FG Gives Grants to 40 Nollywood Players

The federal government has given 40 practitioners in the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, various grants under the recently launched capacity training fund of the presidential intervention scheme for the industry also known as Project ACT Nollywood. In a statement by Paul Nwabuikwu, the special adviser to the coordinating minister to the economy and minister of finance the grants, which are currently being processed, will enable the practitioners receive high quality training in accredited institutions to improve their competencies in various areas of film craft. The training part of the capacity building fund is valued at N150 million and is dedicated to training and skills acquisition for Nigerian movie practitioners in all competencies along the entire value chain of Nigeria’s movie industry. These include scriptwriting, directing, production and production design, special effects, lighting, sound, HD techniques, acting, cinematography, make-up, editing, etc. The applications submitted by the practitioners successfully scaled the rigorous qualification processes for the training and skills acquisition segment of the capacity building fund. The second component is the capacity development fund which is also worth N150 million. It will give grants to existing Nigerian-owned private institutes that offer training courses, programmes and technical certification in the movie industry. While expressing satisfaction with the development, the coordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, appealed for more applications from qualified practitioners. In a related development, another segment of Project ACT Nollywood, the Film Production Fund, is also operational. Already the website, www.projectactnollywod.com.ng has been activated and is ready for applications. The Film Production Fund (FPF) is a N700 million instrument which allocates grants to production companies and independent producers for the making of commercially viable films at any stage of production