Cosmos Abasi has emerged winner of the inaugural Nollywood Screen Writing Contest (NSWC) instituted by Lawrence Onuzulike to draw the attention of the public to the remarkable work of screenwriters in Nigeria.
Aforevo, a filmmaking company, organisers of Nollywood Screen Writing Contest, on May 6, 2022 rewarded the overall winner of the contest, Cosmos Abasi, with ₦1 million, while the 1st runner-up, Abundance Effiong got ₦500,000 and 2nd runner-up, Dolly Nwaduba received ₦300,000.
Mr. Lawrence Onuzulike, an award-winning director, a firm producer and a veteran in the industry during the presentation of the reward in Lagos, said screen writers who were the bedrock of film production were not usually reckoned with in the society.
He stressed how it had become frustrating for most screenwriters in Nigeria who would rack their brains to write beautiful scripts and beg for those scripts to be bought or used free of charge.
In his words:
“I have been in this industry for over 24 years as an actor, screenwriters and movie producers and I know the plight of every Nigerian screenwriter. So, the essence of this is to ensure they are reckoned with. It is interesting to note that we have so many creative writers in the country, this contest got over 1,000 script submissions, out of which we picked 600.”
Mr. Onuzulike added that the contest has come to stay and we are looking at holding it twice in a year to further encourage screenwriters to continue doing better.
