Sanwo-Olu Initiates Project To Fund Talent Development, Creativity In Entertainment Sector
• RMD, Tunde Kelani, Kunle Afolayan on 9-Man Team to Drive Lagos’ Film Tourism
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu initiated an intervention project that will jump-start the transformation of the Entertainment and Tourism sector.
The Governor, on Wednesday, inaugurated the Committee on Film Production Empowerment at the State House, Marina to fund youth creativity and entertainment activities in the State, following the disruption caused by the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that impacted negatively on entertainment and tourism in the State.
Richard Mofe-Damijo – a veteran filmmaker and Nollywood actor – is the chairman of the nine-member committee, comprising five industry practitioners and four Government officials. They are selected to drive the Governor’s vision to actively support youth creativity and entrepreneurship in the sector.
The committee’s inauguration came months after the Governor set aside N1 billion seed capital to unlock the potential in hospitality and tourism businesses.
The scheme is to support creative ideas of movie and entertainment producers who are constrained by funds to bring their concepts into reality. Applicants are to be supported with funding based on the financial plans of their projects. The grant may be as much as N40 million for each beneficiary.
Entertainment and Tourism form a key pillar of the Government’s T.H.E.M.E.S. Agenda being implemented to drive inclusive growth and socio-economic development across sectors of the State’s economy.
Sanwo-Olu described the entertainment and tourism as enablers of growth with huge potential for employment opportunities. The sector, he said, is critical to achieving his administration’s youth development objectives, given its high rate of absorption of creative young people in its supply chains.
He said: “This is a signpost of all pockets of intervention we have created for development of creativity and tourism sector. Aside the N1 billion set aside for hospitality industry, this scheme is specifically targeted at our movie industry which is known all over the world. This is with the belief that we can further raise the status of our creative output and commercialise the returns to a level it can compete with Hollywood and Bollywood.
“We realised most of our film production experts and directors face a lot of funding impediments. We are intervening to close this gap and bring credible veterans who have knowledge and have demonstrated capacity in the industry to drive this project. That is why we carefully selected five key practitioners in the industry to lead. The Committee will be supported by four Government officials to limit bureaucracy for the Committee to achieve its objectives.”
