Abuja — Apparently moved by the poor remuneration package offered the practitioners in the movie industry, the federal government said it has concluded plans to set up a Film Fund to upgrade the existing standard of the sector.

The planned Fund, under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Information and Communication is expected to be used to create a forum to improve the expertise of local script writers and technicians among others.

It is also expected to provide funding packages to support the development and production of movies that would further uplift societal values while forming a baseline to address issues of welfare in the industry.

Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who stated this at the opening ceremony of the 7th African Film and Television Exposition tagged 'Impact your World' on Tuesday in Abuja reiterated commitment to initiate policies that would build up the industry to ensure that "no artist has to undervalue his or her artistry or vision for commercial reasons."

According to Akunyili, "new films will not only be developed and their visions articulated for the artistry and upliftment of society, but will now be funded for this vision to be translated into film. We will develop industry-wide channels for financing, distribution, marketing, technical improvement and promotion of Nollywood.

Continuing, she said "I promise that we will establish centers of excellence for the training and retraining of artists to hone their skills and translate their visions. We will work with the existing guilds to restructure them to address and support the business understanding and welfare of their members," she added.

The Minister said her Ministry is committed to ensuring that the potential of the industry, not only exceed the current World Bank estimate of $250 yearly, but that its current status as the second largest film industry attract more investment and employment for the nation.

She however tasked practitioners in the media and movie industries to ensure that what is dished to the public is not demeaning or negative, but uplifting adding that this is the only way the media can be used to develop and build the nation.

She charged them to "go beyond the craze to churn out banal parodies of real life situations and happenings, and graduate to films that provide creative possibilities for the Nigeria condition."

While stressing that media contents are constantly influenced by modifiers, she urged professional to at all time package contents in a way that will showcase the nation's rich cultural heritage and improve its image and rating before the international community.