Beginning from October 18 in far away London, National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) opens Nollywood Business Expo with the hope of raising funds and creating technical awareness to improve the content and distribution of movies in Nigeria. More than 100 participants made up of actors, producers, distributors and government officials areslated to attend the first Nigeria in the movies road show.

Some of the events planned for the Road Show, include an interactive business forum billed for October 18 at the prestigious Mayfair Hotel, London. The aim of the road show is mainly to expose Nigerian producers and distributors to global practice.

The board thus aims at helping staff and stakeholders gain experience to the rudiments of contemporary global advances in the industry. Also, producers, scriptwriters and others will be able to share in the visions of the regulator by avoiding objectionable contents in their works.

The forum also aims at presenting the success story of the emergence of the third biggest film making industry in the world-Nigeria. It will also help the Nigerian film industry compare notes with their British counterparts and explore areas of interest and collaboration. The forum which opens on Thursday, October 18 at Mayfair Hotel, Central London, will also feature a presentation on Nigerian film industry, tagged, History and Growth. This will be followed by networking lunch and dinner.

Since the launch of the new distribution framework, several marketers have blamed their resistance to the framework on lack of exposure to best practices. Hence, the road show will further ensure that Nigerian filmmakers are able to forge business alliances with other distributors in UK and Europe to ensure legitimate protection of their works.

The afternoon session is expected to provide Nigerian producers and distributors the opportunity to exhibit their works to a panel of distributors, sales agents, investors and other retailers of Nigerian films in the UK. The forum which is an initiative of the NFVCB is being organised in collaboration with the Heart of Africa project, with the hope of defining the strategic heritage of Africa through the platform of motion picture.

In 2004, the then Ministry of Information created the Heart of Africa Project as a strategic image management initiative for Nigeria after years of nursing a pariah status during military rule. The initiative seeks to showcase everything good about Nigeria and Nigerians.