FG RELEASES N300M CAPACITY-BUILDING FUND FOR NOLLYWOOD

In line with the N3billion support fund promised the Nigerian film
industry popularly referred to as Nollywood, by President Goodluck
Jonathan, the federal government Sunday announced the roll out of a
N300 million capacity-building fund.

The fund, according to the federal government is open for application
from July to December 2013.

The presidential intervention, called Project Act Nollywood, is to be
managed by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of
Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Minister of Culture and
Tourism, Chief Edem Duke.

A statement from the Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for
the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, explained
that the capacity building fund was the first of a series of
initiatives planned under Project Act Nollywood.

This, the minister of finance said is made up of two components.
“The first is a training fund of N150 million dedicated to training
and skills acquisition for Nollywood practitioners in all competencies
along the entire value chain of Nigeria’s movie industry. These
include scriptwriting, directing, production and production design,
special effects, lighting, sound, HD techniques, acting,

cinematography, make-up, editing, etc.

“The second component is the capacity development fund which is also
worth N150 million. It will give grants to existing Nigerian-owned
private institutes that offer training courses, programmes, and
technical certification in the movie industry,” Okonjo-Iweala added.

According to her, the fund may be used to upgrade existing facilities,
procure equipment and develop internal capacity to offer a set of
courses/training programmes to address skills gap in the sector.

To benefit from the fund, Okonjo-Iweala further explained that
interested institutes must prove to registered from before  January 1,
2013 and be competent enough to train according to global best
practices (including for organisations partnering with training
programmes from reputable international film institutions) on a
sustainable basis.

Speaking on the development, the minister said that the establishment
of the fund underscored government’s commitment to supporting the
industry in recognition of its contributions to the economy and
projecting the country.

She stressed that the objective of the initiative is to support the
industry in a sustainable way that practitioners can leverage on to
improve their capacity and output in key areas.

The guidelines for application for the fund include that one must be a
Nigerian, an industry practitioner as well as a member of an industry
association or guild.

Source: Thisday