Nollywood actress, producer and script writer, Lillian Amah-Aluko, has declared her intention to run for president of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) in order to put the right structures in place, with a view to facilitating the welfare of members as well as establish treaties with other movie-producing countries.

The two-time vice-president of AMP, who stated this during an interaction with entertainment writers on Sunday, recalled: “I served as vice-president of Association of Movie Producers under Paul Obazele’s last tenure and Zulu’s first tenure. I was vice-president for two terms of two years each. In the course of these four years, I’ve been actively involved in the guild politics. I came to realise that there is a disconnect in the industry. I just came back with some of my colleagues from the University of California where we went on training. While there, we discovered that they have very active guilds. You cannot go into America and start carrying camera or start doing anything: you must contact the guild in charge. The script writer is protected by the script writers’ guild; producers are protected by the producers’ guild, etc. They have very strong unions, with rules and regulations.”

The ace producer who holds a Master of Arts (English Literature) from the University of Lagos lamented the lack of professionalism and decline in the industry, even as she pledged that if elected president, along with members of her executive, she will bring positive changes to the guild.

Her words: “What we have in Nollywood, as I discovered in my years as vice-president, is that it’s an all- comers affair. People come in, do whatever they want, with little or no professionalism. And with the piracy situation, you find out that the producers are suffering. Every other day you journalists help us to announce that one practitioner is down with one illness or the other; and we are call on government and kind-spirited individuals to help, whereas as profession in quote, we should not be begging for food or health care. All of these things get me thinking and I said to myself and to others: what do we really need for the guild to take their rightful place? I’m speaking from the perspective of AMP, which I belong to. It’s time for us to take our rightful place. You know that the producers are the employers of labour in this industry. We employ every other person: directors, actors, script writers, etc. So, being the employer of labour in this industry, we should actually be the guide at the forefront, setting the standard for the industry. I then decided that because I served, I have a lot to contribute. The producers are actually the administrator, who controls the production and determines the state of production, etc. But because we act, a lot of us face the art, and forget the business in it. By venturing into movie politics, I have a lot of innovations in my agenda which will help to lift the profile of our members, with the help of the other members of the executive, because it’s not a one-man job, it’s a team work. With every member of the executive, when elected, we will join hands together to make sure the health of our members is of priority, with their families as well. I personally feel that the decline in the industry is due to our own fault. We have not done the right thing, we have not engaged the private sector or even the government the way we should. Basically, what I would do in the next two years is to set structures in place, with the assistance of my colleagues, because no tree can make a forest. I can’t do it alone. I have the plan and the vision, but I need the assistance of others to realise it.”

After the tremendous success of her best-selling novel, Echoes of a Heartbeat, which was published in the United Kingdom, Amah, who wants to be the first female president of AMP admits of the ups and downs in the industry. But she is determined to make a difference.

“We have a lot of estrange members and so much up and down in the industry. A lot of our esteemed colleagues have decided to stay away from the guild. We have to beg people to pay their dues. People don’t pay because they don’t think they benefit from the association. But when the association is functional and actively fulfilling its rightful place, nobody will tell members to come and pay. They would want to belong because they can see what’s in for them. We need to reconcile all members, past and present, of our association; bring people together, and map a way forward for our industry.”

•Photo shows Lillian Amah-Aluko.

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