“I feel insulted when media people call young actors and directors veterans. How long have they been in Nollywood? What impact have they made in Nollywood? If you call them veterans of Nollywood, what would you call people like Keppy Bassey Ekpeyong or me that have been in the industry for long?”
These are the words of acclaimed actor and producer, Fred Amata, as he spoke on maters concerning the industry.
At a press briefing in Lagos, on the upcoming 29th anniversary of the Directors’ Guild of Nigeria, he berated journalists for being indiscriminate in their choices of appellations.
According to him, veterans are people who have contributed to the growth of the Nigerian movie industry over a long period of time.
“The Directors Guild of Nigeria, which was founded by six angry men, will be 20 this year. We will have a three day celebration in Abuja between April 23rd to 25rd. on the first day of the celebration; we have a novelty match between Nollywood personnels and the national house of assembly team. The other two days will be filled with activities, which included bestowing of awards on distinguished individuals such as Former president Goodluck Jonathan, Ooni of Ife and several other dignitaries,” he said.
Amata’s admonition came at a time controversies raged over the decision of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, which gave Senator Ababa, who recently assaulted a woman in Abuja, the award of a patron.
This has turned apart some of the stakeholders, with Kate Henshaw being one of those who are fighting the move.
Also, actor Zubby Michaels also raised the dust when he criticized the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) organizers over an alleged snub of “pillars of Nollywood”.
Zubby, accused the AMVCA organizers of being tribalistic in their choice of awards by ignoring Igbo ‘veteran’ actors and now Amata has asked the media to stop referring to young actors and actresses as veterans.
