• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Nollywood scriptwriting contest kicks off, N2m up for grabs

Nollywood scriptwriting contest kicks off, N2m up for grabs

A new contest christened, Nollywood Script Writing Contest (NSWC), a brainchild of Lawrence Onuzulike, a Nollywood actor, publisher and activist, has birthed, with N2 million prizes for the winners.

Speaking during a press parley at his office in Ikeja, Lagos, which was graced by stakeholders including; a select group of media in the motion picture industry, Onuzulike said: “Nollywood scriptwriting contest was created to reward hardworking scriptwriters and highlight the vital roles they play in filmmaking. In Nollywood, there is this overall feeling that scriptwriters, despite playing very important roles in filmmaking, are not being well recognized and rewarded in the Nigerian film industry.

“Consequently, Nollywood Script Writing Contest (NSWC) is geared towards correcting that by bringing to the fore the vital roles played by scriptwriters in movie production and in the film industry as a whole.

“The media campaign and the razzmatazz that will surround the contest will not only shed light on screenwriters but will also make them the point of focus for once in an industry often dominated by actors, directors and producers.

“This is a one-of-its-kind-of project and has never been done on this scale in Nigeria.”

Brought to you by Aforevo and proudly endorsed by Actors Guild Of Nigeria (AGN), Script Writers Guild of Nigeria (SWGN), Directors Guild Of Nigeria (DGN) and Association Of Movie Producers (AMP), the winner goes home with the star prize of N1million, and the winning script will be made into a blockbuster Nollywood movie including a one-year scriptwriting contract with Aforevo. However, the first and second runners up, will go home with N500,000 and N300,000 respectively.

Read also: Application opens for Realness Institute’s 2022 residency for Nigerian filmmakers, scriptwriters

Other consolation prizes include; 100 Afrorevo T-Shirts and caps.

Explaining other details of the contest, Onuzulike said, the contest is open to all Nigerians except staff of Murphy Ben International Limited. To qualify, participants must submit the first 20 scenes from their scripts after which judges will choose the best 20 submissions. The owners of the selected submissions will be required to submit 100 to 135 scenes of their works from which the judges will choose the best three scripts. Submission opens on February 7 and will close on March 4, 2022, while prizes will be presented to winners on March 8, 2022.

The judges include; Clarion Chukwura, veteran actress; Segun Arinze, Victor Okhai, president DGN and Yinka Ogun, president, SWGN.

Also in attendance were Peter Cobham and Chinwe Chukwudire and a host of others.

However, the organisers urged interested participants to visit Nollywoodscreenwritingcontest.com, for more info on how to apply and submit.

“I am using this opportunity to call on all creatives out there to take advantage of the contest and be heard. This is going to be a bi-annual event and it promises to be a rewarding experience”, Onuzulike concluded.