Amaka Igwe: Google Doodle celebrates Nigerian movie producer’s 57th birthday

Today’s Google Doodle marks award-winning Nigerian author, director, entrepreneur, and producer Amaka Igwe’s 57th birthday celebration.

Amaka Igwe was a Nigerian movie producer and broadcasting official. Igwe was the proprietor of Top Radio 90.9 Lagos and Amaka Igwe Studios. she was perceived as one of the second-generation movie producers who helped start the video film time of Nigerian film. She stayed a noticeable figure in the industry until her death in 2014.

Uzoamaka ‘Amaka’ Audrey Igwe was born on this day in 1963 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. At an early age, Amaka Igwe indicated deep enthusiasm for the performing arts, as Amaka Igwe organized her school’s variety shows, trained performance dance, as well as composed, acted, and directed plays.

Amaka Igwe changed the Nigerian film industry and built a media domain starting from the earliest stage.

During her postgraduate studies, Amaka Igwe began concentrating on theater and what she viewed as her first gift: writing. She built up her first TV series screenplay, Checkmate, widely considered the best Nigerian soap opera of the 1990s.

Amaka Igwe was a prolific creative industries mogul, with experience of more than 25 years. She was a specialist in Nigerian and African entertainment, and she said she had an unwritten agreement to ‘entertain’ her people.

Amaka Igwe abandoned a powerhouse production organization, Amaka Igwe Studios, the training arm called the Centre, a radio station Top Radio 90.9, a TV station Q Entertainment Networks, and a lot more investments.

Amaka Igwe was of a brilliant disposition, delight followed her any place she went. She improved lives and inspired individuals to resemble her, however better. Her life is a lesson for all of us.

Amaka Igwe will be sorely missed by her nation, her family, her companions, and the world. Herein is an unsung hero, led by God. By His grace, her heritage will keep on entertaining the world.

This prompted Amaka Igwe’s directorial debut in the feature movie Rattlesnake (1995 for Crystal Gold Limited), a smash hit in her nation of origin, trailed by films like Violated (1995 for Crystal Gold Limited) and A Barber’s Wisdom (2001 for Mnet), which helped set a higher production standard for “Nollywood” at the time. Amaka Igwe composed and directed the phenomenally successful Fuji House of Commotion (2001-2012 for Crystal Gold Limited), which gave her dominance of the national TV series industry.

Enthusiastic about developing the local industry, Amaka Igwe likewise composed the guild system that served the official boards of the Association of Movie Producers and was additionally a patron of the National Association of Cinematographers, the Screenwriters Guild and the Guild of Movie Editors.

As a champion of efficient local distribution as the reason for Nollywood’s development, Amaka Igwe and her business partner additionally organized an enhanced market distribution system and improved quality and fairness in the industry.

On an international level, Amaka Igwe led appointments to South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, and France, among different nations, to present the unique Nigerian way to deal with visual narrating, proliferating global awareness of Nollywood.

Amaka Igwe likewise co-founded the African Film and Media Content Expo, entitled BOBTV, with Big Picture Limited, to give a global platform to Nigeria’s creative industries. For 11 years, they displayed BOBTV to the world, connecting over 400 departments from 104 Nigerian universities, as well as the Motion Picture Industry Practitioners and the Nigeria Government through its offices.

Establishing herself as a matron of Nollywood, Amaka Igwe developed a media empire by co-founding a production organization, radio station, and TV network. Amaka Igwe will be recognized as a gifted storyteller, producer, director, pioneer of Nollywood, spouse, and mother of three.

In 2011, Amaka Igwe was reported as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR), an award that honors Nigerians who made significant contributions to the country.

Amaka Igwe passed on in Enugu on April 28, 2014, after endeavors failed to spare her from an asthma exacerbation.