Filmmaker, social critic, and founder of the first Teen television channel in Africa, Charles Novia has come a long since he graduated from the University of Nigeria Nsukka in the early 1990s. He speaks to eelive.ng about his motivation for his new venture, how long it took to actualise and his aspirations for the continent.
Congratulations on ‘Teen Africa TV’, can you share were the motivation for this initiative came from?
I started as a child actor in Benin, so probably that’s one of the motivations which sort of spurred Teen Africa. But over the years I had realized that there was no space for young people to express themselves – there was no platform for them.
Concentration was given more to the young adults: the 21year old to 40, 50-year-old as well. Nothing for the children, no channel for the kids, no indigenous channel for the kids, nothing for the teenagers.
And the teenagers, you know, are in the transition phase between getting the core of your young people; youthful population in any country, they are in-between the children and the young adults.
They are very strong in formulating what you call values; societal values, the teenagers are needed, so I didn’t see that anywhere.
How important do you think a platform like this is to the future of Africa?
There’s nothing like this in Africa as far as our research has shown. We have built the platform for the young demographics to excel, speak, create and network with Teen Africa TV.
We are investing in the future talents in Africa with this channel. In years to come, we believe the New African Renaissance would have come full circle.
We believe the present generation of teens who are pioneer partners and viewers of the channel, would one way or the other have Teen Africa TV to thank as part of their Africa success stories.
We are pushing the new African narrative through TATV.
Can you share your experience concerning obtaining a television license in Nigeria?
Well, it’s quite a long process. You have to go through all the checks and vetting but I think that’s part of the regulatory body’s job to ensure that the right persons get the broadcast license.
In the end, I’m quite pleased that the NBC saw the need to grant us the license when we satisfied all requirements and they have been supportive by way of moral support to this channel.
How were you able to raise funding for this laudable project given how tough this terrain is?
The idea for Teen Africa had been looking for funding since I first conceived it in 2006. I had many bumps and gallops in getting the right partners and individuals to join me in birthing something of a revolution in the African media space.
But I believe the right time came for the right partnerships on this. A non-disclosure agreement would not make me reveal who my partners are at this time, but I can safely say that I’m very grateful to them.
You are one of the most known voices when the development of film in Nigeria is concerned, what is your assessment of the current state of things?
We are on a train which has to get to its destination, whether we like it or not. The train will not be derailed. What we are facing are surmountable problems and concerted efforts should be made to fix these problems by all concerned.
What is in the offing in the directing/producing part of your career?
I will be directing a new feature film in 2020, after eight years off because of getting TATV off the ground. Hopefully, that movie will be released in December 2020.
What is your dream for Teen Africa TV?
To be the pivotal institution for the new African dream. We are a positively disruptive channel.
Our goal is to imbibe the new African spirit, the positive values of our Africanness, the unification of the African vision and potentials, the ascension of today’s African youth into the future of achievements and wealth and the establishment of the largest ecosystem of teenagers in Africa…into a foundation which begins with Teen Africa TV.
Give us less than a decade and see where we will be.