She further said that her cordial relationship with the actor is still intact, while urging her fans to disregard any rumor that she is at loggerheads with her professional colleague

Mercy was reported to have been rude to Mike on a film location, prompting the latter to vacate the venue in annoyance, Some of Mercy’s colleagues that spoke with Nollytale on condition of anonymity, alleged that fame is now getting into her head and that in recent times, she has had misunderstanding with many of her colleagues, most of who are her senior. She is therefore advised to avoid being labeled a bad girl.

Mr NOLLY

Nneka Nwosu.

Many home movie lovers agree and don’t appreciate what these unprofessional producers are presenting to the people. From the information derived from my sources, I came to understand that the reason why most of these unprofessional producers are still working is because Nollywood stars pay or give gifts to these producers in order to secure roles in movies. As a consequence of these actions, it makes these Nollywood stars appear cheap. They are often not valued by the said unprofessional producers any more.

Most of these producers in ASABA make movies within 3 and 4 days. As you can imagine it is not possible for quality movies to be done within just the space of 3 or 4 days. Yet, some of the stars would still put their careers on the line and work with these non-professionals who only have interest in their self and their profits without considering the actors themselves. A lot of the Nollywood stars have relocated to the said state so they can still have their faces flowing in the Naija big screen.

The harsh written condition from Ghollywood and the negative response from film makers in Nollywood, has created a lacuna between the Ghanaian and Nigerian film makers’ relationship as Nollywood silently prepare for their response.

REGULATION AND GUIDELINES FOR FOREIGN AND
JOINT PRODUCTIONS IN GHANA

The stake holders of the Ghana film industry deem it necessary to effect this document to help encourage effective business practices whilst ensuring healthy competition, regulated foreign film operations amongst others, in other to protect and project the film industry in Ghana.

Following the communiqué adopted on the 17th of July 2008 captioned “NIGERIA-GHANA CO-OPERATION AND COLLABORATION ON FILM” this document is intended to streamline practices in the industry for the common interest for all the stakeholders in the film industry in Ghana.

The following are therefore required of any foreign film maker who wants to produce a feature or documentary film or ply any aspect of the trade in the host nation Ghana.

FILMING
1. Any foreign film maker before embarking on any film production in Ghana shall first contact film producers association of Ghana- FIPAG for an introductory letter to all relevant governmental agencies for acquisition of valid shooting and work permits and shall pay a fee of five thousand U.S dollars ($5,000) before commencing production.

2. That any foreign film maker with Ghanaian partners who wants to film in Ghana shall contact FIPAG and pay a fee of three thousand U.S dollars ($3,000) for processing of his or her work and shooting permits to enjoy the enabling environment created by stakeholders of the industry in Ghana.

3. That each foreign crew brought to Ghana by any film maker to work on a production shall pay a fee of three hundred U.S dollars ($300) to film producers association of Ghana in lieu of Ghanaian crew.

4. That any film maker bringing in any foreign cast or seeking to use cast from Ghana shall contact FIPAG and Ghana actors’ guild for guidelines.

5. That any foreign cast brought in by any film maker shall pay a fee of two hundred U.S dollars ($200) per cast to Ghanaian actors’ guild in lieu of Ghanaian cast.

6. That sixty percent 60% of the cast and crew of any production shall come from the host nation Ghana.

7. That the shooting permit shall be per title and shall be valid for only fourteen (14) days.

8. That to guarantee decent work ethics and healthy business practices a contractual agreement shall be signed between the crew, the cast and the production company. The agreement shall be witnessed by the film producers association of Ghana. The production company shall pay a refundable deposit of ten thousand U.S dollars ($10,000) to film producers association of Ghana to guarantee fulfilled obligations by the production company, otherwise any expenses made will be deducted from the deposit.

9. That any producer seeking to organize an audition programme shall seek permission from FIPAG and GAG. Under no circumstance should any producer collect money from any cast for that purpose.

RELEASE OF FOREIGN AND JOINT PRODUCTION FILMS
For foreign film makers who would like to release their films in Ghana. The requirements are as follows:
1.that all audio visual work entering the host nation shall first go through the office of the copyright administrator of Ghana for determination of copyright ownership before being presented to the preview and classification board of Ghana for classification.

2. that where the applicant is not the original owner, he or she shall produce a contract document as well as a copy of preview and classification certificate from the country of origin before presenting it to the preview and classification board of Ghana.

3. That all film makers who will like to release their films in Ghanaian market shall contact the film releasing committee of the film producers association of Ghana for guidelines.

4. That any producer seeking to premier movies shall inform FIPAG.

NB
Any film maker who goes contrary to these regulations shall attract appropriate sanctions in accordance with the laws of the land.

his document was signed by:
The president film producers of Ghana,
The president Ghana actors’ guild
And the president film distributors association of Ghana.

WHAT DO YOU THINK..?
Your comments are needed
Anozie Ruth Ozioma for NOLLTALE

I began to tell this story because a friend of mine asked me if I ever had any hard experiences that I would never like to forget as I moved up in my career.

Actually I had two remarkably bad experiences that will never leave my memory as long as I remain in the movie industry. These two experiences were remarkable because they eventually propelled me to succeed. As I kept them in focus, I kept my resolve to become one of the big names in the movie industry of Nigeria and beyond.

I had left the National theatre and indeed Lagos in 1987 for the East because the theatre practice was not paying and one must move on. So I moved on to farming namely, poultry and fisheries. I remained in this business for ten years and prospered in it. Then came the movie industry with the coming of ‘LIVING IN BONDAGE’ and I could not resist the pull to return to the practice of the theatre. So in 1997, I abandoned my fish and poultry farms and ran back to Lagos to join my colleagues in the movie industry.

I had returned to Lagos and the practice with  high confidence and hope knowing that I left some of my friends back in Lagos and most of them have joined the band wagon of the industry already and would become needed helps as I grid back into the practice. That was not going to be.

Life in Lagos was tough and grueling for me because I did not have enough money to pay for all the run around and feeding. I had to walk from Ojodu to Ikeja bus stop, a three hours trek in other to save money to get to the National theatre on daily basis.

One of the first contacts I made was with Richard Mofe Damijo [RMD]. We had met in our university theatre festivals [NUTAF] in the 80s and also have grown together at the National theatre as we all played in the ANANSA play house directed by Bassey Effiong. So for me RMD was a good connection and I determined to exploit the connection as a means of finding my way back to the industry. He had shot his film ‘OUT OF BOUNDS’ and needed to take it round the nations universities for showing and we agreed that I should take the movie around. I took the film around but it was not a success instead I got some debts around my neck that I must pay back. When I came back to RMD to let us work it out he rudely walked me out of his Ikeja office then. So I trekked back home poorer than I left it. It is funny now as I remember those incidents. On one of those times, I had walked my three hours Ojodu – Ikeja bus stop thing to go and see if anything was going to come out from my colleague RMD but unfortunately for me when I got to his office, he had traveled and I had only ten Naira on me and must get to the National theatre for a rehearsal that day. The money could not take me to the national theatre and I can’t go back to Ojodu either. So I decided to get to Oshodi market to check on one of my town’s men whom I had hopefully believed would help me with some money for my transport to the national theatre and mind you all this adventures were on an empty stomach. I used my ten naira and got on a bus to Oshodi market and behold my townsman was not in the market that day; he had traveled to the village for a  burial ceremony. So I got stranded at the Oshodi market without a single idea on how to get back to Ojodu or get to the rehearsal at the National theatre. I stood on the road, confused and dizzy with the hunger that gnawed my stomach. The only way out for me was to beg for ten Naira from those who walked past me and cared to listen to me. Some of them thought I was a drug addict who needed some money for a quick fix and so nobody was ready to spare even an ordinary ten naira for a well dressed young man like me. So I walked back into the market and earnestly sought for help from my Igbo brothers who were only able to dash me the ten naira after  harrowing interrogations to make sure I was not a ritualist who had come to ‘… take their destinies from them’. Now armed with the ten naira from the ‘…good Samaritan’ I set off for the national theatre. There I met my very good friend the Late Funso Alabi [May his soul rest in peace] who after hearing my story was so touched that he was moved to tears and drove me to his house where he fed me and gave me the sum of N1, 000.

My second experience was with Mr. Francis Onwochei who had been my friend and played with me in ANANSA play house before I left for the East in 1987. He was one of the few that I kept in touch with as I stayed out of Lagos. For Francis I needed no baba alawo to divine that he would not help me get back to the industry if he had the opportunity, because I would not hesitate to help him. I was going to learn how to survive without your friends from these ‘my friends’ and I did and I am grateful to them that they did what they did to properly prepare me to fight to survive.

One of those days in 1997/98, Francis Onwochei was casting for a movie and I had met him at ‘abegi’ [the drinking place at the National theatre] I think it was the movie ‘THE RAGING STORM’ that he was casting at that time, and I took it for granted that he would offer me a role to play in the movie at least to get some money to buy some food and some for transport. I was wrong. He refused to give me a role in the movie and so I asked him to dash me N20 to enable me get transport back to my place and he rudely also refused. I went to a corner at the theatre and allowed myself to cry a little and then resolved that I MUST NOT let them discourage me. I determined to succeed in NOLLYWOOD.

For me to stay close to the national theatre, I had to move from Ojodu where I was staying with my younger brother and went to Surulere where I temporarily squatted with one family that later made my stay regrettable. As the stay was taking a turn for the worst, Mr. Charles Ukpong secured an office space at the RED BRICKS of the theatre annex and I had to move into that office as a home. I will not say what mosquitoes and rats did to me in that ‘accommodation’ but I had to endure to get to my destiny. My stay in Mr. Ukpong’s office space did not last and I had to talk to Funso Alabi, who willingly allowed me to move into his own office which was better protected with nets and was better secured than Charles’ place. He also bought me a mat, a pillow and a cover cloth to make my stay in the place more comfortable. One thing that pains my heart today and always is when I remember that I did not have the opportunity to pay my friend Funso Alabi back for helping me in my time of great need. Funso was more than a brother to me though he was a Yoruba man and I an Igbo man, he was closer to me than any brother.

Somebody asked me, whether I did anything to help Funso while he was alive?

Yes I did, I sent money to him from time to time and I had concluded all arrangements to bring him into the movies and he was to play a major role in the movie ‘SACRED TRADITION’ which I shot in 2005. I had discussed with him on his movement from Lagos to Enugu for that job and my plan was to hold him up in Enugu permanently. I asked my production manager to send the script to him and he did but before our script got to Funso, he had gone into coma in his house and died. I wept like a baby when I heard that Funso had died. It was from Funso’s office that I started my journey to becoming one of Nigeria’s top movie script writer, producer and Director. It was from this office that Okechukwu Ogunjiofo [Paulo] of Living In Bondage, invited me to take my first major directing project ‘SONS AND DAUGHTERS’ which was produced by Emeka Odigbo. It was also from that office that Ebere Okpara [Melly] invited me to come and work as an Assistant Director in the film ‘KING JAJA OF OPOBO’ and it was this project that took me to Enugu in 1998/99 from Lagos.

Enugu was not that easy too because then movies were not happing in Enugu as it was happing in Lagos. Accommodation was a serious problem for me as I had no relations to stay with there. I started living in room 102 at the presidential Hotel and lived there for 9 months at the expenses of the productions that lodged there. Because regular movie jobs were not coming to Enugu then, I started writing for the New Masquerade and acting with group from time to time. Then I left the hotel to live with one Charles Anigbogu who didn’t want me to continue to live in the hotel. I spent about three months with him and had to trek from Coal Camp where he lives to presidential hotel almost on a daily basis then because I did not have money for transport.  I then left Anigbogu’s place and went to move into Vance Hotel where I squatted with Steve Eboh [Ajebo] for about six month before I got a room in that hotel and lived for another one year. After this I lived one more year in Naiko Hotel before I got a regular accommodation. My breakthrough as a writer, producer and director came with the making of  ‘AKI NA UKWA’ the comedy flick that brought Chinedu Ikedieze [AKI] and Osita Iheme {POPO] together as friends and brought them to lime light. One person that I must not forget in this story is Mrs. Patience Ozokwo [Mama Gee] my story will be so incomplete with out this woman. She became like a mother to me in the midst of my suffering and trudge to success. She would give food and financial help in her usual way not only to me but to all of us who were struggling to break through then. Each time I got to the brink, I would trek to her house and ask for small alms which she willingly gave without any grudges. Today because of her, I truly believe in the saying that ‘GIVERS DON’T LACK’. Today I deeply thank God for taking me from nowhere to somewhere where I rest comfortably today by HIS grace.

Stephanie Okereke sprung onto the Nollywood scene in 1997 with “compromise ii” and then featured in “waterloo”. A year later she was accepted into the English and literary studies program at the University of Calabar. She decided to pursue school while she put acting on hold. A year later Nollywood came calling again and Stephanie could not resist, she fed her desire to act with Teco Benson’s “terror”.

Steph has big dreams and she let the world in on her modeling talent with her second place finish in the 2002 “the most beautiful girl in Nigeria” beauty pageant.

Despite her hectic schedule, Stephanie graduated with her degree from Calabar and started to stake her claim in the movie world. Emotional crack put Stephanie on the map and was nominated for eight awards. Stephanie was delighted to have her efforts blessed with two awards. (best actress – English and reel awards best actress of the year 2003). Stephanie has also stared in quite a few films including private sin, final solution, pretender and Adora (shot in South Sfrica).
In April of 2004, emotional crack was premiered at the African film festival held in the United States. Stephanie also joined her Nollywood colleagues to speak out in a collective voice to help stop the piracy of Nigerian movies.
Next, Stephanie made her first foray into Hollywood by auditioning for a role in the Good Shepard. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for Stephanie and see what happens. In the meantime Stephanie has a role on Mnet’s soap snitch. We have just started to hear from this rising star who is also a talented singer and a model. Stephanie is always striving to improve her craft so needless to say the best from Stephanie is yet to come