How GTI Partnered with ‘La Femme Anjola’ Producers
GTI Capital Group, an investment banking firm is one of the financiers of the upcoming movie ‘La Femme Anjola’. Their coming on board can be best described as divine as the producers were not ready to shoot the film on a meagre budget. In a short clip, Mildred Okwo, the film director revealed that she refused to shoot the film without getting the right kind of funding because of the depth of the script.
“This script is very dear to me and my business partner,” said actress and producer Rita Dominic. “We are very happy that GTI came on board and shared the vision with us. It’s one thing to have a vision, and another to have people believing in that vision.”
For GTI, a company that started operations in 1998, the opportunity to be part of the film could not be missed.
“We have a knack for value and in this project, we saw a lot of potential and value. We are very proud of what the Audrey Silva Company has been able to put together. We are delighted to be part of the journey, said the Group Managing Director Abubakar Lawal.
Produced by the Audrey Silva Company, ‘La Femme Anjola’ tells the story of a young man who is entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse when he meets and falls for a mysterious woman, Anjola. Dominic plays the titular character Anjola while singer Nonso Bassey plays Dejare, her love subject. The film will be released theatrically on March 19.
The Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture in partnership with two creative training institutions, Del-York and Ebony ilife Academies, has launched the Lagos State Creative Industry Initiative (LACI) to equip 1480 practitioners with world class skills.
The initiative, as stated, will serve as a training platform for practitioners in the creative industry, and to boost the use of modern technology, enhance content and quality of entertainment.
The free training, which is billed for March, aims to make Lagos State a destination for a skilled, workforce for the creative industries while boosting the state’s economy.
Some of the skills lined up for the programme include Script Writing, Directing, Cinematography, Filmmaking, and Fashion and Style, Digital Filmmaking, Documentary Filmmaking, Digital Marketing, Fashion, Arts & Crafts, Film Post-Production, Producing and the Business of Filmmaking.
With these benefits, the Commissioner for Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharm. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, described LACI as a progressive effort of the state government to positively alter the game for the creative industry.
She emphasised: “The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has entered into this partnership with Ebonylife Creative Academy and Del-York Creative Academy to enhance the skills and bring about the exposure of beneficiaries in the state’s creative industry through LACI.”
Akinbile-Yussuf further highlighted that LACI is here to stay and will continue to train and empower creative individuals in the state, as well as birth new and innovative projects and programmes to cater to the ever-growing needs of the industry.
“We believe a fourth industrial revolution is underway – one driven by the transformative power of the creative industries, ”she said, in her closing remark. “LACI is a measure to ensure that Lagos State and her creative industry will always remain ahead of the game.
With the persisting pandemic till date, the commissioner said this is the best time to host such a programme for the creative industry. “We need to build our capacity to suit the situation – Covid. This will also help the economic value of the state.” While Del-York Creative Academy will pilot the virtual Creative Lagos for 1,000 residents, Ebonylife will host the physical programme for 480 professionals and beginners in a three-month comprehensive short courses.
The President of Del-York Creative Academy, Dr Linus Idahosa, “Creative Lagos – as a project of Del-York Creative Academy,”says Linus,“will only synergise talents, technology and career technical education.”
He continued that the programme would also ensure that all participants are globally positioned at the cutting edge of innovation in the short-term and for years to come; to evolve local creative industries across multiple layers of many rapidly transforming landscapes.
Giving a hint on the milestones of the capacity-building institution in the last decade, Idahosa lauded the commitment of the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to help citizens realise their full potentials in charting a new and different path for creative industry.
\In her remarks, the Founder and CEO of Ebonylife, Mo Abudu, lauded the groundbreaking efforts and the aspirations of the administration in birthing LACI as an intervention to respond to the growing shortage of industry professionals.
“With the launch of the Ebonylife Creative Academy (ECLA),” Mo Abudu assured, “We have developed a comprehensive training program by local and foreign industry experts, and features courses designed to assist working film beginners and professionals improve their skill set to position them for the competitive global market.”
The Association of Professional Party Organisers and Event Managers of Nigeria (APPOEMN) has continued to set standards and professionalism as its core mandate.
This is as its newly inaugurated executive council (excos) members have pledged to carry on in same light.
This was the tone that officially ushered in the new excos at its send forth and inaugural event in Lagos on a Thursday evening.
The new executive members are: the President, Adefunke Kuyoro; the Vice President, Olufumbi Akinyosoye; Secretary, Omolola Balogun; Assistant Secretary, Jumoke Olatunji; and Finance Director, Funmi Olaogun.
Others include the Public Relations Director, Bose Abisagboola; Education Director, Yemisi Peters; Events Director, Pamela Nwonu; Logistics Director, Segun Okunuga; and Ojuolape femi-Ayodele, the Welfare Director.
While charging the 10 excos to roll up their sleeves, Kuyoro expressed, “We are all about standardisation. We want every APPOEMN members to plan to execute their events the same way”.
For Kuyoro, APPOEMN is putting its best foot forward to start the year right. “We are talking with governments. We have not been able to go out of Lagos yet,” she adds “We have reached out to the ministry of tourism, safety commission, and collaborating with them.”
Sharing their ideology for the year, the president acknowledged that APPOEMN, which began in 2012 in Lagos State, is currently making plans to launch new chapters across the country in Abuja, Ondo, and Delta states.
She enthused: “Part of our plans before Covid was to start forming chapters since we have members in other states. Sharing her ideology for the organisation.”
While decrying that the industry is one of the worst hit due to the wake of the pandemic, APPOEMN wants to concentrate more on the welfare of its members.
During the lockdown, the President explained, “When some people didn’t know what to do because their whole lives had depended on events, the first thing is to open up their minds to survive, whether the government opens us or not. Start looking outside the box of what you are doing. Diversify.”
To keep afloat, some of its members went into farming and cooking. “Notwithstanding, we still have to move on. We also spent time training members on health and safety issues.”
“This year will be better than next year,” Kuyoro assured party lovers that “We are hot on our knees to expand.”
Upon her reelection into the post of the PR the second term, Abisagboola compares the power of passion and vision (what you see in a space you belong and you want to ensure that it is achieved, actualised and you put in your best).
On how she will portray APPOEMN before Nigerians and events lovers, Abisagboola harped on standards. “It is the standards that you as a brand, an individual, the representative of that industry contributes into that industry, and I am ensuring that everyone in the industry understands.”
Echoing the words of the president, the PR outlined that it is not just about APPOEMN alone, it is about the industry. And the association wants to be able to do everything right by standards.