By Steve Dede
Speaking as a panelist during the Nollywood session of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference held at the Grand Ballroom of the Eko Hotels and Suites, the actor bemoaned the state of the industry and revealed that recovery will not be easy.
‘Nollywood was formed out of nothing. It was like making bread out of stone. It was pioneered by passion driven people. But now, it is like we have sold our birthright which has led to a nose dive. To get back on track, it will be capital intensive but at the moment we lack structures to get the required capital,’ the actor said.
Issues bordering around the theme of the Nollywood session ‘The Desired Future’ were tackled by other panelists Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, Shaibu Husseini, the moderator of the session Chris Ihidero and the speaker Emeka Mba.
Also speaking on the decline of the film industry, Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Emeka Mba, revealed that the state of the industry now is a far cry from what it used to be.
‘We are not where we should be. I don’t see at the moment that we have the capacity to populate the digital channels that will be available in 2015,’ the NBC boss revealed.
‘This isn’t Nollywood as we call it anymore. It has diversified. It has many sides now; this is a problem,’ Peace Anyiam-Osigwe lamented.
Media practitioner and Art Journalist Shaibu Husseini also blamed the media for not telling the true story of the film industry. He said that the media completely ignored the future of the industry and paid attention to the unimportant parts.
‘The media created the myth Nollywood. There was no critical reporting of the industry. They didn’t think about the future. The media has to start telling the real story,’ Shaibu, a journalist with The Guardian said.
#NECLive 2014: ‘Nollywood has sold its birthright’- Ramsey Nouah
1 comment
Produce films dat meet international standard nd trust me u won’t b complainin abt lost of birthright