The birth of Africa Magic, 20 years ago, heralded a paradigm shift for the entertainment industry. Joke Silva is one of the veterans who witnessed this rebirth. She speaks on how Africa Magic visualised the present-day Nollywood from the onset and established a solid platform for talent development and growth of the industry.

It’s 20 years of Africa Magic and you are one of the veterans that can speak about the journey. How would you describe this journey?
I think the journey has been amazing. When I first started with the family, it started with Mnet and we did Twins of the Rainforest. Over the years, Africa Magic has grown to the chain of seven brilliant channels that we have now. It’s wonderful to see the growth of the industry as well because of the impact of Africa Magic, not only as a commissioning body, but also as a receiving body.

They received works of various producers over the years. I do remember there was a time when in the early years of acquisition, people had so many works that they had done and had no access to the market because the marketers were the ones who were in control of distribution. With this came a really terrible invasion of piracy on people’s works. The advent of Africa Magic helped to give succour to producers because they acquired their works, sometimes licensing, sometimes outright acquisition.

How would you describe Africa Magic’s socio-economic impact?
It has been very good for the industry because when your work is exposed to a wider audience, there will be critique of that work and there will be growth. Things grow from critiquing, and not just being criticised, but from critiquing in a positive way. Africa Magic has impacted the industry and there have been people who have become big-time producers because of Africa Magic. People like Femi Odugbemi, we have seen a lot of his works; there’s Tinsel, there’s Battleground. It’s amazing that he has become one of the moguls of production for television. The other thing that Africa Magic has done over the years is the exposure it has given to works of other African countries, something we never used to do before. It’s not called Nigerian magic and it’s not called Nollywood magic, it’s called Africa Magic. So Africa has been linked together. We get to see their drama, to see the standard of their works, and it’s lovely when there is the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards (AMVCA) that recognises and rewards works from different parts of Africa. I remember a trailer of one of the works from Kenya and the way glass was splintered in just that shot during an AMVCA. I thought wow we’ve grown in leaps and bounds. Africa Magic has done a lot to bring Africa together.

In terms of growing talent in Nigeria how would you describe what they have done over the years?
In growing talents, some people have become big time moguls of production. You’ll find people who started their lives on a programmme on Africa Magic and then they become really big time entertainers. Some provide technical support for production and even in front of the camera too you’ll see a whole line of performers who have grown out of Africa Magic. It’s really nice.

What’s your fondest memory of Africa Magic?
Well, it was at the AMVCA when my husband, Olu Jacobs, won the very first Lifetime Achievement award and it was so touching to see him receive that award from a very good friend of his, Aunty Taiwo Ajayi. I also have the memory of presenting Aunty Taiwo’s Lifetime Achievement award about two years ago. It was a good feeling. I do remember that when my husband won the Lifetime Achievement award, his prize was a trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, an all-expense paid trip, and it was beautiful.

There many series on Africa Magic, which series is your favourite?
There’s Tinsel, there’s Ajoche and there’s The Johnsons. The Johnsons because it’s always so nice to have a good laugh and the lessons being passed on and then Ajoche , you will see the politics that goes on within leadership, I enjoyed that from a cultural perspective. For Tinsel, there was a comment I sent to Mr Odugbemi recently where I said Tinsel was almost like envisioning into the future of Nollywood, because when Tinsel started, there were very few studios that were running at the level of the story that Tinsel was telling. Now, there are many more and it was kind of envisioning the future for Nollywood.

In the next 20 years, what impact do you think Africa Magic would have on the Nigerian entertainment industry?
I want to see more of bringing Africa together. Africa Magic tries to do quite a lot of that by bringing talents from different parts of Africa. I would like to see more of that. I think it’s very important that we see more of our stories, that we celebrate more of our stories across the continent. I think that’s very important.

What’s your take on the old and new Nollywood conversation?
First of all, I want to say that I do not believe in old Nollywood, or new Nollywood. I think we are an industry that continues to evolve. Are we going to be talking about the ‘the new new Nollywood” in the next few years? No! We are an evolving industry, like all industries around the world evolve and we shall continue to evolve. Make mistakes, correct those mistakes, get bigger, get stronger and learn from the mistakes. Unlearn some things, relearn and learn new things and grow. I think that we are doing that and I think Africa Magic is a big part of the evolution of Nollywood.