards and how those who have been granted awards qualified for them. I asked myself why somebody like Zeb Ejiro should be given an award and nobody remembered a woman called Amaka Igwe, why somebody like Stephanie Idahosa nee Okereke was given an award and nobody remembered a certain Genevieve Nnaji, I start ruminating about why some people like Pete Edochie and the late Justus Esiri were given awards and nobody remembered people like Olu Jacobs and the late Sam Loco Efe. I puzzled over why someone like Chinedu Ikedieze was given a national award and nobody considered his colleague in naughtiness Osita Iheme or even the man who created those characters, Amayo Uzo Philips. I ask why a Teco Benson should be mentioned in the honors list and a Launcelot Odua Imasuen, a Reginald Ebere, a Tchidi Chikere, a Chico Ejiro and a host of other directors who have brought and keep bringing honour to this nation have been largely ignored. What about the two men who started off this phenomenon called Nollywood, Kenneth Nnebue and Paul Ogunjiofor, are they not bonafide citizens of this nation? Or does somebody know something about their citizenship that I don’t. What about all those working in the Yoruba sector and the Hausa sectors of our industry? What about a certain unknown, little man called Mike Oriyedinma, the man who actually birthed Nollywood, forgotten in the backwaters of Onitsha. What about the Richard Mofe Damijos and the Kanayo O Kanayo’s the Liz Benson’s the Joke Jacobs and the Kate Henshaws of Nollywood. 



kate henshaw.

Now I know that there are a lot of other people from different sectors who have also been ignored but I can only speak for my industry. The artistes reward is not in the amount of money he is paid but in the sound of applause he recieves and how loud it is. Those who draw up the lists for NATIONAL HONOURS should bear in mind that we are not teachers, so we cannot wait until we get to heaven.  Now I know that those of my colleagues who have been honoured will be aggrieved by this piece. I apologise, I am not saying or even remotely suggesting that you did not deserve your awards, I am only thinking you know and sometimes I cannot help but think aloud and like Olu Jacobs amiable detective character in NTA’S THIRD EYE, “I wonder, I just wonder.”

AMAA: NOLLYWOOD’S WAKE UP CALL

Yvonne Okoro

Nollywood is in trouble. We open this session with this alarmist line, designed not to spread panic but to provoke reflection by those who care about my industry and the joy, recognition, fame and wealth it has brought to all of us who have been so fortunate to be players in this team.

I like football and one of the national teams that have always put a smile on my face and the faces of Nigerians is the female national team. Yes they never did rise to the pinnacles of greatness in the different world cups they have taken part in, but for years they bestrode the African continent like other national teams were brought to make up the numbers in football competitions. They achieved results like a 7-1 hammering of mighty Cameroon, a 5-1 mauling of Ghana, a 6-2 destruction of South Africa so it was best imagined what happened to teams like hapless Ethiopia and the likes of Benin Republic. Nigerians were so sure of a win every time the girls took to the pitch that the first question one asked if he came in from outside when the girls were playing was “how many goals have they scored?” It never crossed our minds that they could lose one day; then it happened. Ghana beat us 2-1, a fluke we said, Cameroon beat us, a mistake we all intoned,  South Africa beat us, an accident we thought but that was before Lilliputians like Equatorial Guinea put their fingers in our eyes and took our birth right, the African cup from us and we finally ran out of excuses.

AMAA

So you ask yourself what is Reginald rambling about again today?. What does football have to do with Nollywood? Everything! Both are forms of entertainment, both have brought immense honour and recognition to our country and in both we are called the GIANTS OF AFRICA.

Nollywood, the Nigerian movie industry of course was birthed, nurtured and matured in Nigeria. Like fine wine we sent it out to the rest of Africa and used it as a tool for neo-colonialism. Africa started dressing like us, acquired and spoke our style of Pidgin English, dressed like us, imbibed our cultures and traditions. Even our cities in the hinterlands became massively popular. So when Peace Fiberisima nee Anyiam Osigwe introduced the African Movie Academy Awards(AMAA) we all smirked and tongue in cheek, we laughed at the rest of Africa. We felt that she should have just simply called it the Nigerian Movie Academy Awards. I mean which other country would win any awards in an Nollywood inspired award program apart from the home of Nollywood, Nigeria. What we did not understand is that when children grow, they leave home. And if the truth be told, Nollywood has left home.

At the 2013 AMAA awards, Nigeria won 7 awards out of the 21 given out. Good news you might say but consider the fact that out of those seven awards only one of them was in what you will consider the most serious areas of movie making. Rita Dominic picked up the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for her work in the movie SHATTERED. It is of note here that SHATTERED is a Kenyan movie. The six most important areas of film making went to people from outside Nollywood.

1.       Achievement in Cinematography went to South Africa with OTELO BURNING.

2.        Achievement in Screenplay, -my area of strength- went to Ghana with TIES THAT BIND.

3.        Best Actor in a Leading Role went to Ghana’s Majid Michael for his work in SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA, a Ghanian production.

4.        Best Director went again to South Africa with Charlie Vundla’s HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION

5.       Best Film of course was also won by Charlie Vundla with HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION

Rita Dominic.

Nigeria the film making giant of Africa like our Super Falcons, were left with the crumbs. So we all gather together in our offices and declare that AMAA has sold out Nollywood on the altar of afrocentricism. Those rhetorics are only but balm for our wounded pride, temporary anaesthetics for a permanent migraine that will not go away. This year a Ghanain/Nigerian Yvonne Okoro, working from Ghana has been nominated in five different categories and who is to say she will not win all. So a few weeks back we all jumped into the plane and headed out to Malawi on the auspices of the same AMAA we condemn, we dined with the President and she praised the work we are doing in Nollywood, temporary praise for a brand that is in trouble. Nollywood wake up before we become the minnow of African movie making. It will be sad if we gather again in Bayelsa State this year and give out our prices to the rest of Africa and all that we will go home with will be THE BEST CHILD ACTOR.    

FINALLY LIFE DONE BETTER FOR PANDITA: USA based Camerounian Gospel Artist drops video.

pandita

"Among the special gifts God (whom she worships with no resentment) has blessed Pandita Njoh Eta with, that of a golden voice is the most outstanding. It is with this gift that she praises the Almighty, proof of which those who do not know the US-based Cameroonian gospel singer yet will discover when she releases a much-awaited maiden album early next year. “I’ve all along been interpreting songs done by other gospel artistes, but this time, I have decided to take a step ahead by sharing what God has given me with the rest of the world. This is the first time I’m actually going to be doing something on my own,” Those were the first words that TIPTOP STARS used for their interview with Pandita Njoh Eta. They were also teh first words we borrowed the first time we interviewed her on this blog. But this Camerounian Beauty who is rocking the gospel music scene in The States has just taken her game to the next level with the release of the video from the first single (LIFE DON BETTER) of her debut album (SUPERNATURAL CHANGE) Lets give it up for Camerounian lady of songs. PANDITA NJOH ETA. Follow this link to watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ5h7Vzt_ac  

ASABA: THE SHAME OF NOLLYWOOD

reginald Ebere

The first time I shot a movie In Asaba was for my ministry CHRIST EMBASSY. I was surrounded by a group of very Christian, very good and disciplined young men and women who had no moral issues nor were they inclined in any way to abuse the liberty and the testosterone/oestrogen filled headiness that normally seems to accompany film makers like a sex crazed mob of  female groupies will accompany dirty rockers everywhere.

In that first trip I fell in love with the ancient but quietly emergent city that was on the verge of rediscovering itself. That love was so strong that I considered relocating my family there. Don’t blame me, I am normally a victim of sudden emotional impulses that always seem to get me into trouble. Thank God my wife quashed the idea.

The second time, I went to shoot one of my movies. I‘d heard of good locations, cheap priced hotels and hardworking, professional crews, not like the indolent fat cats we have in Lagos. I wanted to take advantage of all that. What someone did not tell me however was that Asaba had also become home to semi-prostitutes, parading themselves as artistes and an accompanying band of young, very young pimps who ran production shifts and sold sex for pennies to immoral libidinous directors and producers.  What I didn’t discover then was the whole truth.

So last week the idea of Asaba came up again and I put up a post on this blog that has elicited some very serious reactions. Suffice it to say that everybody seems to think that my going to Asaba to work is a very bad idea, major reason being that there is a massive stench of corruption coming from this pristine town. That oozing fermentation seems to be coming out of Nollywood. Before now I’d heard stories of directors and producers who would demand that female artistes buy them lap tops and i-pads before giving them roles. What’s bad in that you may ask, well nothing really but those female actors are also required to sleep with them for as long as the production lasted and finally they are also required to pay certain amounts of money to get roles. Sums as huge as twenty thousand Naira nay, even fifty thousand Naira. Now did I say finally? Forgive me because the list goes on. If these unfortunate female artistes are to be accommodated in the production camps, they are also required to pay as much as ten thousand Naira.

Asaba Delta State

Now I know that dirty linen is not supposed to be washed in public especially in Nollywood and some of my colleagues will nearly send Boko Haram insurgents to assassinate me for what I am saying here since we keep denying that there is sexual harassment going on in Nollywood. But I have found out that if we do not wash our linen in public sometimes the stench will kill us in private and Reginald Ebere has never been known not to speak his mind. I have names and I can mention them with hard facts but I refrain from pushing the walls down because I believe broken walls can be mended.

What is going on in Asaba is sordid, which is the reason why half baked, illiterate, uncouth, insulting and sometimes utterly apologetic stupid productions are coming out from that enclave of sin and depravity.

It is time for the heads of our different guilds to go in there and clean the place out instead of sitting back in Lagos fighting over who will be part of the next dinner with Oga At The Top and issuing communiques about how to share the three billion largesse from Doctor Jonathan. If we do not act quick enough we will soon find that we all will be drowned in this morass of moral decadence. It is what somebody has that he gives. If we build an industry that is peopled by thieves, pimps and whores, we will continue to produce movies that will corrupt our children and our society. I will shut my mouth for now.