Nollywood Stars Storm Benin City For Actors Summit

Veteran actors Kanayo.O. Kanayo, Joke Silva , Eucharia Anunobi, Norbert Young and Steve Eboh are among stars converged for the 2022 Nollywood Actors Summit of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) holding in Benin City, capital of Edo State.

The summit with the theme, “Impact of Digital Technology on the Acting Profession”, is holding on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22,November 2022 at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub.

Other Nollywood stars who lit-up the Creative Hub include Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun,who hails from the ancient city of Benin, Sunny McDon, Destiny Etiko,Ugezu J. Ugezu,Lala Akindoju, among others.

The 2-day thespian fiesta is a sort of re-union for members of the AGN, umbrella body of Nollywood actors , as it offers opportunity for both seasoned and upcoming actors drawn from across the country to mingle and share ideas.

In his welcome address ,veteran actor and Chairman of the Organising Committee,Patrick Doyle said that the summit was an opportunity for Nollywood actors to brainstorm and share ideas on how to remain relevant and conform with global best standards in the digital age of acting.

“We are here gathered to deliberate on issues germane to our profession in a world where technology is evolving at warp speed.

“ It is therefore significant that this event is taking place at a venue that honours our glorious creative past in a city where artistic creativity has existed since antiquity.

“The theme of this Summit was carefully arrived at as for the first time in human history the prospect of the redundancy of the human agency in artistic expression is real and indeed looming.

“The advent of artificial intelligence AI, computer generated images and humanoid robotics points the way to an era where the human element in story telling may not require animate human contributions.

“In that regard this Summit might just be the first attempt to mitigate against this imminent reality,”he said.

In his address, President of AGN, Ejezie Emeka Rollas (MON), said the summit was designed as a platform where practitioners, stakeholders and technocrats converge to discuss the future of the industry with the aim of “rediscovering the uniqueness of the acting profession, provide the enabling environment for practitioners to thrive and help enhance its contributions to the creative economy.”

“We are in the digital age and this has placed actors in unique position to tap into the opportunities of the emerging digital economy with emphasis on new concepts, discipline, identity and relationships.

“Acting in the digital age requires adapting to new trends, understanding the standards and all the digital support systems.

“Digitalization will also help our drive towards social impact movies not just to create job opportunities for our members but also to help stimulate ,inspire and motivate attitudes towards national unity and development.”

The AGN helmsman added that “ as the digital technology evolves, social impact movies can reach wider audience to inform and inspire change through engaging and reflecting the society. It will help unite people with its added power to help foster positive change.”

Rollas commended the state governor , Mr. Godwin Obaseki, for the establishment of Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, adding that the building of such a standard creative hub proved that culture and tourism was one of the major cardinal areas of reform agenda of the governor.

He said that the hub would fast track the socio-economic development of the state and also compliments the fascinating tourist attractions in the state, noting that was already attracting big film studios and reputable filmmakers in Nigeria to the state.

Earlier in his address, Gov.Obaseki said his administration remains committed to harnessing the huge potential locked in the state’s creative industry, noting that the government was ready to partner with the AGN on the realization of the Edo Film Village project.