The Directors’ Guild of Nigeria on Tuesday partnered with MultiChoice Nigeria on capacity building for members of the Guild.
The DGN President, Victor Okhai, said the partnership was to build standards for the Nigeria film industry, which would enable members of the Guild compete at all levels.
Okhai, at a meeting with representatives of MultiChoice Nigeria, said the Guild was also interested in the MultiChoice Talent Factory and looking forward to how it would benefit the industry.
He said: “I am grateful that this partnership is coming at a time like this.
“We are partners in every way and it is important that there is a synergy between us to propel the industry to where it should be.
“As regards the talent factory, we are very much interested in what’s going on there.
“We are interested in getting members to join us.
“We intend to work with them as we are keen on capacity building.
“Yes, the recruitment process in the film industry may be faulty, but what will remain faulty is if you do not build capacity.
“They may not have it all, but you must build capacity and make sure you lay down standards to be able to compete globally.
“That is what we are about and that is what we seek from this partnership.
“How we can work together to help you and help us.”
Okhai said the partnership would not be parasitic, but a beneficial one for MultiChoice and the Nigeria film industry at large.
He said: “Another reason we need to work together is so that people can understand what MultiChoice is about.
“There are people with different opinions, but as we affect the society, people see what we do and there is a kind of reorientation as to what we are all about.
“The way we affect the society is what makes us different and that is the kind of partnership we look forward to.
“We are ready to work with you and be rest assured that integrity and professionalism would guide this partnership.”
The Executive Head, Corporate Affairs, MultiChoice Nigeria, Caroline Oghuma, said there was the need to focus on the long term benefits of the partnership for the industry at large and not individual returns.
Oghuma said: “Let me say that I am grateful for the opportunity for us to reopen this conversation.
“If you focus on what you are trying to achieve, which is to build a better crop of filmmakers and igniting Africa’s creative industry, then you know it’s not about the returns.
“It is the quality, and along that journey is the partners, the people that help you get to where you are going.
“That is the ecosystem you are building together for the future.
“We are very much on the same page in that regard and that is why from the beginning, we involved the DGN because we know we could not do it alone.”
Multichoice Talent Factory Academy Director, Femi Odugbemi, said the DGN should speak up and take charge of creative equity.
Odugbemi said: “We are in an industry where there is no senior colleague.
“There are first time filmmakers who have amazing works just like there are older ones with craps.
“So, as far as I am concerned, if there is anything this industry needs now, it is a DGN that understands the vision and speaks up when different voices are talking about creative direction.
“The industry does need creative direction.
“It is important that the DGN are able to engage necessary institutions in achieving this creative direction.
“There has to be a professional body, saying: What is the curriculum like?
“How can we make it better?
“There is no reason for not having a coordinated curriculum in all film schools in Nigeria.
“These, I think, are the urgent tasks of DGN in which MultiChoice can help you fast-track.”
Also present at the meeting were Uchenna Agbo, DGN National Secretary; Perekeme Odon, DGN Public Relations Officer; Chief of Staff to the DGN President, Famous Otakponmwen; and Judith Audu-Forte.
Akaoma Onyeonoru, Specialist CSI Execution, Multichoice Nigeria; and Tolulope Olowo-Okere, Programmes Manager, Multichoice Talent Factory, West Africa, were also in attendance.