Category: Culture

The first time I went to Ghana, I was 19 years old and volunteering to build a health clinic in a rural village. It was the early ‘90s, I was a teenaged lunatic, and everything bad that could have happened to me did: I got malaria; I was beaten up by soldiers on the border with the Ivory Coast — but I also encountered wonderful people and stunning and moving and unforgettable experiences and friendships. All told, I had the time of my life, and vowed to spend as much time as I could on the African continent, and I have ever since.

A few weeks ago, I was back in Ghana (now as a middle-aged man, no backpack, no youthful bravado) for a very different reason: to join other producers at a historic pan-African summit devoted to the elevation of the film and television industries across the continent. And the talent, entrepreneurial intelligence, and sheer creativity on display came as a welcome injection of hope at a time when those of us based in Hollywood could use it.

As we all take our holiday break and look toward 2024, many of us working in the entertainment hub of Los Angeles are — to say the least — shaken. Limping out of the pandemic and labor strikes and cost-cutting and mergers, Hollywood is struggling for the gumption to do anything cool; or, really, to do just about anything. Buyers seem to be only warily open for new business, and strictly according to company “mandates” conveyed by apologetic executives who are understandably fearful for their jobs. What’s been lost in this town-wide shakedown is the electric sense of possibility, of excitement about daring projects, and a desire for creative innovation that, for many of us, is the reason we have these jobs in the first place.

The irony is that the industry has never been in more urgent need of creative innovation than now. Unexpected storytelling from sources as far-ranging as possible are in fact crucial to our ability to get through the current crunch to a healthier future. It’s worth pointing out that many of the most prosperous recent jolts to the film and television business have come from surprising creators outside America’s borders – from “Parasite” to “Casa de Papel” to “Squid Game” to “Lupin” to the British-conceived “Succession” to the India-born “RRR” and beyond. It’s also worth noting that the number of game-changing hit movies and series that have been generated by nervous corporate mandates, in the history of the entertainment industry, is zero.

All of which suggests that the world beyond seized-up Hollywood might provide a beacon as we all try to get through a dark time.

In November, I had the honor to serve as head juror of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lagos, Nigeria, where more than 700 feature films were submitted from across the continent and from traditional tribal storytellers and internationally renowned filmmakers alike. The award for best picture went to “Fumilayo Ransome-Kuti,” about the life of a heroic women’s rights activist and educator: a film (period piece, narratively unorthodox, feminist agenda, unfamous actors) that would be in no corporate mandate on earth.

From Nigeria I traveled to Accra, where the National Film Authority hosted the first-ever continental summit devoted to the empowerment of African cinema. Hundreds of emerging writers and directors attended the conference’s panels and speeches — including a passionate address by Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo — advocating and offering support for globally groundbreaking movies and shows.

And you don’t have to go as far as Africa to find surging creative ambition. A couple months ago, at the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (MIA) in Rome and at MIPCOM in Cannes, creators and producers from around the world convened to build and promote their most audacious projects. While there I strategized with a Ukrainian producer on her comedy set in a bunker in Kiev during the Russian bombings; with Mumbai-based entrepreneurs who are gathering the makers of India’s most popular YouTube videos into a creative comedy collective; and with other pioneers of film and television offering tales and perspectives that worldwide audiences have never seen.

The energy of international creators these days is a vital fuel for our industry that — unlike most natural resources — is only growing. And for those of us hoping to make great things in 2024 and beyond, it’s a model of creative courage that we desperately need. Amid all the corporate downsizings in Hollywood, it’s crucial that we resist the obedient urge to downsize our imaginations. Our industry is in urgent need of reinvention. We have the historic opportunity to rise to that challenge with all the partners, innovators and joy in the world.

(Pictured at top: Attendees at the Africa International Film Festival in Lagos in November)

Nicholas Weinstock is president of Invention Studios, an independent creative company based in Los Angeles. After attending college at Harvard University and the University of Nairobi, he went to graduate school for literature at the University of Botswana and the University of Cape Town, and is author of a nonfiction book and two novels. Most recently, he developed and executive produced the Apple TV+ series “Severance” and “High Desert” and produced the film “Thelma,” set to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. He is also the founder of Craft Services, an online support network and project incubator for more than 600 emerging screenwriters worldwide.

— Variety