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The Quartet moves to establish national film development fund

The agencies, which met under the aegis of The Quartet, are desirous of pulling their resources through strategic partnerships to ensure that the development of the Nigerian film industry is sustainably pursued.

The agencies, which met under the aegis of The Quartet, are desirous of pulling their resources through strategic partnerships to ensure that the development of the Nigerian film industry is sustainably pursued.

Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), with all the parastatals that form the quartet for the Nigerian film industry – National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) – have jointly endorsed the establishment of a National Film Development Fund (NFDF) to enable the country deal urgently with the dearth of funding for film production activities, and investment opportunities yet untapped in the Nigerian film industry.

The four Federal Government agencies, whose mandates and activities directly and remotely rob on the Nigerian creative economy, have come to the realisation that the film industry was in dire need of access to funding, support and assistance to enable it up its contribution to the country’s GDP from just over 1.5 per cent to between 10 – 15 per cent within the first two years. To achieve this feat, the industry, which has thrived on the resilience and private funding would require the institutionalisation of a funding regime.

The agencies, which met under the aegis of The Quartet, are desirous of pulling their resources through strategic partnerships to ensure that the development of the Nigerian film industry is sustainably pursued. The fight against piracy, intellectual property theft, effective distribution, sustainable marketing framework, digitisation and content development also topped discussions at the meeting, which was held in Abuja last week.

The Quartet, established in 2006, also decided to develop a robust plan of action that would promote the training of filmmakers and other stakeholders in both the art and business of filmmaking. Professionalism, diligent adherence to ethics and compliances, were also discussed with a commitment to ensure that Nigeria’s creative economy is fully integrated into the diversification agenda of the Federal Government.

In his remarks at the meeting, NFC’s Managing Director, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, commended other members of The Quartet for their resolve to push for the realisation of its objectives. He said that more than before, the nation requires the commitment of government agencies to deliver on their mandates, through attractive programmes and projects with positive impacts.

The Nigerian film industry, he further said, has the obvious trappings to provide job opportunities for Nigerians. The resilience and investment of those in the business of filmmaking, Maduekwe said, should be protected always to guarantee return on investment, as well as incentives for new entrants.

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