Nigerian content market C3 Africa Network, organised in partnership with the Africa International Film Festival, is set to hold its third creative conference next week.
The event will take place on November 13 at the Genesis Deluxe Cinema in Lagos.
It aims to bring together industry leaders and voices and also feature international corporations and influencers in the West African and Nigerian film and TV markets.
“We’ve established strong relationships with distribution titans inside Africa and across the world and have an open forum where members of the C3 Network are given opportunities to sell their content locally and internationally,” Somto Ajuluchukwu, MD of C3 Africa Network, told Content Nigeria.
“With well targeted panel sessions, we create avenues for upstream networking of young producers with major local and international studio executives who we invite as guests. One of our new features is the coproduction pitch, where we provide producers with funding opportunities for ideas to come to life.”
C3 Africa Network promises to reveal trade tips and offer a venue to network and engage in pitch competitions that will help bring stories to the screen.
“C3 Africa doesn’t recognise or make active plans to surpass similar platforms. Our key mission is to add value to producers, buyers and distributors alike, annually across West Africa and, over time, globally. We understand the core problems of local producers and what distributors and buyers are looking for, and we connect the dots annually, not only in Nigeria but the market growing in Accra,” added Ajuluchukwu.
“Our vision is take account for between N300m and N500m in trade, purchase and production value. By 2020, we are amassing those numbers as we are the meeting point for multiple collaborations that have happened in the past year. Also, note that we have been in operation for one year and are about to do our third event.
“However, what drives our market is data. We breath data and that is one of the key criteria in how we structure the event. It’s also shared in our annual magazine, making its maiden launch at this November edition. We are more interested in collaborating with like platforms in formulating a powerful industry than competing.”
Funding, technology and education are three of the elements needed to advance film production, claims Ajuluchukwu. “We need more film schools, we need more technology to make projects and we need larger budgets behind production and exhibition to advance both large and small-scale productions while building more cinemas as the market is under-served,” he said. “The industry needs to be lucrative and liquid, and that only comes from the injection of funds.”
“This gives us, as a platform, the power to steer the growth of the industry with progressive partners with a bird’s eye view of industry best practice and practical data which investors would roll over for. It’s a thought-about process. We plan to be a one of the vertebrae forming the backbone of the industry.”
C3 Africa Network is also partnering with African pay TV group MultiChoice to bring buyers to the market alongside key players for the networking sessions, as well as bringing the international market to meet local partners.
tagged in: Africa International Film Festival, C3 Africa Network, Somto Ajuluchukwu
