Damiete Braide

The filmmakers and driving forces behind the one-day Lagos Filmlab conference share how creating a film with a course and social impact can save to progress society and how hurdles faced by dependent films can be overcome. Experts in the industry discussed the powerful role of research, experience, representation in film and inference on data.

The Lagos Filmlab conference was organised by British Council, Lagos, in collaboration with Creative England, Biola Alabi Media and Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), with the theme, “Creating, Producing and Protecting Your Craft in the Film Industry.”

Bode Asiyanbi, a filmmaker, said storytelling was about the life that people live. According to him, “I got ideas by discovering myself when I started to read books and making research. Essentially, you cannot write well if you do not read other people’s works. Every time you read, you read people’s experiences, and get ideas from them.

Asiyanbi noted, as a storyteller, “it is not all about you but your duty is to excite your audience. You have to tell a good story and it has to be well told.” He further highlighted the five elements in writing a story – idea, genre, setting, characters and structure –in no particular order.

Next to speak was Lala Akindoju. She expressed her love for telling stories, which has helped her travel to other people’s space. “You have to submit yourself to the environment you find yourself. As an individual, I did a lot of research in theatre and learnt a lot about the industry which has helped me today. You should be able to know your audience for you to know numerous opportunities that about in that sector,” she said.

She enjoined the youths to have mentors in a bid to learn from them, while stressing the need for collaboration, “Also collaborate with people in the industry in order to produce a good production that will be appreciated by people.”

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Abisodun Adewale, a lawyer, enlightened the audience on intellectual property and protection of their works. She emphasised that intellectual property was similar to copyright and trademark.

According to the lawyer, copyright is what protects works that are in written form, spoken or in visual form. “Protecting your intellectual property is like the way you protect a piece of land after buying it, you put a fence round it to prevent people from having unauthorised access to that land.

“Intellectual Property is an asset which people can earn or make money from it. It also allows you to claim ownership of a film or movie when it is registered. You also have the right to stop people from making changes or alterations in your work. When an individual does that without your knowledge, it is a violation of your rights. That is why the services of a good lawyer with knowledge about intellectual property or issues on piracy is needed.”

Acting Director, Programmes and Coordination, LSETF, Adewunmi Oni, told the audience that the mandate of the agency was to create employment for the youths.

He educated them on how they can access funds for their businesses.

At the end of the seminar, it was recommended that young people should attend workshops on films, film festivals, read works of screen writers to improve on their works.