Nollywood Actor and Producer, Kanayo O Kanayo has raised alarm that new generation producers as well as YouTube are killing the Creative Industry.

Known as Mr Sacrifice, Mr Kanayo wondered how and why producers could belabour actors and actress to shoot a movie of 30 scenes in a day just to get YouTube viewership.

“People make a mockery of Nollywood today . This is not the Nollywood we suffered and built .YouTube will not last long in Nigeria , everyone is abusing it.

“Why the hurry? People taking a day to act 30 scenes just because they want to finish and go to the next? Everyone is creating their own YouTube channel Actors have stopped acting, everyone just wants to have their channel and make money,” he said

Why lamenting that such practice deprives the Industry of genuine creatives stories, the legal practitioner stressed that the unprofessional conduct have health implications and advised the practitioners to always prioritize their health above their career.

“No genuine stories, everything seems boring and done in a haste. I’ve been acting for 35 years and still strong. Do you consider the consequences of doing 30 scenes in a day? When you fall sick there will still be YouTube. Why are Nigerians abusing it?,” The veteran concluded.

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The Nigeria movie industry, known as Nollywood, has once again been thrown into deep mourning following the death of talented actor, Junior Pope on Wednesday

The actor died this afternoon while filming in Asaba, Delta State capital.

Report says the actor died when the boat he was travelling on capsized

The boat capsized and he, alongside two others yet to be identified actors, drowned. His body was recovered and rushed to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

Pope’s death is coming following the death of John Okafor (Mr Ibu) and Amaechi Muonagor last month.

His last post on Instagram was a video of himself on a boat. He wrote as the caption of the post: “The risk we take to entertain you ; crossing river 9ja yesterday with no life jacket”

Junior Pope, among others, drowned and was confirmed dead at Marine Cable Point in Asaba during a movie shoot.

The Delta State Chairman of Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Emma Onyemeziem, confirmed t that the corpse had been deposited in the morgue.

Junior Pope is survived by a wife and three children.

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Veteran Nollywood Actor, Mr John Okafor, popularly known as Mr Ibu, has passed away aged 62 years.

Known for his comedy roles in the Nigeria movie industry, late Ibu died on Saturday, March 2, 2024.

The actor had been battling health issues since October 2023 and had undergone multiple surgeries that led to the amputation of his leg. However, updates from his family in November indicated he was recovering.

In 2019, Mr Ibu alleged that his kinsmen paid some of his domestic workers to poison him because of his successful career.

In May 2022, the comic actor again alleged that he was poisoned for the third time.

In an interview with Vanguard Newspaper, Okafor disclosed that he was already “seeing people on the other side” but God brought him back to life.

He said, “My illness was perpetrated by people that hate me. They did what they did to me. Later, I was taken to the hospital. The doctors are prophets. So, they went into my system and they told me what was wrong and what they were going to do. I said ‘Whatever you are going to do, please, do it, let me live because if I die like this the enemies will laugh’. And then the doctors said ‘Okay, there’s no problem’.

The amputation became necessary because of an infection of the arteries at the ankle that was not detected early enough.

Family sources have confirmed the passing of Mr Ibu to newsmen.

Late Mr Ibu hailed from Amuri in Nkanụ West LGA, Enugu State

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By Timothy Nwobodo

A veteran filmmaker, Chris Obi Rapu has called for the renaming of the Nigeria Movie industry Nollywood to “Naija Cinema” to reflect local identity

Mr Rapu who directed Nigeria’s first indigenous movie, “Living in Bondage” in 1992, made the call while delivering a key note speech in a panel discussion at the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival (ENIFF), in Enugu on Thursday

The Veteran Director made a proposal to change the name of the film Industry from Nollywood to Naija Cinema, arguing that the name ‘Nollywood’ was not contrived by indigenous film makers.

“The professionals here should carry this message that we want to be known as Naija Cinema. Somebody could say why cinema? Cinema encompasses all, it is the act of making films, either using the medium of celluloid or video, the home where they show some of it is called cinema because it’s the theater. So cinema is the right word”. Chris argued.

He also noted that giving Nollywood a new name will retire all other ‘woods’ in Nigeria and give birth to a proper National Cinema which will be officially known as ‘Naija Cinema’.

However, Jahman Anikulapo, a renowned journalist, Cultural Archivist and a staunch member of the Nigerian creative industry note that Mr Rapu that his proposal will definitely be looked into stressing that it cannot be overlooked considering that it comes from a father who has been around since the inception of Nollywood.

The ongoing 2023 ENIFF Festival which climaxes on Saturday has students from different Universities in Enugu attending including over 45 students from the Department of Mass Communication, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT

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