• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Expectations as Multichoice deepens Africa’s narrative quest

MultiChoice: Assessing price intervention in free market economy

Africa has for many years endured negative image both locally and internationally. Some analysts attribute this to prejudices of Western countries that, through their powerful global media system exaggerate negative issues in the African continent and play less on their own bad sides.

However, most African economies have done little to change the unacceptable perceptions. They are either beclouded in ignorance of the risks of poor image or correcting it is not their priority as they don’t understand the relationship to economic growth. Good or poor reputation has correlation to level of development.

Branding and image building are about consistent story telling through various platforms such as books, films, documentaries and souvenirs. Europe and Western countries have used this approach successfully but Africa is yet to fully embrace this approach.

Multichoice intervention

Multichoice which has being in the business of communication understands the significance of using messages as change agents. These messages are really portrayed through film and television industry which are particularly relevant as tool for shaping the African narrative.

The company which has operated for 26 years in Nigeria therefore started a journey last year to re-write Africa’s story. It believed that repackaging Africa cannot be done successfully without training and equipping Africans to tell authentic and well-produced stories.

Therefore, the organisation last year October started a yearly Multichoice Talent Factory (MTF) – a multi-tiered Corporate Shared Value, CSV project in partnership with School of Media and Communication of LBS to ignite Africa’s creative industry. In the first edition, it selected and trained 20 young men and women from Ghana and Nigeria out of 3108 applicants.

After one year of honing their skills, the first set of MTF students graduated, last week Thursday thereby increasing the pool of world-class talent within the industry ready to push Africa’s course. It is said that the exercise is also carried out in two other African countries.

The CEO of Multichoice Nigeria, John Ugbe told the students that the graduation marked an important day in their lives as it is a new beginning of the journey into their future as the next generation of African storytellers.

“You are now part of a small but growing class of young, creative professionals equipped to tell Africa’s stories through authentic lenses while recognising and embracing her growth possibilities and opportunities”

Femi Odugbemi, MTF West Africa Academy Director, described the training as a landmark programme, noting that the students aptly demonstrated their skills as filmmakers.

“Over the course of the programme, the students expertly honed their raw talent into professional skill. This is the essence of the MTF Academy – giving upcoming talent the chance to hone their abilities thereby increasing the pool of available talent and world class professionals in the industry. This graduation is therefore a landmark moment both for the students and the programme,” Odugbemi said.

Also speaking, Ikechukwu Obiaya, Dean of Media and Communication said the training is important in building strong foundation for the evolving industry. He agreed that if you are going to change the quality of film, you must change the quality of film makers.

In her speech, Lagos State Commissioner for Art and Tourism, Shulamite Adebolu said her desire is to create a one stop shop in the ministry to streamline regulation of films.

Most of the students commended Multichoice for the opportunity to horn their skills. Minwon Metong from Nigeria said the training was another step of growth and it offered him the opportunity to deeply understand film as medium of change. Tochukwu Nwabueze said he was enlightened and learning more about film industry. Salma Saliu said the training was eye opening. Dumevi Irene Yaamoakoa from Ghana said now she has improved on how to tell stories.

Students who excelled during the programme were rewarded with scholarships and grants respectively.

The 2018 set of graduates produced two films while undergoing the programme. The first, Life of Bim, will air on Africa Magic Showcase (Dstv channel 151) on 21 September, while the other, Dreamchaser, will air on 28 September on the same station.