Newly elected President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Zik Zulu Okafor returned to the country last week from Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he led a delegation of top Nollywood practitioners to participate in the annual New Media Nollywood Programme hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The two-week programme explores the relationship between Nollywood and digital media.

Zik Zulu Okafor

The New media Nollywood is a collaborative venture involving Digital Bridge Institute Nigeria, led by Professor Raymond Akwule, Georgia Tech and Havard University.

The Nollywood team includes Zeb Ejiro, Emem Isong, Monalisa Chinda, Desmond Elliot and Francis Onwochei.

Also at the two weeks event were lecturers from the University of Lagos’ Center for Excellence, a World Bank initiative, led by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Rahamon A.  Bello and Ralph Akinfeleye, a Professor and Head of Department of Mass Communication.

The Nollywood scholar and award winning Journalist, Zik Zulu dazzled the gathering of intellectuals from all over the world as he spoke extempore on the birth of Nollywood, its challenges, victories, power and possibilities.

The Nigerian team also featured in the highly respected international Future Media Fest and made a tour of the Turner Studios.

The icing of the cake was a joint production of a Nollywood movie tentatively titled, “The Last Minute”, a joint production of Georgia Tech, DBI and the Nollywood team, directed by Zeb Ejiro and Francis Onwochei, starring Desmond Elliot and Monalisa  Chinda.

“It was a fantastic experience. I was amazed that Americans could be giving Nollywood so much space in their minds. You need to see the quality of the audience and scholars”, said the AMP President.

The AMP President stressed his vision to give AMP a strong international recognition through partnerships with institutions like the DBI and Centre of Excellence and foreign institutions and professional bodies.