Actors and entertainment personalities such as Shaffy Bello, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Mofe Duncan, Shawn Faqua, BamBam and Tola Odunsi, recently joined an author and media entrepreneur, Toyosi Etim-Effiong, for a Nollywood stakeholders’ forum in Lekki, Lagos.
The forum came on the heels of the announcement by Etim-Effiong, who is also the founder of That Good Media, about her partnership with the Essence Festival of Culture and Films in New Orleans, United States of America, to lead a delegation of Nollywood’s stakeholders to the event.
In her opening speech at the forum, Etim-Effiong, reiterated her passion for seeing Nollywood grow into an industry that is as well regarded as Nigerian music. She said, “Nollywood and afrobeats are of the same mother and father. Nollywood cannot be the child that does not make it”
The director and event lead for the Essence festival, Lamonia Brown, also stated that July 1, 2023, had been designated as Nigeria Day of the event, and would be dedicated to ‘filmmakers, storytellers, financiers, producers, actors and everyone who makes the whole Nigeria film industry what it is today’.
She added that the day will feature panel sessions on topics such as Creating and Promoting Globally Relatable Content, and movie screenings that will give stakeholders an opportunity to network with their global counterparts.
First held in 1995, the festival is an annual event that celebrates African-American culture and music.
