Five books in celebration of Nollywood actor, Segun Arinze

Over the years, I have observed with trepidation how hard work no longer matters, how our values of decency are being eroded, and how delayed gratification is becoming a pipe dream. It bothers me that our sociocultural landscape has been taken over by fraudsters, religious scammers and plain sight robbers. It is sad that the […]

Over the years, I have observed with trepidation how hard work no longer matters, how our values of decency are being eroded, and how delayed gratification is becoming a pipe dream. It bothers me that our sociocultural landscape has been taken over by fraudsters, religious scammers and plain sight robbers. It is sad that the nation is constantly on the precipice as a result of many of our countrymen whose only interest is how to defraud others, kidnap citizens and expatriates alike and bring the nation to disrepute through terrorist attacks. Based on the foregoing therefore and seeing that young persons are very much interested in creative entrepreneurship, The Eugenia Abu Media has chosen to intervene in improving creative entrepreneurship for young persons by leveraging on successful creative entrepreneurs, celebrities and stars in the field. This monthly initiative will bring top level creatives and celebrities to Abuja to give intensive masterclasses on how to get in the game and stay in the game, multiple streams of income, making your talent work for you and the importance of legacy in the creative enterprise. The choice of celebrities on this platform, be it in photography, cooking, acting or writing will be determined by their staying power, wholesomeness and their ability for reinvention. It will definitely include their life stories for inspiration. This month, the Facilitator and Faculty for this initiative on the 30th of April is the inimitable Segun Arinze. Actor, TV presenter, Voice over Artist, talk show host, TV Producer and brand bearer for many organisations, Segun Arinze also known as “Black Arrow” has a lot to offer participants at this one-day workshop. In celebration of his staying power, we bring you five books in celebration of the first Faculty for this creative entrepreneurship intervention titled “The Creative Feast”.

Enjoy.

1. So you want to be an Actor – a handbook for aspiring actors by two of the best known names in British Theatre and Television, Timothy West and Prunella Scales. This book offers practical advice on the do’s and don’ts to anyone thinking of taking up acting.

2. Trends in Nollywood, a study of genres by Barclays Ayokoroma: This book is part film history and part film theory. Ayokoroma traces the origin of the Nigerian cinema up to the present day era of video productions. The book details contextual issues which have helped to define emergent trends within the industry.

3. Entrepreneurship in the creative industry: An international perspective. This book edited by Collette Henry is an analysis of the creative industry describing it as representing a vital, exciting and rapidly changing field of activity, one that is now recognised as a key growth sector in the knowledge industry. But it adds that there is still a general lack of understanding of what is meant by the creative industry. This is a must read for those seeking to focus in the field as practitioners like Segun Arinze.

4. Start with Why by Simon Sinek: Really for all creatives, why we do what we do is a critical part of our journey. We really are often fairly undecided about which of our talents we should pursue, writing, singing, drawing or photography. It happens to the best of creatives. However, knowing why, not really how matters a great deal and this is what this book is about. Simon Sinek has a good grasp of describing his amazing book in a YouTube video but trust me, you need to read the book to get great benefits. This book is all about how important it is for business, know why you do what you do. It also proves that if you do not know the why, you may never be as successful as you ought to be.

5. Nollywood, the making of a film empire by Emily Witt: Nollywood began in Nigeria in the nineties and has grown into the second largest film industry in the world in the number of films produced annually behind only Bollywood and ahead of Hollywood. Reporter Emily Witt travelled to Nigeria to research the Nigerian Nollywood industry and published a really vivid and rollicking tour of the industry. She interviews young movie producers working on start-ups and interested in digitalizing the industry. She observes a historic movie being made in Jos and describes the industry as organized chaos. She concludes that despite electricity cuts, fuel scarcity and many other obstacles faced by film makers in Nigeria, they soldier on and quite possibly Nollywood could become a global brand just like the Bollywood musical, the Hong Kong Kung- Fu flicks and the Hollywood blockbuster. Indeed. But there is so much to do to clean up the field, from better scripts to better acting to better funding.