There’s an impressive local and global demand for African dancers.
Here and abroad, our styles and concepts are winning, but how are we exploring it?
Training is key, if we are to meet the growing demand. Structure is important if dance is to rise up to the opportunities and thrive.
Kaffy‘s masterclass will be one of the key sessions at #NECLive5 and we encourage everyone interested in dance to register.
Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju will facilitate an important break out session on everything theatre and film at #NECLive5.
Register here to witness it live.
Toke Makinwa has built one of the most remarkable careers in modern broadcasting; using her work on radio, her Vlogs, and TV shows to build a brand that continues to grow.
Very few OAPs get to cross over successfully to TV. None, in recent times, has a book to their name.
Toke will bring plenty insight to the panel discussions at #NECLive5. Register for the conference here.
Alex Okosi is the driving force behind Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa, home to Viacom’s powerhouse entertainment brands MTV Base, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., NickToons, VH1 Classic and BET on the African continent.
An 18-year veteran of the entertainment industry on 3 continents, with a broad background in marketing, affiliate sales, events, strategy and management, Okosi achieved a personal and industry milestone when he launched MTV Base, MTV’s 100th channel internationally, and Africa’s first bespoke MTV channel on 22 February 2005. His tenacity and belief in Africa soon paid significant dividends. VIMN Africa has become Viacom’s fastest growing international operation in terms of revenue growth – thanks to the rapid expansion of its footprint across Africa as a multi-portfolio brand distributed on multiple platforms including pay-TV, FTA, internet, SVOD and mobile platforms. Now in its thirteenth year, VIMN Africa delivers more channels to Africa than any other international network. Its collective footprint reaches 52 territories and more than 100 million viewers.
Appointed Senior Vice President and Managing Director of VIMN Africa in July 2007, Okosi’s association with the company goes back to 1998 when he joined the sponsorship development and trade marketing team in New York, before becoming part of the MTV Networks Affiliate Sales and Marketing division in Los Angeles in 2000. By mid-2003, Okosi had transferred to MTV Networks International’s Strategy and Business Development team in London where he developed the business plan for MTV’s expansion into Africa and, in 2004, secured approval for the roll-out of Viacom’s localized play in Africa with the launch of MTV Base in 2005.
Okosi’s vision has always been to develop content and experiences for audiences that not only entertain and showcase the best of African music and entertainment, but also serve to socially empower audiences in Africa and around the world. As Africans, he believes, we have to keep living the mission of showing a “reimagined Africa” to the world. A tireless supporter of initiatives that motivate, empower and educate Africa’s youth, Okosi is recognized as an influential figure on the continent and was also named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2013.
Okosi managed the growth and development of the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) – the largest celebration of African music and achievement on the continent. Launched in 2008, with an Africa reimagined narrative, the annual awards franchise has given top African artists a continental and international platform to raise their profiles. In 2015 he was instrumental in bringing the BET Experience to Africa for the first time. This successful BET franchise celebrates the rich and varied faces of the urban lifestyle experience under one roof.
Born in Nigeria, at the age of 12, Okosi moved to the US where he was educated at the Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and attended St Michael’s College in Vermont on a full basketball scholarship before graduating magna cum laude with a double major in Business Administration and Economics.
In March 2017, Okosi was appointed to Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Viacom International Media Networks Africa.
Okosi is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Follow Alex Okosi on Twitter @A_Okosi
How do you create and monetize content for global audiences? What do African audiences really want to see and buy?
How do you understand the psychology, and how do you build a sustainable business around that? What’s working and what’s not, and how do we make sense of it all?
Alex Okosi, a #NECLive debutant, will lead a business session that’ll drive a discussion many producers, managers, creatives and businesses will find more than useful.
Register here to be part of it.
On April 20, 2016, Nigerians came together for the fourth edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive 4) to discuss how entertainment can rebuild Nigeria’s wavering economy.
#NECLive4 featured an interesting line-up of professionals not only from the entertainment industry but from all works of life to serve as panelists and moderators who gave insights from the business and creative sides of the entertainment world and how the industry can revamp the economy of Africa’s most populous country.
The 4th edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference, which held at Victoria Island, Lagos was expected to attract about 2,500 Nigerians from different parts of the country.
Between April 19 and April 22, 2016, #NEClive4 drew in over 12,000,000 people online.
Themed Entertainment As Last Hope For Africa’s Largest Economy, the recently concluded #NEClive4 event attracted 2,749 people on site on April 20.
Some of the panelists and moderators that graced the event include CEO 141 Worldwide, Olubunmi Oke, Founder Spot Studio, Sebastian Paszek, Nigerian conceptual designer, Kayode Olowu, Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, Tony Ojobo, Tiwa Savage, TY Bello, Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi, Kaffy Shafau Ameh, amongst others.
Ayeni Adekunle, founder of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference delivered a welcome address Entertainment as Last Hope for Africa’s Largest Economy.
D’Banj, Banky W and Funke Akindele who were speakers at the event gave intellectual presentations titled Content as the New Crude, the Power of Music & Comedy, and the Economy of Talents respectively.
CEO Braincraft, Olatunde Falase provided an in-depth analysis of Emerging Global Business & Disruptive Models while Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe discussed Case Studies of Intervention Strategies.
In 48 hours, #NEClive4, which was a top trending topic on Twitter, gathered over 62 million impressions on Twitter and Instagram from 1,000 users across Nigeria.
Some of the brands, platforms and individuals who contributed to the #NEClive4 conversation include MTN, The Guardian, Bella Naija, The Cable, This Day, Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, Wofai Ifada amongst others.
Nigeria wasn’t the only country interested in NECLive 4. 11 other countries including Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Canada, Britain, Iran, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland, and U.S.A joined the conference via television and livestream on social media.
The infographic below summarizes NECLive 4 in numbers.
Download the full report here.
On Friday 6 November at Freedom Park, Lagos, several prominent personalities from the Nigerian creative industry including Programme Chair, Committee for Relevant Arts, Jahman Anikulapo, Wazobia FM OAP Steve “Yaw’ Onu, Writer and publisher Toni Kan, and Programmes Director, Beat FM, Olisa Adibua gathered for the inaugural NECLive Series conference entitled “Bridging Pathways To The Creative Industry Of Our Dreams”.
Organised by NET, the NECLive Series conference featured panel discussions on the topics “Protecting Intellectual Property” and “Bridging Pathways To The Creative Industry of Our Dreams.” Also Ace photographer, Sola Animashaun, anchored a master class titled ‘Power of Photography – Pictures in A New Age’
Other personalities in attendance included Founder, Olori Supergal.com, Tosin AJibade, Entertainment Editor, The Nation Newspaper Victor Akande, Director General, and National Council for Arts & Culture (NCAC) Mrs. Dayo Keshi, GM, Five Star Music, Soso Soberekon and Programmes Director, City 105.1 FM, Gbemileke “Oscar” Oyinsan amongst others.
Giving his thoughts on the day’s events, NET publisher and conference convener Ayeni Adekunle remarked,
“The process of creating an organized and sustainable creative industry is a unavoidably long one. An industry, which has existed in chaos for such a long time, will not transform itself overnight and this is where the NECLive Series conference is very important. Once a year we gather for the main conference, but these regular mini conferences give us the opportunity to bring more ideas to the table and engage in a robust debate that cannot be had in just one day.
The conversations we have had here today along with the many conversations we have had and will continue to have, will form the basis for the structure of the new Nigerian creative industry that we want to build. I am very happy at the turnout and I enjoin all the participants and everyone present to take these discussions to heart and begin implementing the resolutions wherever we may have a chance to.”
Convened annually since 2013 by Nigerian Entertainment Today (NET), the industry’s leading content platform, NECLive serves as a platform for discussing challenges, exchanging ideas and setting the agenda for the entertainment industry in Nigeria. NECLive Series is a spin-off from the broader conference, which held in April 2015.
The need to stop the monopoly of the Copyright Society of Nigeria was an issue at the Nigerian Entertainment Conference held in Lagos on Wednesday, JAYNE AUGOYE reports
Most times when artistes gather in a place, the story is usually that of music, fun and more. But the when Nigerian musicians and other stakeholders gathered at the Eko Hotel and Suites on Wednesday, the atmosphere was rather charged.
The ball room of the prestigious Eko hotel and suites came alive yesterday 23rd April, 2014 as the publishers of Nigerian entertainment Today (NET) convened the second edition of the Nigerian entertainment conference.
The well attended conference assembled stakeholders in the Nigerian entertainment scene to discuss salient issues pertaining to the industry, viz; the potentials that abound in the industry as a tool for national development; the challenges confronting the industry practitioners and of course, the imperiled future of the industry; all subsumed in the very apt theme of the conference. ‘Creating Pathways for the future’.
I have mixed feelings as I write. I feel good because what started out as a wish, an idea to bring the creative and entertainment industry in Nigeria together annually has become a reality. There was the pleasant surprise of the success of our debut last year, and the amazing support this year’s event has received from far and near. Today should be indeed a happy day. But it’s not. I feel pain because I know that there’s so much work to be done. And we’re not even scratching the surface….
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