NFVCB to Cut Ties with Unregistered Practitioners
To drive best practices in the movie industry, the Executive Director, National Film and Videos Censors Board (NFVCB), Adedayo Thomas, has said that the board will no longer engage with practitioners in the movie industry who are yet to be registered.
Thomas made this submission at the first meeting of the non-registered and registered professional association in the Nigerian movie industry in Lagos.
Citing “Act 17 sub-section 2 and 3 of the NFVCB Act’’, he said the directive was imperative in order to restore sanity to the industry that has been saturated by many non-professionals. “A couple of months ago, we called for guilds and associations to validate and register their members. Even the Minister of Information was gracious enough; he extended it for them for another two months until January 31 this year.”
“For us to look at every policy, there must be feedback within a very short period of time: feedback of what is happening, how well they understand, staff must be able to equally listen. This policy will assist the government to identify those who are producing, directing, acting and marketing,’’ he revealed.
He added that any practitioner who refuses to register will be sanctioned and pulled out of business as the board wants the best for genuine practitioners in the industry. Thus far, 13 professional bodies have been registered with the board.
Further, he reflected on the milestone reached by the Nigerian movie industry in the past two decades, stressing the need for a regulatory framework to build a stronger movie industry.
“We won the emerging film market in the world. Cinema grew from when I was appointed from 20 to 63 now. Cinema and foreign investments are coming. So, we need those things on ground to achieve the development we are looking for in the film industry.”