FITC  Advocates Film Industry, Financial Institutions Partnership for Economic Growth

The Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) has called for collaboration between the film industry and financial institutions to stimulate funding  for economic growth.

FITC Managing Director/CEO, Chizor Malize, stated  this during the 5th edition of the Annual Seminar and Short Film Screening of Nollywood Creative Mind Forum (NCMF) held recently in  Lagos.

In her keynote address themed: ‘Finding Common Grounds for Collaboration Between the Film Industry and Financial Institutions’ Malize highlighted the excellent achievements that the industry has recorded and revealed the enormous opportunities that still exists within the same space.

She said despite the huge potential in the Nollywood industry, the sector remained underfunded, a challenge that can be fixed with partnerships with key stakeholders in the economy. She said  the industry frequently encounters funding challenges forcing some filmmakers to seek external support and assistance which is usually a herculean task considering the stringent requirements for accessing such facility. 

According to a report, Nollywood was ranked as the world’s second-largest movie industry by volume, surpassing America’s Hollywood and coming just short of India’s Bollywood. 

However, it was clearly stated in the report that the Nollywood does not surpass both the Hollywood and the Bollywood in terms of production quality and return on investments.

Although Nollywood currently produces more than 2,000 movies and TV series each year, most of them in Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and English, all of which are the most widely spoken languages in Nigeria, the returns on investment are still far below that of Hollywood and Bollywood.

Malize  listed some of the support to the sector from financial institutions which include the Bankers’ Committee led ongoing restoration and refurbishment of the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, tagged Lagos Creative And Entertainment Centre project; First Bank led sponsorship of the movie ”Ayinla” in 2020, UBA’s sponsorship of the Ebola movie titled “93 Days”- A story on how Nigeria faced its first case of the Ebola virus and conquered it, and other key roles by banks investing in the sector.

“Just like Sports, Nollywood is too strategic, an economic dynamic to be left to the vagaries of government-inspired policy intervention alone. It requires a more rigorous and robust funding intervention that will become more amenable to a private sector-driven management dynamic, than what the solely government-driven control can yield,” she said.

On the way forward, Malize remarked that financial institutions should learn to include the film industry in their yearly budgeting plans, join hands to manage upcoming talents, invest in film schools and never forget to be creative in an era that can offer unimaginable art.

“We seek to address the long awaiting connection where financial institutions need to understand that they can also be creative in solving their internal and external issues like customer relationship issues, brand identity, etcetera. In turn, the film industry should also understand that reaching out to financial institutions has a role to play in the development of their sector,” she added.

According to the FITC boss, a handshake between these two powerful sectors can only lead to prosperity.

 “In the nearest future, we seek to find the Nigerian film industry going beyond world class, attracting more investors from the private sectors and foreign businesses in the film production and distribution and ultimately, increasing the number and quality of cinema products and services in Nigeria,” she said.

“This will invariably increase the overall GDP of Nigeria thus stimulating growth and development and better position the country as a powerhouse in Movie production,” Malize added.

The President, Nollywood Creative Mind Forum (NCMF), Mrs. Ijeoma Richards said that the event is an annual gathering of professionals within the Nollywood industry aimed at identifying and harnessing opportunities, providing mentorship and creating a viable platform for artistes to collaborate in not only sustaining the momentum but also in taking the industry to the next level.

According to her, professionals from the financial sector and the media were invited to see how both sectors can collaborate with Nollywood to identify new windows of openings and innovation to help develop the industry beyond where it is.

In his presentation,  Editor-in-Chief, African Economy Magazine, Mr. Kelechi Deca, described the movie and entertainment sectors as strong vehicle for societal change. He advocated for more government support for the industry including collaborating with the professionals on intentional agenda setting towards changing the narratives about Nigeria.

Speaking on the theme: Entertainment as Vehicle for Positive Change and Development, Deca noted that in an age where culture drives economics, a lot of countries across the world are taking cultural economics seriously and deliberately harnessing opportunities within the sector, towards their national development and foreign policy formulation.

He  called on the actors to always collaborate with people in different fields such as the media, finance, and academia, especially historians, linguists and other cultural activists to explore all aspects of development the entertainment industry can tap from.