TalentX Africa

Corona virus pandemic has spread to  177 countries since it was first reported in Wuhan, China on the 1st of December 2019. Drastically affecting the global economy, including the entertainment industry. From cancelled film festivals, awards and cinema releases, this pandemic looks to affect the livelihood of many within the film industry including the more vulnerable self-employed creatives. This is why we think it is perhaps interesting and timely to discuss what this means for the film industry in Nigeria and the world as it relates to filmmakers, investors and filmlovers. Film releases, locations, festivals, and award shows postponed The global film industry hasn't faced such a damning crisis in recent history, the damages covid19 poses to the film business investors and their employees are massive. With cinema closures, a halt on film releases, award postponements and cancellations, not forgetting productions currently on hold, TV and SVOD remain the only safest...

  Funke Akindele-Bello poses with her award For many filmmakers, the recognition of their peers and fans in the form of awards are the highest forms of aspirations, with what we saw at the 7th Africa Magic Viewer's Choice Award, it is safe to say the best part of a filmmakers life is the moment she or he is honoured. Most especially if such is coming from a reputable organization. Globally, aside from peer and fan recognition,  how  much positive economic impact a movie awards can have on a film and general entertainment are a big deal. Statistically, an academy award, has been known to increase a films revenue by at least 25 million dollars. DSTV's Africa Magic honoured movies released in 2019, at the AMVCA. It wasn't the golden statue that got Beverly Naya emotional, receiving an AMVCA significe most importantly, that those sleepless nights, the uncompromising stance and sacrifices, all crew efforts, were worth it. The bulk of Africa's young individua...

Would it be out of place to say every Nigerian has seen at least one Indian film? Remember Kuchi Kuchi Hota Hai (1998), 3 Idiots (2009) Baahubali (2015). According to  BellaNaija  the number of Indians who watch Nollywood movies are quite small but this could be set to change with a transcontinental and cultural cinematic exchange in the works from Indian Filmmaker Hamisha Daryani Ahuja entitled Namaste Wahala. Ahead of the film's release, we have provided a comparative round-up of Nollywood and Bollywood number. India's Bollywood The term Bollywood was coined in the 70s, when Nasir Hussain and Salim-Javed, Masala films started gaining foreign attention. Bollywood has since been known as an umbrella term for the industry that is subdivided into several regional hubs by languages including Tollywood (Telugu films), Marathi, Bengali etc. The term Bollywood is gained popular recognition based on the fact that the majority of films are produced in Hindi's Bombay (e.g...

Why adaptation? The rich content and already established fan base make for a high chance of successful marketing. Africa is known for its rich folklore culture with true stories and fables recited by Griots dating far back. This culture of passing down stories and moral lessons from oral to written and reenacted accounts via the media of novels and plays respectively has enthralled generations of African audiences. With motion picture being the next frontier, it is time to consider adding adaptions of classical African stories into the cinematic medium for a new generation of audience. Movie adaptations of folk stories could similarly reinvigorate the Nollywood box office just like in Hollywood where films and series are reformatted for an existing fan base, for example, comics (as evident by the success of the MCU adaptations), books (as with the Twilight series) and video games (The Witcher). Impactful stories such as Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart', Cypre...