Emem Isong on Distribution and Other Challenges of a Film Producer

SMCbriefA n I n h o u s e p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e S c h o o l o f M e d i a a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n , P a n - A t l a n t i c U n i v e r s i t y

May 2014

Online platforms for the distribution of Nigerian films are a welcome development.

The producer/scriptwriter, Ms. Emem Isong, stated this while speaking at the May edition of the Filmmakers' Forum organised by the Nollywood Studies Centre of the School of Media and Communication. Ms. Isong spoke on the topic, ‘Overcoming the Odds in Nollywood: A Producer’s Challenges, Solutions and Successes.’

Ms. Isong acknowledged that some of her colleagues might not agree with her as to the opportune entrance of the online platforms. But she went ahead to state that “It saves me the trouble I used to have of fighting the marketers in North America and in Europe. I am not selling to those people anymore. They used to owe too much. Now, I'd rather just sell my films to Iroko or Ibaka that will cater to the people in the diaspora.”

The profitability of the platform for the filmmaker, however, depends, among other things, on his/her negotiation skills. “It depends on your bargaining power and how much you can get from these people for your

work; how many years you can negotiate for them to have the rights. I usually negotiate for, at the very least, two years.” Ms. Isong added that she always restricted such agreements to just the internet rights since she prefers to handle the other rights herself.

In response to a question on the nature of her overall distribution strategy, Ms. Isong noted that it depended on whether the film was a straight-to-DVD film or if it was one made for the cinema. “A lot of the time, I make straight-to-DVD movies. Sometimes, I try the cinema – with the advent of the cinema, it's been quite encouraging.” Given that the numbers are important in the cinema, a publicity campaign is carried out to get as many people as possible to watch the film there. “After going to the cinema, we then go to the [online platform]. We release through those ones first before we go on DVD, which is the final stage.”

Ms. Isong revealed that she depended on her own distribution network to carry out the work at this

ervice. For many people, this Sword has an odious ring to it – unless of course they are at

the receiving end. To serve, for such persons, is something demeaning. But is this really the case? To serve is to render assistance, to carry out work or duties for others either for payment or as a favour. And there is greatness in such service – or there can be if we truly put our hearts into it.

As Martin Luther King Jr. puts i t , “ E v e r y b o d y c a n b e great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

The leader as servant is a well-known concept, and this was the idea that a friend of mine invoked when he noted that part of the cure that the ills of our country need is a selfless leader that is prepared to roll up his/her sleeves and get down to work. True leadership does not consist in amassing power and lording it over others. According to Gordon B. Hinckley, “One of the great ironies of life is this: He or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served.” And, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Work well done is service, and our lead story features Ms. Emem Isong, who is known for the quality of her films. The gains of service are exemplified in our story on the prestigious award that has been won by Toyosi Ogunseye, who has been recognised for her service to the community. We offer our warm congratulations.

In the story on page 2, Mr. I k e d d y I s i g u z o s p e a k s lightheartedly of the ‘blissfully borne burden’ of undergoing the SMC’s master’s programme. Do enjoy the issue.

Ikechukwu Obiaya

newsletter@smc.edu.ng

PAN-ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OFMEDIA ANDCOMMUNICATION

Editor’s Note

Continued on page 4

Ms. Emem Isong

SMC BRIEF May 2014

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Our arrival on August 2010 as the second set of the part time master's programme of the

SMC was defining and certainly refining for us. The most basic rules challenged us. Timely attendance to classes was not enough; we had to make contributions, which were scored. The contributions were opportunities to canvass ideas for their worth, which sometimes turned out to be minimal if not non-existent.

Respect for ourselves and for others, no matter how lowly we considered them, counted in our aspirations to gain a qualification from one of the most sought after institutions in these parts.

At the orientation, speakers impressed us with how privileged we were to be among the 35 admitted. I knew that privilege; the hole it drilled through my resources remains unfilled: privileges at SMC are expensive.

Possibly the most challenging subject was Ethics. What enriched it were the contentious positions we all held, jovially tagged our “ethical threshold,” an expansive worldview of 35 people, a generous collection of all th ings eth ica l . Most anchored themselves on “situational ethics,” drawing from the vast milieu it provided.

When we created our own menu at meal times, as “spirit-filled men (and women),” SMC accommodated us. Character is critical, and the consolation was that the certificate rated us fit in

character and credential; yet everything is “in partial fulfillment,” except fees.

SMC taught us assertiveness. It prepared us to defend our position; after all, we learnt that “we disagree with ideas not with those propounding them.” The MSc PT2 class was original. We were unbeatable, such that once, in a class picnic, we outdid a professional dance group that thought it knew a thing or two about shuffles.

For me, SMC was another beginning – new, fresh, enthralling, and tasking. I had platforms to test my ideas, contending for space they did not earn. The freedom to have my say was a podium on which new ideas were spawned. Hardly did one attend a class that did not provide more than that encounter.

Imagine the stir one of us caused on our first day in class, when he wanted to know the venue of the graduation ceremony that was 23 months away. We all laughed, but I instantly learnt how present the future was.

The powers of the mind, the realms of possibilities were among lessons we picked, whether in business, innovation, management, or leadership classes. We saw the practical sides of statistics, strategy and research. Our language skills were tasked. Excuses, no matter how nice sounding, died with their inexactitudes.

One of us had a niche in theories. You

could not conclude a statement without her asking for “the supporting theory.”

Where lies the blissful burden? The MSc degree awarded by the Pan-Atlantic (then Pan-African) University builds higher public expectations from us. We are a brand from whom people demand leadership by imitable example. Our knowledge is for the common good. We have to say what we mean and mean what we say, a major challenge in a society where people do not expect to be held responsible for anything.

SMC was a series of drama, each scene pointing to the immense possibilities that thoughts generate. We debated, we doubted, we waffled, and in the processing we became converted to change agents.

It is only in SMC that an innocuous question, “Why does your station cover events with one camera?” draws an answer such as, “There is an occurring nexus of mediating factors and influences.” A quote straight from communication theorist, Joseph Klapper (1960), thrown in with unabridged abandon, sustains my position that with SMC, all things – almost all things – are possible, once the terms and conditions are fully applied.

Ikeddy Isiguzo (MSc, Media Enterprise, PT2) is the Chairman of the Editorial Board of Vanguard, among other things.

Burden Blissfully Borne

Members of the Msc PT2 class

SMC BRIEF May 2014

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SMC UpdateMs. Toyosi Akerele (CME 6) has been nominated for the inaugural MTV Base Leadership Award. She was nominated along with four others from different African countries. The MTV Base Leadership Award category was created by Viacom International Media Networks and MTV Base as part of the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA). The nomination of Ms. Akerele, the CEO of Rise Networks, as

well as the others, is in recognition of their leadership and contribution towards the growth and development of Africa across a broad spectrum of disciplines.

Mr. Chude J ideonwo (M.Sc. FT3) has launched his book, Are We The Turning Point Generation? The launch took place at the Federal Place Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on the 25th of May, 2014. The book is a collection of

essays. Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, who chaired the book launch, urged other Nigerian youth to emulate the writer's zeal in nation building.

The GfK Centre of the School of Media and Communication has began the third edition of the Market and Social Research programme. The programme, which started on the 27th of May, 2014, has 21

participants drawn from different sectors.

Members of the current classes of the Full Time and Part Time Masters as well as the Post Graduate Diploma programmes have held an end of s e m e s t e r p a r t y t o

celebrate the various achievements and milestones. The black tie event took place at the Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel, on Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. It was a night of fun and games as well as music and dancing. Speeches were not left out as the PT4 and PT5 Presidents, Nnanna Adim and Sola Adebawo respectively, took time out to express their appreciation to everyone who had contributed to making it happen. Members of faculty were also present, with Barrister Tomi Vincent delivering a spirited word of advice to guests.

Ms .

T o y o s i O g u n s e y e (M.Sc. PT1) has won the 2014 Knight International

Journalism Award. Ms. Ogunseye, the editor of Nigeria's Sunday Punch newspaper, won the award along with a Mexican freelance journalist, Ms. Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab. The award, which is given in recognition of outstanding news coverage that makes a difference in the lives of people around the world, was announced by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).

The awardees were credited for their investigative reports that exposed companies that seriously endangered public health. Ms. Ogunseye's report

had revealed that the fumes from a manufacturing plant were making residents of a well-to-do community in Lagos seriously ill while Ms. von Bertrab exposed the way in which companies flagrantly violated the law, leading in some cases to numerous deaths and injuries. The ICFJ President, Joyce Barnathan, praised the journalists for going "the extra mile to expose health dangers." She added that "Their coverage forced governments to take strong action to protect the public well-being."

Both winners will be honored at the 30th Anniversary Awards Dinner of the ICFJ in Washington D.C., in November 2014. The Knight International Journalism Award is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which funds ICFJ's Knight International Journalism Fellowships program.

The ICFJ promotes quality journalism worldwide with the belief that

responsible journalism empowers citizens and holds governments accountable. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which backs the award, supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts.

Ms. Ogunseye has received 25 awards i . n her 10-year journalism careerSome of these are the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Award in the MSD Health and Medical category, which she won in both 2011 and 2013; t h e Wo l e S o y i n k a A w a r d f o r Investigative Reporting; the Nigerian Academy of Science award; and the Nobert Zongo Investigative Journalism prize. She was also recently shortlisted to participate in the Young African Leadership Initiative of the US President, Barack Obama.

Toyosi Ogunseye Adds Another Feather to Her Cap

final stage. “My own distribution that I have [focuses mainly on] DVD. I have outlets in Onitsha, Aba, Akwa Ibom, Abuja and mainly Lagos.”

Earlier, Ms. Isong shared with the audience how she entered the film industry. According to her, she got into filmmaking during “the golden age of Nollywood, when the home video phenomenon was still a phenomenon. The market was crowded; audiences were insatiable, and people were jumping on the film bandwagon from other industries…” She resigned from her job as a banker and entered the industry. Her first film, Jezebel, was an Igbo language film that she wrote and co-produced with Francis Agu, in 1994. Her first solo effort came in 1996 with Breaking Point, which she funded and produced. The funding came from her parents in the form of a sixty thousand Naira loan. She also got some assistance from Tunde Kelani, who hired out equipment to her on credit.

Ms. Isong recognised that she meets with various challenges in the course of

her journey through the industry. The first of these, she said, is creative. “Being a movie producer, our job is to find and tell stories that will stand with the many, many stories released everyday and sell enough to make money so as to make new stories. Where do we find these stories?” She went on to add that these stories had to be mined from one's life and the experiences of others.

Funding continues to be a major challenge for the filmmaker. In response to a question as to how she is able to reassure investors of a timely return of their investment if they fund her film, Ms. Isong had this to say: “I am very hesitant when it comes to getting money from investors. If I do, I try to let the investor know that this business is quite risky. I'm not going to promise that I'll give your money back within [a particular fixed period]. I w o n ' t g i v e y o u a

timeline. I'd rather say, give it at least a year… It could take a year for you to get your money back, not to even talk of your getting profit.” Making the money back, she stressed, is the climax of the filmmaking process, and this is where the challenges of distribution come in.

The Forum ended with a cocktail during which the members of the audience had further opportunities to interact with Ms. Isong. The Filmmakers' Forum is a monthly activity of the SMC's Nollywood Studies Centre.

SMC BRIEF May 2014

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A communication strategy is a road map that should align itself with the vision of its principals.

Such a strategy must never be static but needs to be reviewed as the challenges and problems change and to keep up pace with the changing resources and tools. Mr. Deji Haastrup, the General Manager, Policy, Government and Political Affairs, Chevron Nigeria Ltd., emphasised this while speaking at the

Breakfast With… forum. The forum, which took place early in May, 2014, was organised by the School of Media and Communication Alumni Association.

Mr. Haastrup, whose presentation was titled 'Monitoring and Improving Y o u r O r g a n i z a t i o n ' s Communications Strategy,' d e f i n e d w h a t a communication strategy is.

He went on to explain why an organization would need it, the purpose of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the strategy, what to expect, and how to know if there is an improvement in how one communicates with the organisation's target audience and stakeholders. Challenges, he noted, must not be avoided. Rather, they should be embraced because they will he lp in the improvement and

strengthening of the individual or organisation involved.

Other very significant parameters that must be taken into consideration for a successful communication strategy include the cost and a realistic estimate of the time that it will take to achieve the desired result. The expected result must be defined, Mr. Haastrup said, because unless you know where you are going you will not know how to get there. No communication programme can work without a good communication strategy. A good test of the success of one's strategy, he concluded, is for the target audience to feel its impact and value according to or better even than what had been specified in the plan.

Mr. Haastrup's presentation was followed by a very interactive question and answer session. A plaque was subsequently presented to him. The event was concluded with a tour of the building.

Ms. Isabella AkinseyeMr. Deji Haastrup

Breakfast With... Mr. Deji Haastrup

Emem Isong on Distribution and Other Challenges of a Film ProducerContinued from page 1

Ms. Emem Isong and Barr. Chris Nkwocha, Zonal Manager, Lagos Office of Nigerian Copyright Commission