Pay television firm MultiChoice has announced a partnership between its flagship initiative, the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), and the New York Film Academy College of Visual and Performing Arts (NYFA), a world-renowned visual and performing arts school.
The groundbreaking collaboration, explained Femi Odugbemi, MTF Academy Director (West Africa), is in line with MTF’s mission of igniting Africa’s already established creative industries through training and skills development as well as foster new and original programming.
Cheryl Uys-Allie, MTF Director, added that MultiChoice’s commitment to partnering with industry experts such as the NYFA is to promote and protect the growth of Africa’s creative industries. She also pointed out that the endorsement of the MTF by NYFA confirms the film school’s continued efforts to the empowerment and development of filmmakers across the world.
For more than a decade, the NYFA has supported African content creators and performers by hosting workshops across the continent, where the institution’s faculty has met with thousands of students in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya and further bridged its hands-on intensive training in both the visual and performing arts as well as offering information sessions, auditions, and portfolio reviews to attendees.
The NYFA prides itself in developing students through a “learning by doing” approach, blending a mixture of traditional film school instruction with coursework and practical experience, which ensures that students learn to make films by actually making films. Through this partnership, MultiChoice continues its commitment to boosting capacity in the continent’s creative industry.
Jim Miller, NYFA Vice President, said the institution is delighted to be part of the process to upgrade skills of African film and television professionals.
“The New York Film Academy is honored to be a part of the enrichment, development, and fostering of storytellers across Africa, a continent steeped in a rich history of dynamic, creative and passionate visual and performing artists
“Over the years, NYFA has been privileged to have hosted hundreds of students—from dozens of African nations—many of whom have found outstanding success in their national industries when they returned home.
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“This MTF and NYFA collaboration is a natural extension of our commitment to help bolster the skills of talented African storytellers,” Miller said.
The MTF Academy (West Africa) Director, equally noted that the much anticipated MTF Masterclasses kicked off in January, supported by various industry partners, and will include series of workshops intended to increase MTF’s purpose of upskilling film and TV creatives. Taking place across various cities, the Masterclasses are also presented to industry professionals with the intention of developing technical skills of established creatives in cinematography, audio and storytelling to improve the quality of local productions.
Samson Oyedeyi
