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GROWTH: Charles Thompson

ONTARIO MEDIA Development Corporation (OMDC) has announced that Charles Thompson MBE of Screen Nation Pictures, along with Obi Emelonye have been specially invited with their exciting new project Ade’s Journey to join with other international and Canadian independent film producers at the International Finance Forum (IFF2017) taking place at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The International Financing Forum, now in its 12th year, is a two-day business co-financing market for up to 40 select English-language feature film producers and executives that takes place in association with the Toronto International Film Festival, the world’s leading independent film festival. Producers and projects come from as far afield as Australia, Germany, India, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the UK, and the US

30 high-level industry executives have registered to attend and take meetings with Screen Nation Pictures and other producers at the forum. In a first for a new Nollywood international cinema project, meetings are being arranged to discuss financing for Ade’s Journey with companies including Amazon Studios, Netflix, Fox Searchlight, Magnolia Pictures, and IFC Films/Sundance Selects, among others.

Ade's Journey is a superbly crafted rites of passage story written by top screenwriter/producer Brendan Foley (Johnny Was, The Riddle) set against a backdrop of migration, human trafficking and football! Based on true events and hugely topical its creatively pitched in the genre of Slumdog Millionaire and Billy Elliot and is a touching story about a West African boy’s perilous 6000 mile walk from Africa to Europe along the migrant route in search of soccer stardom at a top Premiership football club.

Budgeted at $5m the producers have cast Ghana’s young multi-award winning movie star Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation, Spiderman: Homecoming) as lead with Isaach de Bankole (Casino Royale, Black Panther) and Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda, Black Sails) confirmed as support. British Nigerian Hollywood actors Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Suicide Squad), Nonso Anozie and Wunmi Mosaku are favoured for other supporting roles with a major British actor in consideration for a key cameo role.

With a compelling story set across West and North Africa, Italy, France and UK the project already has the support of FIFA, the Premier League, UNICEF and UNHCR due to the child migration and football themes in the picture.

Obi Emelonye is attached to direct with Screen Nation Pictures and The Nollywood Factory producing alongside veteran producer Bob Mahoney (Critical Assignment) of Devonshire Productions. The project benefits from an exclusive Exec Producer production pact with Peter Macdonald (Harry Potter, Bourne Ultimatum, X Men) the hugely respected and renowned veteran British Director/Producer/DoP.

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