The second annual AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) is set to take
place on 8 March 2014. Biola Alabi, managing director of M-Net Africa, and Femi
Odugbemi, AMVCA executive judge, are determined to build on the success of
last year’s event.
The first ever AMVCAs were held in 2013 in Lagos, Nigeria.
The awards had long been in development by the M-Net Africa team and the
success of that first event, according to Biola Alabi, exceeded the expectations of
its organisers. “To say that we were overwhelmed by the attention and positive
response that the awards generated, would be an understatement,’ she says.
“African audiences, the African film and TV industry and African corporate
sponsors… were profoundly supportive of the concept and then extremely
welcoming of the event itself. We were very happy with the response the
awards drew, so of course this year, we are focusing on learning from last year
and making the awards bigger and better… We guarantee that it will be a night
to remember. We have more viewer voted categories this year, we’ve introduced
the exciting New Era Award and we’re working on having a line-up of top
musicians to provide the entertainment.’
A reward platform
When Femi Odugbemi, the respected documentary maker and the driving force
behind numerous Nigerian television shows, was asked to lead the jury last
year, he immediately saw the event’s potential to help develop the industry.
“I was delighted to take on the assignment simply because of the potential of
the awards to fast-track the growth of the content industry across the continent,
if done right. I have always felt that the industry needed a reward platform like
AMVCA, that covers all the aspects of content production, which includes film,
television, web-based work, etc, across the continent. While there had always
been such award events in different parts of the continent, it needed a big
broadcaster with presence across Africa, like M-Net and Africa Magic, to bring the
right kind of larger-than-life profile and efficiency to the table. It was therefore
an assignment I took very seriously, and thankfully I have found it quite fulfilling,
given the generally positive reaction to the inaugural edition.’ Odugbemi leads
two separate juries for the awards. The first selects the nominees, then the
second decides on the final winners in some categories, with viewer votes also
being the determining factor in others.
Diverse entries
Over 1 000 entries were considered by the jury this year, spanning productions
from The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and
Zambia. Leading the final nominations are Contract from Ghana, with nine nods,
including Best Movie. Nigeria’s Living Funeral comes in second with seven
nominations, Tanzania’s Siri Ya Mtungi with seven, Kenya’s Nairobi Half Life with
seven and Last Flight to Abuja, another Nigerian production, with six.
Creating icons and brands
The awards themselves, Odugbemi believes, play almost as crucial a role in
African production and broadcasting development as the generation of content
itself.
“The true impact of the AMVCA will begin to unfold fully in a few years,’ he says.
“This is only the second edition but, judging simply by the change in quality of
entries from the inaugural 2013 edition to the 2014 edition, the quality arrow is
definitely looking up. Especially in the technical areas, where we have always
struggled, you can see that better attention is being paid to quality – particularly
in sound and photography.
“Also, because AMVCA awards and benchmarks superior quality content, the
economic opportunities and advantages that come with the vast exposure of
winning the AMVCA offers a huge incentive to content providers to up their
game… We are really creating icons and brands in the African creative industries,
both in front and behind the camera, which will sustain and enlarge our
audiences. We are focusing attention on quality and incentivising the right
approaches to creative content development and creation. The impact is bound
to be positive and growth-driven for content providers across the continent.’
Towards the future
When it comes to the future of the industry, which AfricaMagic is ultimately
working towards, and which the AMVCAs are designed to build, Alabi, aside from
the strides being made in terms of content, emphasises the importance of
expanding broadcasting infrastructure. “I would like to see online and mobile
spaces develop faster,’ she says.
“The opportunities offered by these technologies are huge,’ Alabi continues,
“both for consumers and producers. The faster we are able to roll out our own
infrastructure to take advantage of that, the better for the continent. I am also
looking forward to the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting across
Africa.
“This, again, is going to revolutionise the content space, giving more
opportunities to more people to both create and view a wider range of content.
It will also allow for increased diversification and customisation and ultimately for
a greater flow of information and entertainment.’
From the point of view of content, Odugbemi says that the industry has done
well in terms of expanding the quantity of content being generated, and that the
focus should now be on improving the quality, “so that these productions are
able to cross cultural borders and find audiences within non-African countries.
Our storytelling needs to find universal appeal in its imagery and technical
competence…
“That’s the vision for our content production and, with programmes like the
AMVCAs encouraging and nurturing quality in storytelling, maybe that future isn’t
so distant after all.’
The AfricaMagic Viewers Choice Awards ceremony, organised in association with
MultiChoice Africa, with Amstel Malta as its headline sponsor, will be held on 8
March and be broadcast live on AfricaMagic’s channels across the continent.
For more information on the nominees, or to cast your vote for the winners, visit
www.africamagic.tv.
