Lovers of quality entertainment are in for a good time as UBA’s REDTV in conjunction with The Naked Convos premiere a new web-series called, ‘Our Best Friend’s wedding’.
The series which was launched on Sunday at the Filmhouse Cinema, Lekki was a gathering of some of the best hands in the entertainment industry.
Speaking at the premiere, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture said he is excited about UBA’s support of the growth and development of the entertainment industry in Nigeria, as the industry has a huge potential to contribute to the nation’s economy.
The minister applauded the high quality of the television series, attesting that Nigeria’s television production and creative industries have come of age with capabilities to contribute significantly to the country’s socio-economic development. This, according to the minister is part of the objectives the recently signed pact between the Federal Ministry of Information and The Tony Elumelu Foundation hopes to achieve. The Tony Elumelu Foundation is founded by the Chairman of UBA Plc, Tony Elumelu.
“With this, the creative industry will not be the same again. We spent the last couple of months to inspect the industry, and discovered the systemic failure, lack of monitoring of the intellectual property. Both national and international organisations have come to the rescue of the creative industry. The MoU we signed with the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the British Council will help us in capacity development.
We have created a task force on the creative industry to monitor intellectual property infringement. It is going to be private sector driven. British council has agreed to train Festival managers in the months of March and April. It is an industry that has done so well in spite of the neglect from the government. It is a low hanging fruit that will help contribute to the country’s growth and development,” he said.
Reiterating why the MoU is important for Nigeria’s creative industries, he explained that the film industry, best known as Nollywood, is the most energetic in the world and has a total estimated value of over $500 million per annum. It also provides jobs for thousands of people but sadly, an estimated $200milion is lost to piracy annually because of the absence of formal, legal distribution systems.
Also speaking at the premiere, the Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, UBA Plc and executive producer of the television series, Bola Atta appreciated the critical interventions by the government in creating an enabling environment for the creative industry to thrive, whilst noting that the series, made by Nigerians in Nigeria is of world class standard. According to her, in just a few days of its release, the series garnered over 130,000 views on the YouTube channel.
“We at UBA are proud to be one of the pioneers of this kind of TV series online. It is in line with our vision to support the Nigerian entertainment industry. Our Chairman, Tony Elumelu is passionate about the growth of the entertainment industry in Nigeria. We are happy to work with Alhaji Lai Mohammed the minister of information and culture on how to grow the entertainment industry in the country,” she said.
Also in attendance were Tony Elumelu, chairman, United Bank for Africa Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, group managing director and players in the entertainment and film industries
The movie, Our Best Friend’s Wedding is a romantic dramedy of a young man who panics and buys an engagement ring on a whim. He recruits his two female best friends to help go through a list of potential candidates and sets off a series of events that lead to a wedding.
The series stars Adebola ‘Illrymz’ Olowu, Oreka Godis, Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi, Chris Attoh, Timi Charles-Fadipe, Unamka Marycolette, Yewande Lawal, Sarah Boulos and Theo Lawson.
REDTV is a digital online television network that features the very best of entertainment, news, design, travel, fashion, music, sports, comedy and much more. The channel is available on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.