Entertainment
AMAA, Facebook Sign Partnership Agreement
The Africa Movie Acad
emy Awards (AMAA) has signed a partnership agreement with Facebook for the promotion of African and Nigerian talents.
Mrs Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, founder of AMAA,disclosed this during the AMAA 2015 Sponsors’ Gala Night held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
She said the agreement would give an ‘unprecedented’ opportunity for the brands to engage with millions of African movie fans.
Anyiam-Osigwe said th e details of the agreement was contained in an e- mail from Facebook’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
According to her, part of the agreement reads : “A commercial and cultural partnership leveraging AMAA’s platform cum Africa’s film and entertainment and Facebook’s global platform.
“It is aimed at leveraging the digital reach of the most persuasive social network.
“Over the past decade, AMAA has helped cement Africa’s status on the global film scene.
“And as Facebook launches its first ever presence in Africa, it’s working with AMAA to drive digital impact in film and entertainment,’’ she said.
Anyiam-Osigwe further quoted the agreement as saying that: “with 1.4 billion active users; 120 million of whom are in Africa, the Facebook partnership offers the opportunity to further amplify African brands to the world’’.
She, therefore, said the partnership would offer African talents and film projects specific opportunities to engage the users through official vibrant pages on Facebook and instagram.
According to her, it will build a new opportunity to explore and discover Africa’s most accomplished visual artistes, musicians and other entertainment talents and experts.
Anyiam-Osigwe said that the organisers decided to stage a road show for AMAA 2015 in Los Angeles to expose it and African talents to the world.
“The world cannot get to meet African stars if those stars do not showcase their capacities to other countries,’’ she said.
On the limited attraction of African films to the Western world, Anyiam-Osigwe said it had affected returns on investment.
to support local efforts at making the film industry viable.
NAN reports that there are 28 categories in the AMAA 2015 with 125 nominees.
South African film, ‘iNumber Number’, and Ivorian film, ‘Run’, topped the nominations with 12 nominations each.
Mauritanian film, ‘Timbuktu’, followed with 11 nominations while Kunle Afolayan’s October 1 received the fourth high
R&B star, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has recounted the early-career challenges she faced, revealing that she was once booed out of the stage while performing at a school event.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmen, the Crazy Tings crooner shared that she wasn’t only booed but was also harassed with plastic bottles.
“I remember one time I was going to perform at my school as an up-and-coming singer and I thought I was going to receiving a standing ovation.
“But I got booed. They even threw plastic bottles at me,” she recalled.
Tems explained that despite the embarrassing incident and other such rejections, she remained determined to pursue a career in music.
The Tide Entertainment reports that Tems admitted that some of the initial rejections she faced could be due to her conviction to stick to her originality instead of doing covers or familiar sounds like most of her peers.
The Grammy-winning singer said looking back now, she is glad that she didn’t compromise her style despite the initial pressures.
A close associate of late singer Mohbad, Primeboy, has appealed for the artiste’s burial nearly three years after his death.
According to him, Mohbad’s body remains in the mortuary since September 12, 2023, pending burial arrangements.
The Tide Entertainment reports that in a statement Primeboy urged the family, public, and government to permit the burial, stating, “It’s been almost three years since Mohbad left us. His body is still in the mortuary. I’m begging the family, I’m begging the public, I’m begging the government, please let’s bury our brother. He deserves a befitting burial.”
It would be recalled that Mohbad’s death sparked public outrage, protests, and investigations. Ongoing autopsy examinations, police inquiries, and legal proceedings have delayed burial arrangements amid family disagreements and public scrutiny.