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The nine days’ long
technical capacity building workshop in film production, organised by
the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) in collaboration with
Nollywood Travel Market Limited, ended on December 16, 2010 with a
brief closing ceremony at the Royalton Hotel in Abuja.

Addressing
organisers and participants at the event, M.M. Maidugu, the chief
executive director of the National Council for Arts and Culture,
expressed gratitude at the turnout and success of the workshop.

“Our initial fear
about this workshop was on whether or not it will be possible to
mobilise enough people to partake in it. But what I saw in Lagos,
Enugu, and now Abuja shows that our youth are hungry to learn. So, I
must congratulate the organisers for their ability to mobilise such a
huge number of people within the time available for us to plan and
execute this event,” he said.

The workshop
focused on four major areas namely: scriptwriting, costume and make-up,
editing, and cinematography (which includes light, camera, photography,
and sound engineering) with the aim of engaging practitioners in
refresher courses by way of improving performance and delivery which
will in turn impact on the quality of films turned out by producers and
marketers in Nigeria.

Wilfred Ayeni, a
member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria in Abuja and one of the workshop
participants, expressed concern at what he described as the influx of
mediocrity in the Nigerian movie industry.

“Nollywood as it is
today is populated by mediocres who are not bothered about professional
ethics and quality of output in what they do but their short term
returns,” he observed. “This workshop, I am sure, will go a long way to
put us in good stead to contribute to the development of our industry,
and by extension, the nation at large,” he added.

Reiterating an
earlier promise for a better and improved edition of the workshop next
year, Chidi Nwokeabia, of Nollywood Travel Market Limited, challenged
other relevant ministries and agencies to emulate the NCAC.

“It is not just
enough for people, including those in the government quarters to
condemn the quality and depth of our work. They should emulate the NCAC
by supporting training efforts like this,” he said.

Maidugu presented
certificates to the over 100 participants at the workshop, while
promising that subsequent editions will ensure that more people
participate.

In addition to the
workshop, three films are expected to be produced by the body, one each
from Lagos, Enugu, and Abuja. Nwokeabia revealed that the decision to
produce the three movies is to provide opportunity for participants to
demonstrate what they have learnt in the course of the workshop, which
had Ernest Obi and Lancelot Imasuen as some of the facilitators.

Nita Biyak George, an Abuja based artist who participated in the workshop, described it as a worthy experience.

“I felt fulfilled being part of this workshop. It is three days that
every serious minded person within the trade will live to treasure. I
am glad to have been part of it and I thank the organisers for giving
me the opportunity,” she said, expressing the hope that the knowledge
impacted in the participants will make them complete artists.