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    Programmes unveiled for young Nigerians in creative industry

    Numerous programmes have been unveiled at the Digital Bridge Institute, Oshodi, Lagos, the home of Del-York Creative Academy (DCA), for young Nigerian graduates and professionals who seek to explore various opportunities in the creative industry.
    Programmes unveiled for young Nigerians in creative industry
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    The programme, targeted at improving the skills and creative capacity of filmmakers and broadcast journalists in the country, features an array of highly intensive hands-on courses, which includes producing, directing, acting, digital film making, broadcast journalism, set-designs, screenwriting, costume design and make-up, 3D animation, cinematography, editing, graphics and special effects.

    Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of the Academy, Linus Idahosa, who spoke at the 2014 DCA workshop, Film Made in Nigeria, said the role of creative industry in nation building remains overwhelming, hence the need to offer extensive training to larger members of the society, especially the teeming youth.

    Trains-the-trainer

    The uniqueness of the programme, he said, is such that it trains-the-trainer, as 12 outstanding students from the previous edition of the DCA workshop, have been selected to function as teaching assistants.

    "Two of them are attached to each of our foreign lecturers to understudy them. They are interning under them; so that they can gain the teaching experience," Idahosa stated.

    "The emphasis is gradually shifting to Del-York Creative Academy rather than the partnership with the likes of the New York Film Academy. There is now a deliberate attempt to build an indigenous film academy that would not only serve Nigeria, but other African countries. So the overall aim is to change the way capacity building is done in Nigeria and engage more people in various expertises in the industry.

    "Besides, most of our programmes are sponsorship based, once a student displays high level of innate ability, our sponsors will take up the talent. Creative agencies as well do come and shop for talents, the group with untapped talents are exposed to opportunities to compete with players from around the world, and by so doing, the nation is relatively growing," he said.

    He said to achieve maximum results, select members of the Directors Guild of Nigeria, the Nigerian Society of Editors, Creative Designers Guild of Nigeria, Screenwriters Guild of Nigeria, Nigerian Society of Cinematography, Actors Guild of Nigeria and the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), will enjoy first in-class training from tutors of the Del-York Creative Academy.

    Knowledge and tools

    He added that this year's workshop with the theme, Film Made in Nigeria, will "provide professionals with prior experience in the movie business; those whose creative products we are already familiar with. The intention is to arm these people with the knowledge and tools to improve on the quality of movies they produce. It will be interesting to see what their final project would like. We want to see what kind of testimony would come out at the end of the project."

    Giving an insight into the quality of resource persons at the programme, he said, members of the teaching faculty are drawn from renowned campuses, mainly in New York and Los Angeles. They include Wendelyn Slipakoff, for Costume & Set Design; Jamal Speakes, Cinematography; Sara Rabuse, Makeup; Grant Housley, Filmmaking; Ryan Gibson, Screen Writing; and Evon Barros, Editing, Graphics & Special Effects. The students are getting interesting methods of doing things differently from these experienced lecturers, who have international awards to their names.

    Idahosa further hinted that the faculty members were those who understand the psyche of students and offer candid advise on the suitable field for each students.

    "They guide, counsel and direct students on the pathway to their career, having understudy their potentials. They also teach students on how to think independently and be resourceful."

    Head of Student Affairs of the academy, Jide Johnson, said, "DCA is on the verge of berthing a new film industry. Some of our students like Emma Edosio and James Omokwe are doing good short films for television stations like Ebonylife TV. Tonye Faloughi shot the first Martinee advert in Nigeria after participating in the 2010-training programme. We have one student who is part of the cast for GidiUp on Ndani TV. The success story keeps growing by the day. This is why we think we should continue to pursue excellence in churning out the next generation of film makers in Nigeria."

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