FROM THE PRESIDENT OF TAVA AWARDS
The Honourable Minister for Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, The Directors general here present, Heads of Guilds, Fellow Stakeholders, Gentlemen of the Press, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, all protocols observed.
The Nollywood industry came into existence in 1992 as a child of circumstance. Born out of the need for survival and the
continuous search for an alternative format to tell stories on films - from the “almighty exclusive celluloid” to the all inclusive digital era of video films.
A few years later, through the creativity and entrepreneurship of KK and D1 of Primetime Africa, our dying music industry received life again and took the whole world by storm.
Today Nollywood culture has spread all over Africa and the rest of the world from Riverwood, Ugowood to Gallywood and has risen to become a $150m industry in the carebeans; currently ranked the number two film making industry in the world by the world Bank and UNESCO, due to the annual volume of production and the global penetration.
Yet, our pictures and sound quality have continued to remain defectively poor. Surely, there is something the practitioners are not getting right and this is the reason behind Tava Awards.
An industry that was rated the 49th in 2007 by Forbes Magazine, with the potential of employing over two million youths with an estimated annual turnover of about $5 billion or an equivalent of N600 billion is sure to draw global attention as the panacea to the current global depression.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we foresee a very bright future for the African audio visual sector with greater emphasis on Nollywood, and this is why we created The African Audiovisual Awards (TAVA) as a vehicle to midwife African productions till perfection in sound and picture is attained.
Distinguished Guests, welcome to the maiden edition of TAVA Awards 2009. ENJOY!
