FG’s N200b Nollywood intervention fund boosts movie production – Official

The Association of Movie Producers in Nigeria said on Monday that the Federal Government’s N200 billion Nollywood intervention fund had boosted movie production.
Zik Zulu, the President of the association, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
Zulu said the fund was enhancing the capacity of the various stakeholders in movie production.
He said: “Directors have already gone for training.
“About 28 of them have been to America for their training and they are back.
“Producers are planning to go now.
“Actors are also planning.
“But the film fund, which is for film-making, that one is for capacity building, that is what the directors went for and producers are trying to go now.
“But the one for film production, which is about N10 billion, we are going through the process and those that will eventually qualify will get the grant.”
Zulu said the University of Colorado in America had admitted the film directors who were trained in modern technique in film directing.
The president of the AMP said the final process of admitting the next batch of Nigerian movie producers at the University of California and Georgia State University was on.
However, he expressed worry over the stringent measures attached to the fund, pointing out that many stakeholders might not still fulfil the procedures for receiving the grant in view of many difficulties involved.
He said: “The process of getting the grant is quite tedious, complex and intricate and so complicated and is difficult for some people to get it done.
“I think they should also try to make it less complicated.
“We want them to increase the grant, sustain it and make it less cumbersome to access.”
Zulu commended the government’s initiative towards enabling practitioners to improve the movie industry in terms of quality.
He said: “I commend President Goodluck Jonathan for making the grant available and add that they should sustain the grant because Nollywood has blossomed through individual efforts.
“The government should also put more money into some aspects of film production.”
Zulu said the fund would enable the film industry to further stabilise.