Mr Agility Onwura, President, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) FCT chapter, has expressed concern over actors’ acceptance of roles on credit due to the current economic realities in the country. He made the remark on Monday while recounting the activities of the Guild in 2015 during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Onwura said: “Movie producers are not left out in the current economic challenges facing everyone. Most financiers and investors have developed cold feet to investing in productions.
“Instead of losing entirely, the actors and the producers had to sign a pact to take roles and receive payment after such movie is released,” he said.
To ensure that such monies are paid after the project, Onwura said that AGN stand as mediator between the actors and the producers.
“The guild in such cases, monitors to find out when such a movie is being released in order to get the producer pay our members who took roles in it,’’ he said.
The AGN boss explained that such understanding and cordial relationship between the actors and movie producers was to ensure that the movie industry in the FCT was kept afloat.
“We have the human capital; they have the producing facility, so we agreed and work together to keep the industry going,” he said, adding that the situation had resulted to low production rate of movies in the FCT.
Onwura noted that the situation had also compelled most actors in the FCT to relocate to Lagos, Asaba and other cities where they could secure regular and lucrative acting roles.
He however stated that in spite of the challenges, some actors and movies produced in the FCT received awards during the year, especially during the 2015 Abuja International Film Festival.
He said that membership of the Guild in the FCT had increased by over 20 per cent, as many upcoming actors registered with the Guild in 2015.
He solicited for funding from the government and private investors since the movie industry was crucial in job creation and growth of Nigeria’s GDP.
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