Some members of the Nigerian entertainment industry have lauded DStv for the introducing the “I AM” Campaign aimed at delivering original local stories in the entertainment industry.
The company in a statement stated that “the #IAM brand local talent campaign was created to place DStv at the forefront of delivering original local stories, using the most talented performers on the continent.
“This campaign will have a three phase approach beginning with the blockbuster launch spot which showcases some of our biggest stars, followed by a 2nd phase that uses these stars to unlock the value we have in so much of our content using the #IAM theme and campaign.
“We will close the loop with a Pan African Content promo, showcasing and positioning DStv as the ultimate leader of African Content producer and provider.”
The statement further revealed that” it hopes to use the campaign to drive their storytelling, instill content discovery by reiterating the spectrum of content while highlighting the various genres, captivating storylines and incredible African talent.
“This campaign explores different stories told by different people in the desire to foster a connection, while invoking key conversations amongst customers, in this brand advert DStv showcases different genres and celebrates authentic storytelling by using some popular faces.
Iretiola Doyle, popular Nollywood actress and one of the faces of the Campaign said that it was absolutely amazing being part of the campaign.
According to her, “Initially, I got the script while here in Nigeria and like I often tell people the distance between the script and the screen is as wide as any ocean you can think of.
“Did I expect what I met? No! Because reading the words right off the script, they seemed straight forward enough but then I got to set and saw the costumes and saw the scale and I knew this was going to be a fairy-tale.
“It was hard work, pretty intense, it was one day of work, one day of rest and then you were shooting again.
“My character had a lot of work to do because that axe was real. It was intense but it was interesting and well thought out.
Speaking on what the‘I Am DStv campaign’ means to her, she said “The DStv I AM campaign in a nutshell is if you could ever capture what it means to be a creator, an actor in 60 secs that would be it.
“It visualizes the concept of being able to be anything, think anything, conceive anything. I am given the wherewithal to create.”
She noted that it is the duty of a writer to tell an authentic African story while her duty is to re-enact the character given to her.
“Telling the story is first and foremost the writer’s duty, I am an actor, I am a gun for hire, I re-enact characters that are given to me.
“If you ask me how well we have done as in industry in telling our own stories in the last several years, I’ll like to say we have done a lot, things have improved a lot.
“Everybody is proudly Nigerian; everybody is trying to tell the Nigerian story.
“There are many definitions of the Nigerian narrative as there are people seated, people tend to want to stamp their personal perspectives on things and that’s fine but we are very cosmopolitan, there is no situation happening anywhere else in the world that you would not find here, “she added.
She went on to extol Multichoice’s inclusivity in content creation, noting that they have done a fantastic job in that aspect.
Iretiola added that Multichoice’s establishment of language specific channels is responsible for the breaking of monopoly in Nigerian Nollywood industry.
In her words, “MultiChoice is a company, a business concern but when you have a company that comes into a nation, creates a platform for people to express themselves and by so doing create jobs for hundreds and thousands of people because if you understand the business of Television and movie production, you know that it takes a small village to produce anything.
“Not only that, they have gone on to establish channels that are language specific, they have taken on assignments and duties that are not theirs to bear.
“MultiChoice, I dare say is one of the main reasons why the monopoly in Nollywood is broken.
“They do not care who you are, they do not care where you come from, all they want to know is if you have talent and if you are capable of delivering on the job, anybody that says anything to the contrary is just trying to be dis-ingenious. I think they have done a fantastic job.”
Tobi Bakre, Reality TV star, speaking on the campaign, said that the young person out there should know that he or she can be anything he or she wants to be and still have a social life.
He added that the DStv “I AM” Campaign is centered on being able to be anything you want to be and whatever you want to be in life.
The Reality Star advised youths not to limit themselves in whatever they do, adding however that they should know that they have the power to be whatever that suits them.
He thank DStv for giving him the platform that enabled him switch to entertainment industry which he described as the best thing that has happened in his life.
According to him, “I wanted to switch to the entertainment industry but I couldn’t leave 4 years of banking and start going for auditions, I needed that platform and DStv granted that.
“It is one of the best things that has happened to me in my whole life, right now there are a lot of things I want to do, I have the audience for it.
“I can approach any producer or company and table my ideas, even on my own I can work on projects and have the audience for it thanks to DStv.”
Linda Ejiofor, An actress and model known for her role as Bimpe Adekoya in M-Net’s TV series Tinsel, said that the campaign means a lot for actors, musicians and everyone in the creative industry that you can be what you want to be if they put their mind to it.
She commended MultiChoice for telling authentic stories with African magic original movies, African magic Epic, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa movie channels.
In her words, “Multichoice has done a Fantastic job, telling authentic stories.
“They started with African magic original movies, then moved on the creating channels like African magic Epic, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa.
“That way not only is the story being told, people can relate with them because they are also told in their mother tongues.”