WEEKS after his emergence as president of Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Zik Zulu Okafor, seems to have rolled his sleeves for the task ahead, with special attention in the area of capacity building for members. Recently, Okafor and some members of AMP were in Atlanta, US as Nollywood delegation to the yearly New Media Nollywood Programme (NMNP), hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology. The two-week programme, according to Okafor, explores the relationship between Nollywood and digital media.
Aside Okafor, other members of the delegation include Zeb Ejiro, Emem Isong, Monalisa Chinda, Desmond Elliot and Francis Onwochei. Also at the event were lecturers from the University of Lagos’ Centre for Excellence, a World Bank initiative led by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Rahamon A. Bello and Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye, Head of Department of Mass Communication.
The highpoint of the event was a joint production of a Nollywood movie titled The Last Minute, a partnership between Georgia Tech, DBI and Nollywood team.
Directed by Zeb Ejiro and Francis Onwochei, the movie stares Desmond Elliot and Monalisa Chinda. The team also featured in the international Future Media Fest and toured the Turner Studios.
The Nigerian Consul General in Atlanta and the Liberian Honourary Consul General, Cynthia Blandford Nash, later hosted them to special dinners.
“It was a fantastic experience. I was amazed that Americans could be giving Nollywood so much space in their minds. You need to see the quality of the audience and scholars,” Okafor said.
Back from the programme, the AMP President stressed that his vision is to give AMP a strong international recognition through partnerships with institutions such as DBI, Centre of Excellence and other foreign bodies.
“We need these partnerships to improve our practice, to get deeper insight into the way the world is thinking and, also, to grow bigger. Above all, we need these partnerships and interactions to continue our quest for solutions to some of the challenges of our industry, especially distribution, which has been our nagging headache,” he added.