CORPORATE INVESTMENTS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY, HOW THEY ARE FARING

In as much as the entertainment industry requires more support from government and corporate bodies alike to attain its full potentials, we can’t deny the fact that the corporate bodies have been of tremendous support to the continuous growth of Nigeria entertainment industry.
The corporate bodies are needed to foster the growth of the industry by investing in it because the Nigerian entertainment industry is economically viable but its immense potentials have remained untapped. While we commend them for the role they have played so far in funding the industry, more is still needed to be done in the areas of big time investments such as establishing a properly structured pan Nigeria entertainment products distribution network to ward of pirates, CD replication and encoding plants which are highly capital intensive but guarantee high returns on investments. This is because projects of this magnitude cannot be singlehandedly undertaken by individuals and the very few who may have the required resources prefer the already crowded oil and gas industry.
India depends majorly on her entertainment industry and is actually generating more revenue which has come in handy as a driver of its developing economy. If we can invest in the entertainment industry, it will be a good alternative to our crude oil. Just as the corporate bodies have a vital role to play in making the entertainment industry economically viable and attractive; the government equally has a big role to play by creating an enabling environment.The industry is suffering from sponsorship of major events, distribution and Film funding.
This week, Entertainment Rave attempts to review the investments of the corporate bodies in the entertainment industry and their impacts.

GT BANK
Amongst all the Nigerian Banks, GT Bank can be rated the most supportive bank of the entertainment industry. On different occasions, the bank has supported few entertainment industry events including; D’Banj’s Koko Concert and the Thisday Music Festival. Aside supporting entertainment events once in a while, GT Bank has become endeared to all by its online platform; Ndani TV. Besides the exclusive celebrity interviews, the brand has become a favourite with the youth. Envisioned to be ‘the purveyor of Pan African taste and the #1 online destination for premium African business, entertainment and travel content’, the exclusive interviews of top entertainment celebrities presented on the platform has endeared them to lots of Nigerian youths with over 10,000,000 views on Youtube alone. What is however expected from GT Bank from lots of entertainment enthusiasts is to create direct investment by facilitating loan for entertainment entrepreneurs.

STAR
The maker of star, Nigerian Breweries is the biggest supporter of entertainment industry as far the beverage companies are concerned in Nigeria. The company launched Star Music many months as an application to be downloaded on mobile devices for latest music downloads, sharing and listening. However, the initiative is yet to record major successes because the goals were not properly defined. Loads of money has been expended on its promotion but it has not gained the desired popularity nor created the desired impact. Music buffs still prefer to go to Notjustok and other related sites to download and listen to new songs. This is simply because not all the latest songs are found on the Star Music App. For such application to have a meaningful impact, operators of Star Music App need to have an exclusive deal with major musicians for the few weeks of release. With heavy promotion, music buffs will have no option but to download the star app to listen and download new songs from their favourite Nigerian artistes. The second phase will be to monetise it having gained the necessary attention and patronage. At that stage, you can listen for free but can’t download for free. A token fee of N50 can be introduced for each download. Thus, both the artistes and Star Music will generate income from the project. If one million Nigerians download a song for N50, then these should translate to N50, 000,000.00 in cash.
Aside supporting entertainment events, Star has invested in major areas of the industry such as talent hunt contests and concerts; (Star Quest) and Star Music Trek. We can’t but remember Star Mega Jam too.

MTN
MTN is no doubt one of the biggest investors in the entertainment industry among other telecom companies. In the last few years, they have championed few courses and supported worthy initiatives. One of the company’s recent initiatives we have come to admire is the caller tunes and a full track downloads championed by the company. Under this arrangement, an artiste can make over N10M. MTN is also a major supporter of entertainment events such the Headies and sponsor of the music talent hunt contest; Project Fame which brought the likes of Iyanya, Chidinma and others to the limelight. The company has also toed the line of another telecom company, Globacom to sign different music acts such as Kcee, Davido, Wizkid, Iyanya, Chidinma, Don Jazzy, D’Prince, Tiwa Savage and Praiz as its ambassadors. MTN is currently about to discover another super star with its recent promo, Song Star. Irrespective of any short comings, the company is adding value to the entertainment industry in no small measure.

GLO
Globacom is another supporter of the entertainment industry. Even though the company is always very wary of supporting entertainment events, the management has consistently indicated its good intentions to support major entertainment events once in a while. The company sponsored the now rested Glo Naija Sings but the seemingly lack of direction for the show affected the overall result of the competition. Globacom had to pull out because the show was totally cut out from the Nigerian audience. It eventually pitched its tent with X-Factor. The winner of the X-Factor show, DJ Switch got N24m cheque as first ever winner of the show with consolation prizes for other contestants. Besides these, Globacom is the first telecom company to sign up lots of Nigerian entertainers, music and movie stars as brand ambassadors. In preserving the labour of our heroes past, Globacom has kick started a new initiative, the Evegreen series with Evangelist Ebenezer Obey as the first veteran artiste to be honoured.
Even though we would have loved the company to support some major events especially award ceremonies organized by Nigerian based entertainment outfits to further encourage and reward a larger ratio of artistes, they have no doubt added glamour and great value to the industry.

ETISALAT
Since Etisalat launched officially in Nigeria, the company has not hidden its desire to be part of the ever growing Nigerian entertainment industry. It supported Dynamix Awards then and signed Banky W as its first ambassador. Later on, the company began the sponsorship of a music talent hunt, Nigerian Idol in line with its youth oriented campaigns. ( www.eraveng.com)

Words by Seun Apara

Nollywood at 20: Half Baked Idea

Some key players in the movie industry including President of Association of Nigerian Theater Practitioners, Jide Kosoko and prolific film maker and actor, Kunle Afolayan has kicked against the Nollywood at 20 celebrations. The major argument is that any attempt to celebrate Nollywood at 20 is re-writing the history of the industry.

The Nigerian movie industry has come of age and as a history student, we learnt that the first ‘commercial’ film in Nigeria, Ajani Ogun was shot by Adeyemi Afolayan (Ade Love) in 1976 while the first home video titled Ekun was shot in 1988 by the late Muyideen Alade Aromire. The phrase, ‘Nollywood at 20’ is however very disturbing!

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka had once observed that the term Nollywood borrows from Hollywood. Albeit warning against unnecessary copycatism, the Professor’s analysis may be unpopular. The entire Nigerian movie industry has accepted the term ‘Nollywood’ as a common identity.

The idea of Nollywood at 20 has been faulted. It’s either the promoters of the event didn’t do their research well or intentionally doesn’t want to reckon with history. If Living in Bondage produced in 1993 by Kenneth Nnaebue is seen as when Nigerian movie industry started because it’s the first home video produced in English Language, then the organizers and promoters of the event are saying movies shot in indigenous languages are not part of Nollywood. If they are, the organizers will reckon with efforts of the pioneers before blindly christening an event Nollywood at 20.

The Nigeria film industry has different associations from different geo political zones of the country. There is the English language industry, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) which has its main production center in Lagos and is dominated by people from the south east of Nigeria. While the language used is English, the stories in these films mostly reflect the ideology of the Igbo people of the region. The second industry is much, much older, and consists of the indigenous Yoruba language movies. This can be traced back to the Nigerian feature film industry of the 60’s and 70’s, up until the economic downturn meant that people could no longer afford to produce feature films anymore and started making videos instead. The Yoruba movie industry has an association called Association of Nigerian Theater-Arts Practioners (ANTP).

Then you have another industry in the Northern part of the country now known as Kannywood. By the Hausa population, it has a lot of Islamic influences. There are also pockets of smaller production, like in the south around the Niger Delta. These are also indigenous, mainly made in the Edo language. Each of these has its own associations for the industry professionals. The meeting point is supposed to be the Motion Picture Council of Nigeria, in which all the different areas are represented for the purpose of regulating the industry and lobbying the government but nothing seems to be happening.

There is no National body that adequately represents the industry and which all the associations are answerable to. The Guild, AGN is supposed to be the umbrella body of all the associations but it has been polarized. There can be no one Nollywood unless a board is created with the leaders of all the associations represented in all major decisions making to create a level playing ground.

When Entertainment Rave spoke to AGN President, Ibinabo Fiberesima, she admitted that Nollywood is more than 20 but she couldn’t explain while they are celebrating 20 years of Nollywood. “It’s about celebrating our own even though Nollywood is more than 20 years. It’s been long that people have been celebrating us but right now, we are celebrating ourselves and giving lots back to the society. It’s a good step we have taken especially now that the qualities of our movies have improved. Aside the film village we are planning to build, we will also be remembering people of yesteryears. It’s big celebration because it’s a collective effort of everybody in Nollywood including all the associations.

Speaking with a veteran film maker and actor, Jide Kosoko who is also the president of ANTP, he said the organizers are telling their own story and not the story of Nollywood. “The Nigerian movie industry as far as I’m concerned is not 20 years and I had an extensive discussion with them on this issue. If we all truly belong to the same industry, then the industry I belong to is not 20 years. There is a need to tell the world the sincere story of our industry and don’t rubbish the pioneers. As far as I am concerned, what they are celebrating is ‘Living in Bondage’ and not Nollywood. At the right time, we will tell our story of Nollywood. So we will join them to celebrate their own story”.

A movie producer, Kunle Afolayan is one of those that also faulted the Nollywood at 20 idea. “The whole idea of Nollywood at 20 does not make sense to me because the Nollywood that I know is more than 20 years. I remember my father shot a film about 37 years ago and I also grew up in the industry. As far as am concerned, it’s absolute crap”.

When the idea of Nollywood at 20 was conceived by AGN and other associations such as Movie Producers Association of Nigeria headed by Zik Zulu Okafor, other associations were not consulted. They went ahead to have a dinner with the presidency, pay courtesy visit to governors and continuously asked for financial support for the development of the movie industry. The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio gave them N50million which have been cornered by few who called themselves Guild of Nollywood Stars including actress Stephanie Okereke-Linus and Zik Zulu Okafor. The money has torn their association apart with accusations and counter accusations. The recent is a court case instituted by Zik Zulu Okafor demanding N150million damages from the President of Association of Nollywood Core Producers, ANCOPS, Alex Eyengh for libel. All these dramas over N50million portrayed some level of selfish interest because other associations across the country that are supposedly part of Nollywood were not carried along.

The argument is that Nollywood at 20 is a half baked idea and does not represent the interest of the whole movie industry in Nigeria. The organizers should go back to the basis, identify with history and preserve the labour of our heroes past. Aside different associations scattered all over the country, there must be a national body that has the membership of all movie practitioners of Nigeria. 

(www.eraveng.com)

WORDS BY SEUN APARA

MUSIC AWARDS IN NIGERIA: ENTHRONING INTEGRITY

In the history of America’s music calendar, majority of the artistes look forward to one night with glee, fondness and great sense of anticipation in their hearts and only very few events are credited for arousing these feelings; especially the prestigious GRAMMY Awards!
It is startling that after 52 years since its inception, the Grammy Awards has not lost its credibility in any way. This made me ponder for a long time if there is a replication of such an event in Nigeria that the music industry especially the artistes particularly look forward to with so much enthusiasm like the GRAMMY.
As much we would have loved to, most of us couldn’t make it to the event but footages reveal that the event remains the most glamorous and credible music awards in the entire world. The artistes were well dressed for the evening. They honoured the ceremony because of its credibility and they wanted to be counted not just because they were ‘persuaded’ upon to attend. The enthusiasm on the faces of the nominees showed that they craved so much to win. The expressions on their faces couldn’t hide how much they desired the statuette. They love and appreciate the awards that have been in existence before most of them were born. But the reverse seems to be the case ‘to some extent’ back home here in Nigeria.
A typical Nigerian artiste has one or two things to complain about our awards. African China, Dagrin (in blessed memory), P-Square and host of others have one time or the other took awards organizers to the cleaners and that the organizers were all after what they would gain from it monetarily. Different comments, accusations and counter accusations keep flying from different corners from various artistes. They no longer hide their feelings. They are becoming more vocal by the day. Their list is inexhaustible.
At this point, one is forced to wonder why it is so difficult to have an award ceremony in Nigeria that would be the cynosure of most if not all eyes in the world. Why do majority of Nigerian artistes lose hope in the credibility of our awards? Why is it becoming increasingly difficult for corporate bodies to sponsor our awards? There are so many unanswered questions that that no one seems keen to provide answers to at least not just yet. We vividly remember few years back how the entire music industry in Africa looked forward to KORA. It symbolized our own GRAMMY then or so we thought. We loved and cherished the statuette. The awards attracted lots of people from all over the continent of Africa with South-Africa as the convergence point. But now, it has lost its credibility in a very controversial manner.
We feel it is high time we started organizing awards the whole industry would be looking forward to especially the artistes whose creativity the awards are meant to reward. What is the essence of giving someone a statuette he or she doesn’t appreciate or value? It is just like a mere waste of time considering what organizers have to go through.
Organizers of awards should make the artistes see reasons to want to attend the event. They should build the credibility of the awards to uphold its integrity. So that even after their demise or when they are no longer in charge, the awards will continue to hold and remain relevant. We need no seer to tell us that most of the people that started GRAMMY Awards are no more today. Awards organisers should distance themselves from the judgments to reasonable extent thereby creating transparent and credible judgement criteria.
Currently in Nigeria, two major awards are being held consistently and annually. They are: Headies (formerly Hip Hop World Awards ) and the Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA). There is also the City People EntertainmentAwards likewise the Nigeria Entertainment Awards (NEA) which holds in New-York annually. Headies no doubts raised the bar in the staging of awards in Nigeria. Their carpet (yellow or red) has always been amazing. They have all what it takes to be the biggest awards in Africa but the only snag is that it doesn’t cover all the genres. That is why the organizers of AMEN Awards need to bring back the awards. We understand the organizers have been facing sponsorship challenges but the award covers the entire music industry and as such all players should rise to the occasion. It recognizes highlife, fuji, juju, afro-beat, gospel, Islamic, talk albums, hip-hop, reggae/dancehall and many other genres that exist in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, it is the awards with the greatest number of categories ever in Nigeria. Nigeria Music Awards (NMA) was another credible alternative to AMEN but it became very controversial.

STEPS TO ENTHRONING INTEGRITY
1. The time is now for our awards to have their own academy. The GRAMMY Awards has a Recording Academy which has been in existence since the commencement of the Awards. The recording industry's most prestigious award, the GRAMMY, is presented annually by The Recording Academy. A GRAMMY is awarded by The Recording Academy's voting membership to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences. The annual GRAMMY Awards presentation brings together thousands of creative and technical professionals in the recording industry from all over the world. I remember Awards for Musical Excellence in Nigeria (AMEN) had an academy called Academy for Creative Arts in Nigeria (ACAN). I served as one of the judges in the last edition in 2007. I remembered the organizers gathered lots of music heads one sunny afternoon to vet the nominees since there was a crack in the academy
2. Where winners are most likely to emerge through a voting process, let’s declare the votes of the populace by publishing the voter’s log. The masses aren’t even sure their votes count anymore.
3. Awards organisers should also leave room for constructive criticism and suggestions to further strengthen the award to be better positioned just like the GRAMMY that welcomes contributions from every part of the world. The time is now to lay a solid foundation which will determine how far the awards will go even after the initiator quits the scene.
4. Aside publishing the voters log and forming an academy with respected music heads, awards organizers should try as much possible to organize workshop/seminars every year to improve on a certain aspect of the industry.
The organizers should try to institutionalize the events some more. For music videos awards, they can organize workshops that will serve as exposé for those that intend to be music video directors or other strata of the industry. They should do more than just staging awards but look for ways to better the industry every year.
5. There should be no reason for rivalry. A guitar has so many strings but they all make beautiful melody when played together.
6. Who are the judges? How do we get convinced that the initiators of the awards don’t have candidates? NMVA has done well by actually making known the judges of the award since inception and in 2009 and they piloted an on-line/transparent voting system powered by Gobbleabba. But there is so much more to be done. We do not know who the judges of some awards are because they have not made them known at any point in time neither do they have an academy.

CONCLUSION
The general concensus is that awards organizers should have a credible academy, always publish their voting logs, make known the criteria for each category and try as much as possible to be transparent in their procedures. Organize workshops which do not necessarily have to be held during the time frame of the awards. Leave sentiments out when deciding winners. Give music buffs the opportunity to see the awards as theirs. Let’s do these consistently for five years and see if many more people won’t change their opinion about awards in Nigeria. At that point, any of the artistes that lost in the category he/she believes he ought to have won wouldn’t critize since he believes in the process that produced the winner. Most of the artistes have developed a sudden tradition for boycotting award ceremonies because they feel they have been cheated at one point or the other. These should also be applicable to all other entertainment/talents awards in Nigeria.

Most importantly, the corporate bodies can do a lot more than their current efforts as part of their corporate/social responsibilities. It’s becoming more difficult by the day to get them to sponsor our major events/awards. While lauding MTN for their consistent support for Headies in the past, we wish to note too that more is desired. They can empower the organizers to do a lot more because of the big dreams of the initiators. As big as NMVA has become in the last seven years, they are yet to have a titled sponsor. The likes of; Delta, Hilton, Master Card, Waste Management, People, Harman International and Westwood One do sponsor GRAMMY Awards. Let the corporate bodies in Nigeria take a cue from this. Even Nokia that has made so much profit from Nigeria has done little or nothing in this regard. But the company is known to have sponsored the Grammy and other great events around the world. (www.eraveng.com)

Words by Seun Apara