By Deborah Enwerem
The Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN), in partnership with the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), is set to expand professional skills development opportunities for filmmakers and other creative practitioners across Nigeria.
Uche Agbo, National President of DGN, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Agbo said the partnership aimed to strengthen the creative workforce, close skills gap, improve professionalism and create networking opportunities for industry practitioners.
“I believe that if we have a strong and trained workforce in the industry, it will strengthen professionalism,” he said.
According to him, training directors and helping them maximise their creativity was one of the mandates he is pursuing since assuming office as national president.
He said the programme would give participants access to experienced industry professionals who would share practical knowledge and experience.
“We have had workshops and a lot of trainings in Lagos. We had one in March this year.
“Now we want to spread it all round the country, and we encourage people who are closer to states where the workshop will happen to also attend and sharpen their talents and skills.
“Let the man in Kano be able to partake and learn and the man in Aba also partake in this and improve on their skills, it should not be for only Lagos,” he said.
According to him, the MTF Regional Workshop Series, organised in partnership with DGN, is scheduled to hold in Abeokuta, Ibadan, Owerri, Abia, Abuja, Kaduna, Asaba and Port Harcourt.
He described the initiative as part of DGN’s commitment to creative equity and ensuring that access to professional development was not concentrated in Lagos or other major cities.
The DGN helmsman said the initiative targets emerging and practising filmmakers, including directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and other creative professionals.
He described the programme as a milestone for the guild and said it was the first edition of the partnership with MTF.
“This is the first edition of this programme in the DGN and also the first edition with MultiChoice Talent Factory. We hope to make it a yearly programme,” he said.
According to him, the guild will sustain and expand the programme as resources grow, while monitoring its impact through participants’ feedback and testimonials.
“In fact, I can’t wait for when we can cover the entire local governments and the entire 36 states in Nigeria,” he said.
He said the training could also strengthen Nigerian filmmakers’ participation in the wider African and international creative economy.
While speaking on the way forward for the nation’s motion picture industry, the DGN president called for stronger government support for skills development in the creative sector.
He said government’s primary responsibility should be to provide an enabling environment for private-sector businesses and initiatives to thrive.
According to him, a strong private sector would create jobs, reduce poverty and help curb insecurity by engaging more people in productive activities.
“I would wish the government can partner with us . We will be very glad to expand this programme from just the few states we are able to pick to make it a 36-state project,” he said.
Agbo noted that digital and social-media platforms had widened access to the creative industry, enabling people across Nigeria to create content and earn from their skills.
He added that the sector offered opportunities regardless of educational background, and could provide alternative livelihoods for unemployed young people.(NAN)
Edited by Joshua Olomu
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