TheNewsGuru

Tag: Nollywood

  • Nollywood all about gossip, envy – Iyabo Ojo

    Nollywood all about gossip, envy – Iyabo Ojo

    Iyabo Ojo, a Nollywood filmmaker on Friday urged her fans not to be fooled by the make-belief friendship exhibited in the industry, saying it was all about gossip, envy, backstabbing and backbiting.

    In a post on her Instagram page, she wrote: “We never truly support our own; we’re just friends when it suits.“How well we’re perfect deceiving our fans, that is why we are actors.

    “Can I just hint y’all that we are just colleagues in some … competition that no one understands, unfortunately not only two can play the game but hundreds can play the role.

    “Oh yes, we get along with some, yet we are mindful of our utterances because all they want to know is you, then we act for the Instagram where we seek validation for our not so real relationships.

    “Problems starts when you refuse to let them into your business, you become a rival and a threat, they start rewriting the script and when they’re done destroying you, they move to the next gullible victim.’’

    Ojo, who said the post was straight from the heart, said the motivational writers in the industry change the script every second to suit them.

    “Don’t be fooled, watch, learn, get entertained and move on.“We are all acting; 20 years of entertainment, different roles, same game.

    “Trust me when I say, the game is not for a learner; you gotta to be rooted. It’s unexplainable,’’ she said.

     

  • Nollywood set to promote AU Agenda 2063

    The Nigerian movie industry, popularly known as Nollywood, is set to promote the Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU),the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports .
    Mr Emeka Rollas, National President of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) stated this during a stakeholders interactive session with its members and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission(AUC), Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday in Abuja.
    The AU Agenda 2063 is a strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years.
    It builds on, and seeks to accelerate the implementation of past and existing continental initiatives for growth and sustainable development.
    According to the AGN president,Nollywood films and stars are widely accepted across Africa and beyond, adding they are veritable tools that should be used to popularise the Agenda 2063.
    He said: “Nollywood is ready for African Union and the Agenda 2063,so let the dialogue begins and the actions follow.
    “I have no iota of doubt that through our movies, our TV series, plus our icons and stars as Ambassadors AU policies and programmes will be well popularised.
    “The AU,through Nollywood will certainly be penetrating the boundaries that separate our various countries, to speak to the soul of its people, entertaining, and yet disseminating its messages,”he said.
    Rollas noted that the Nigerian motion picture industry was a major employer of labour,and was also a platform where youths discover and realize their talents.
    He added that Nollywood was a ready vehicle to realising the AU vision of building Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics.
    He therefore emphasised that the industry players were ready for partnership with the AU towards polpularising the Agenda 2063.
    “Nollywood here in Nigeria, directly and indirectly employs over two million young people in acting, production, digital marketing, distribution, cable stations and so on.
    “Together with the African Union, we can begin to transform Africa, to realise its huge potential and make every African proud of this awesome continent.
    “With such collaboration, AU and Nollywood, and indeed the entire Africa creative industry will open new frontiers in the economy of Africa in terms of job creation, youth engagement and empowerment.
    “This I believe is well captured in the African Union Vision 2063,”he said.
    In his remark, the AUC chairperson, Mahamat commended the actors and filmmakers for their genuine interest to identify with the AU Agenda 2063.
    He said that Nollywood was playing a leading role in the continent’s motion picture industry.
    He therefore expressed willingness that the AUC was ready for a partnership with the Nollwood stakeholders towards popularising AU programmes.
    “The Nollywood brand is a tool that should be used to popularised African agenda because it is well known all over Africa and beyond.
    “There is no doubt that the African youths can realize their potentials within the continent and make global impact because Nollywood has proved it.
    “It is time for us to take advantage of what Nollywood has to offer Africa”,he said.
    NAN reports that the AUC Chairperson who was in the country for a working visit, was accompany to the interactive session by some of his top officials.
    His entourage included Prof.Sarah Anyang- Agbor ,the AUC Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST), and Mrs Ebba Kalondo,Spokeperson to the Chairperson and Amb. Hadiza Mustapha,Advisor Peace,Security and Governance to the Chairperson.
    Some top Nollywood stars present at the meeting included, Ejike, Asiegbu,Patience Ozokwor, Francis Duru and Bruno Iwuoha.
    Others included Agility Onwurah, Alvin Ahmed and other officials of the Actors Guild.
    The event was climaxed with traditional dance by a Nigerian troupe, as well as performances by other artistes.

  • Nollywood filmmaker, Chris Ekejimbe is dead

    A prominent Nollywood figure, Chris Ekejimbe is dead.
    Ekejimbe, a filmmaker and owner of 4Screams Production Company was a board member of the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOPS) and founder of notable Nollywood social media group, Film4Life.
    News of his demise was broken to members of the group by founding president of ANCOPS, Mr. Alex Eyengho early Saturday.
    “Folks! Sad day for Nollywood! Chris Ekejimbe just passed on a few moments ago at LUTH. Lord have mercy. I just spoke with the wife!” Eyengho stated.
    The news has sent shivers round Nollywood camps, with condolence messages pouring in, even from Kigali, Rwanda, where filmmakers and actors are gathered for the 14th edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) holding tonight.
    Mr. Ekejimbe had been ill for a while and may have been last seen in public at the Nigerian creative industry summit at Protea Hotel, Ikeka, Lagos, last month.

  • Nollywood can save us all- Eldee

    Lanre ‘Eldee’ Dabiri, Nigerian musician and tech entrepreneur, says Nollywood can save us all. The tech entrepreneur noted that Nollywood can rebrand the image of Nigeria by intentionally telling stories that upholds the values of hardwork and fairness.

    The father of two girls said story tellers must deliberately begin to aggressively promote fairness, hard work, integrity, honesty, and respect.

    Eldee made this known while writing about the latest episode of his popular podcast, ‘Nigerian American’.

     

    He wrote on Twitter: “Much of modern Nigerian culture is passed on and reinforced through Nollywood storytelling and in my opinion, majority of Nollywood movies reinforce too many negative stereotypes.I watched a lot of Nollywood this summer and the recurring themes of more than 90% of the movies unwittingly reinforce negative stereotypes. The values that perpetuate the societal decay.

    In my humble opinion, the intentional attitude of 80’s NTA needs new representation in Nollywood. The carefully thought out storylines that deliberately encourage the inclusion of Nigeria’s ethnic & religious diversity through TV & Film.

    Storylines that subliminally teach the values that we are losing rapidly today, the values that are necessary for the positive attitudes that lead to nation building, and not the opposite. Storylines that may help the population unlearn some of the very negative attitudes that led us to where we are as a people today.

     

    “We weren’t always this bad, we just stopped being intentional & allowed our population consume a lot of negative reinforcement”.

     

    Eldee also stated that government intervention is needed to raise capital in order to fund and support big project stories.

     

    “We need a Govt or private partnership film bureau to take up this mission. To raise capital to encourage, fund & support big budget stories/movies/plays that are intentionally developed to change the narrative, and re-teach the values we seek in our citizens. Wakanda is fictional. Never underestimate the power of a story to plant the right seeds. Nollywood can save us all”

     

    Revealed: Nollywood women share horror stories of sexual harassment

     

     

  • Super Eagles player, Alex Iwobi to star in Nollywood flick

    Super Eagles player, Alexander Iwobi is reportedly starring in a yet to be released Nollywood movie.

     

    The Arsenal forward, purportedly took acting classes to properly prepare for his role in the movie. While many of his football fans are concerned that the movie role may affect his game during the season, insider sources claim that the filming for the movie rounded up weeks ago and the project is in the final stages of post-production.

    There are speculations that Iwobi will be playing the role of a heroic character. Though Iwobi is yet to make it official, sources say he had a great time starring in the movie.

    The insider said: “Iwobi is a very simple guy. He wanted to work on the project away from the public eye so he would have enough time to focus on making his major acting debut a great one. He likes to dedicate himself wholly to any project he does and this was no different”.

    This would be Iwobi’s very first acting role in a major production.

     

  • Nollywood at the verge of collapse- Liz Anjorin

    When you think of Liz Anjorin what comes to mind will not just be her acting prowess, but also her outspoken nature.

    Anjorin who converted from Christianity to Islam few years ago, said the activities of pirates coupled with the lack of investment in Nollywood might soon lead to its collapse.

    She also noted that the fear of poverty pushed her into creating other sources of income to survive.

    “I decided to put in more hard work and create multiple streams of income after realizing that the movie industry will soon collapse.

    ‘‘Nobody wants to go broke and it is that fear that brought out the creativity in me and pushed me into business.

    “Piracy is affecting the industry so much while the lack of proper investment is also another issue threatening the sector.

    “While other people go from one party to another to enjoy themselves, I am busy at work, thinking of how to make a success of my life.

    “I work very hard to earn my money. I go through a lot of stress every day but people just think that I just sleep and all these things come to me on a silver platter.

    “The talk of having a sugar daddy is annoying because there is nothing like that. The truth is that God is the only sugar daddy I have.

    “Some people will just sit down and say I get support from some politicians but in Nigeria of today; nobody will constantly give you money except you work with your two hands. But some individuals will just sit somewhere and concoct all sorts of lies about me”, she told Punch.

     

  • Nigerian actor, Aki honoured in Miami, Florida

    Nigerian actor, Aki honoured in Miami, Florida

    Nollywood actor, Chinedu Ikedieze a.k.a Aki, has added another feather to his cap with the honorarium as a distinguished visitor to the city of Miami, Florida.

    The actor shared the news on his instagram page @Chineduikedieze with some pictures from the ceremony which took place in Miami, Florida.

    Ikedieze was full of thanks to the Mayor of Miami for according to him the renowned title.

    He said, ‘’When the world believed in you, believe in yourself also. Have faith in your abilities.

    “Without a humble or reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.’-Norman Vincent Peale’’

    “From the bottom of my heart I say thank you to Miami-Dade ,country office of the Mayor and the county commissioners for honouring me as a distinguished visitor to the city of Miami, Florida’’.
    ‘’You have just given me a key to more success in life’’, he said.

    The 39 year-old Abia State born actor joined the movie industry in 2000 and rose to fame after starring in the blockbuster movie ‘’Aki na Ukwa’’.

    Ikedieze is best known for playing alongside Osita Iheme popularly known as’’Pawpaw’’ and has acted in over 100 movies.

    He also plays the role of Efetobore Johnson in the current Television Drama Series- The Johnsons.

    In 2007, he received the lifetime achievement award at The African Movie Academy Awards.

    Similarly, in 2011 he received a National Award of Member of the Order .

  • RMD @ 57: 5 things RMD told TheNewsGuru

    Veteran Nollywood actor, Richard –Mofe Damijo clocks 57 today. The revered role interpreter has over the years become an icon to youngsters in the Nigerian entertainment scene.

    RMD who was born 6th of July in 1961 in the little community of Aladja in Udu Kingdom, near Warri Delta State, attended Midwest College, Warri and Anglican Grammar School, before going to study Theatre Arts in the Ekenhuan Campus of the University of Benin.

     

    Months back the award winning thespian had a chat with TheNewsGuru and we decided to revisit the five notable things the renowned actor shared in the interview.

     

     

    1. Getting back into Nollywood

    “The work I did was in the Culture and Tourism sector so it wasn’t too far removed from being an actor or being in the creative industry or being a TV producer or anything like that. The transition is seamless for me. It’s something I did for twenty something years before I went into government. It couldn’t have been that difficult to transit back to my core business”.

    2.On old and new Nollywood

    “I think the whole controversy or this whole debate is just making a mountain off a molehill. Every profession evolves and it seems instructional that the song I have been singing all day is ‘Alowo ma jaiye, eyin le mo, awon tan jaiye la na won ti ku, won ti lo’.

    People come and go .Nollywood is old enough for people to have evolved. I have been in the entertainment industry, post-graduation for 32 years. So it is not a competition between me and somebody who graduated last year or somebody who graduated ten years ago. He comes in into a profession I have been working in. I met people in the profession.

     

    So I can’t now be saying I am new Nollywood or I am old Nollywood. What we should be looking at now is this, whoever is coming now and calls himself a particular name, what is he/she bringing to the table? Is the person bringing something to the table that is so completely different that it has revolutionized the entire industry?”

     

     

    3.Working with Joke Silva

    “Violated was an absolute delight. We were just starting out; Nollywood hasn’t had a romantic movie that was on the same level with Living in Bondage. So by the time Violated came in, it just cranked it up a bit. On stage, Joke has played my wife and we make magic everywhere we go. That is what we do, we are actors”.

     

    4.Controversies being fanned by the media

    “Again I don’t like when controversies are created or fanned by the media. Every profession, banking journalism, every profession has cliques. You congregate with people of like minds, people who place value on your work and understand it. Politicians have a clique that is why they belong to parties. Nollywood is a huge place and there are now language films as well, from Igbo to Yoruba and all than. Within all those circles there are people who do certain levels of work. In Hollywood there are also cliques.

     

    There are people who do certain levels of work. You find people like Martins Scorsese working with Roberts De Niro; they select some younger actors to mix. I have always had people who watched out for me. So if there are cliques, I admit to having being in a clique. Amaka Igwe when she was alive will call me if she has a good script. Because we had worked together, we have a history. If the producer of Hush has a project he thinks about me. He has worked with me, he put me on Tinsel and he has put me on Hush. It has to do with your niche within the larger playing field, where you want to stay. If you are looking for actors who probably are methodical in their approach to the craft then there are certain actors you will call. That is how it works”.

     

     

    5.Remembering late Bukky Ajayi

    “You know how it is, I had just come back into Nollywood and I have a list of people I needed to connect with then. I had a meeting with Tade Ogidan and when I started Hush, I found out that Abounce is aunty Bukky’s son.

    I just made a mental note that I needed to see her. I worked with her in South Africa as well. When she was alive, I used to tease her and call her my girlfriend. Few days before she died, I had seen her son and I was trying to find out her schedule saying: ‘Tell mummy I am coming to see her’.

    It was like I was in the zone and a few days later, I heard she died. It hit me really bad because I had spoken to her son that I wanted to come and see her. For me, when I wrote on social media it was more like a time check for me. It was a personal thing for me also that one shouldn’t wait for too long before you do the things that you want to do. If something keeps nudging you in your mind, just drop everything and go do that thing. I wish I had not considered looking for a special weekend to go see her. I would have seen her before she passed on.”

    https://youtu.be/LqRMSFQpxv4

     

  • Tears as Nollywood mourns Aishat Abimbola ‘Omoge Campus’

    It was an atmosphere of gloom and sadness on Wednesday night as colleagues of deceased actress, Aishat Abimbola popularly known as ‘Omoge Campus’ held a candlelight procession in her honour.

    The candlelight procession held at LTV premises was spearheaded by popular actor, Saidi Balogun.

    Recall that the actress died of breast cancer on Wednesday, May 16, a news which shook Nollywood.

    In an interview Aisha had described herself as a God fearing person.

     

    According to her: ”Aisha Abimbola is a cool headed, God fearing, humble and down to earth lady. I’m a mother. I’m from a polygamous home. My father had appetite for women and so had five wives. My mother had five of us and I am number three. My mum had a set of triplets and I am one of them. And that explains my Eta Oko”

    “ I lost my mum at a very tender age. I was in primary five then and I still feel it up till today. It was tough growing up without a mother” she said in a chat with Vanguard.

     

     

     

     

  • Lancelot Imaseun slams Nollywood stars

    Says: ‘They are selfish’

     

    Revered movie director and filmmaker , Lancelot Imasuen needs no introduction when it comes to matters concerning Nollywood.

    Imaseun has spent more than a decade in the movie industry and has become an authority over the years.

    The filmmaker has lashed out at A-list Nollywood stars, adding that they abandoned the industry rather than contributing to its growth.

    In an encounter with Vanguard, he said:”A Nollywood star is today one of the most influential people in the world. The same person has bagged national award, MON, mingle with the high and mighty in the society.

    “How have they been able to use the platform that Nollywood provided for them to impact positively on the industry? An average Nollywood practitioner is a selfish person. Both the movie marketers and the actors are the big brands in Nollywood that have refused to support the growth of the industry. How many Nollywood stars have attracted major government attention to the industry? None, Nollywood has remained an orphan, where everybody comes to harness its potentials but abandoned it to its fate. It’s sad.

    ” I don’t expect any Nollywood star to come out and criticize anything Nollywood because they are also guilty of negligence of the industry. Some of them are feeling too big for the industry that made them. Who were they some years ago before Nollywood gave them the opportunity to shine.”

     

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