[Sci-tech-public] "New Media in West Africa" forum on Thursday, Nov. 8, 7-9 pm in E25-111 (free at MIT)

[Brad Seawell]

New Media in West Africa

Thursday, Nov. 8
7-9 pm
E25-111 <http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=E25> 
45 Carleton St., MIT campus

Despite many infrastructural and economic hurdles, entertainment media
industries are 
burgeoning in West Africa. Today, the Nigerian cinema
market--"Nollywood"--is the second 
largest in the world in terms of the annual volume of films distributed
behind only the 
Indian film industry. And an era of digital distribution has empowered
content created in 
Lagos, or Accra, to spread across geographic and cultural boundaries. New
commercial 
models for distribution as well as international diasporic networks have
driven the circulation 
of this material. But so has rampant piracy and the unofficial online
circulation of this content. 
What innovations are emerging from West Africa? How has Nigerian cinema in
particular 
influenced local television and film markets in other countries across West
Africa, and 
across the continent? What does the increasing visibility of West African
popular culture 
mean for this region--especially as content crosses various cultural
contexts, within and 
outside the region? And what challenges does West Africa face in continuing
to develop 
its entertainment industries? 

Speakers

 <http://ftp.derrickashong.com/about-me/> Derrick N. Ashong leads the band
Soulfège, a group that produces an eclectic blend of 
hip-hop, reggae, funk, world beat and West African highlife music and has
been featured 
in such major media as MTV Africa and NPR. Also known as DNA, which is the
name of 
his blog <http://ftp.derrickashong.com/> , Ashong hosted Oprah Radio’s The
Derrick Ashong Experience and Al-Jazeera 
English’s social media TV show The Stream.

 <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/cmaclay> Colin M. Maclay is the
managing director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society 
at Harvard Law School. Both as co-founder of Harvard's International
Technologies Group <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/itg/>  
and at Berkman, Maclay’s research pairs hands-on multi-stakeholder
collaborations with the 
generation of data that reveal trends, challenges and opportunities for the
integration of 
communications technologies in developing communities.

Fadzi Makanda is a business development manager in the New York office of
iROKO Partners <http://irokopartners.com/> , 
a distributor of African--and particularly Nollywood--entertainment. Makanda
leads the development 
and execution of U.S. advertising sales strategies for the company. 

Moderator: 
 <http://mobilium.com/about-us/about-ralph-simon/> Ralph Simon is founder of
the Mobilium Advisory Group <http://mobilium.com/> , which studies
innovation in mobile usage 
in such countries as Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. He has served
as an executive at 
Capitol Records, Blue Note Records, and EMI Music, and he co-founded the
Zomba Group with 
Clive Calder of South Africa. Simon earned the title "Father of the Ring
Tone" when he created the 
first ring tone company in 1997.

 

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