Filmmaker and CEO of Ebonylife Media Mo Abudu has delivered the keynote address at the opening of the fourth edition of the Peace Anyiam-Osigwe (PAO) Nigeria Digital Content Regulation Conference.
The two-day conference hosted by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) kicked off on Thursday at Victoria Island, Lagos.
Tagged “Film and Video Regulation in the Digital Age: Balancing Creativity and Responsibility,” the program began with an opening address by NFVCB’s executive director Shaibu Husseini.
Mo spoke on the topic, “From Local to Global: Developing Narratives and Contents for Worldwide Appeal.”
She began by acknowledging Shaibu, Joke Silva, Mahmood Ali-Balogun and other key figures present.
The filmmaker also paid tribute to the late Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, founder of the African Movie Academy Awards saying, “Peace was a dear friend, she was a sister, so this is in honour of her. Thank you for continuing to trailblaze.”
“My keynote is From Local to Global and I have a few points I want to make about taking local to global.
“We are in an era whereby monetization is very important, and if we continue to be in the bubble of local, we are going to stay in the bubble of local. But if you want to break out and get to that global bubble then you have to understand that there are few principles at play.
“The first thing you actually have to understand is that there is a difference between making content for a local audience and a global audience.
“Once you define what you think your market place is, you hone in on that and work in that space. But if you decide you want to make something for a global audience there are certain guidelines you have to abide by.
“One of them is making sure that we are authentic to the stories we are telling and I find that as Nigerians we are quite authentic but I also find that we try to move to a space that is not ours. We are trying to be who we are not.
“Another point is understanding that there are universal themes that should be part of the stories we are teling. Themes like resilience, love, ambition, justice, etc.
“Most important ‘investing in high quality productions’, it is important to understand that there is an international standard. Another point is collaboration.”
The event also included the Box Office Champion Awards which celebrated notable achievements from the past decade.
Awardees included Wumi Toriola, Funke Akindele, Mo Abudu and Silverbird Group founder Ben Murray-Bruce.
The NFVCB also took the opportunity to honour Mo and minister of arts, culture, and creative economy Hannatu Musawa who recently marked their birthdays.
Prominent figures at the event included Joke Silva, Victor Okhai, QEDNG publisher Olumide Iyanda, Raymond Anyiam-Osigwe, Wumi Toriola, Kazeem Adeoti and Segun Arinze.
