By Tope Ajayi
Published January 23, 2015
Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), that usually takes place in Nigeria in April, has been rescheduled to June 2015.
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The organisers of the awards for motion picture practitioners say they shifted the 2015 edition of the event in the memory of Michael Anyiam-Osigwe, the elder brother of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, the founder of the awards; Michael Anyiam-Osigwe died in December 2014.
“Michael has been a great pillar of support for AMAA since its inception and his untimely death has surely thrown some immediate challenges to us as a body but we are pressing on and we have to change the date from April to June to allow us prepare and respond to the current realities. We will announce the actual date for Nominations and the main award as soon as possible,” says Tony Anih, AMAA’s Director of Administration.
Meanwhile AMAA is still receiving entries till January 31, 2015. Entries are open to black filmmakers, who appreciate recognition as well as reward for their work in cinema on the acclaimed AMAA platform.
Another change at AMA Awards is that Dayo Ogunyemi, a film law expert for WIPO who has spent the past two decades at the confluence of entertainment, media and technology with employment experience with Booz Allen & Hamilton’s media and technology practice, Sony Music Entertainment Inc., and BMG, has been appointed to the post of Chief Executive Officer.
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Ogunyemi has been focusing on the finance, media and technology landscapes in Africa, garnering experience in principal investing, consulting, financial advisory and capital raising over the past decade.
Dayo Ogunyemi has served as one of the principal advisers to the Nigerian film industry on finance, distribution and intellectual property, including negotiating key licensing and distribution agreements. He has also formulated policy, advising the UNECA and more than seven African governments and regional economic communities on intellectual property, telecommunications, technology, e-commerce and finance.
Ogunyemi is a Beta Gamma Sigma graduate of Columbia Business School where he earned an MBA. He also holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, an SB from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is admitted to practice law in New York.
