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When we come across empowerment opportunities for entrepreneurs, youths and individuals generally, we get very excited because they are platforms needed to actualise and take many people’s dreams to higher levels where the world can easily reach them and that’s exactly our mission.
This is the reason we got cross to Nigerian filmmaker Mr Fred Lawanson , who developed a unique empowerment programme in line with the movie he released few weeks back. We believe you will benefit from this a great deal, so we had him explain he empowerment in details in this interview.
Now relax, take few minutes to read his insightful interview, for clear understanding on how you can benefit from the empowerment programme.
It’s great having you on Temmy Balogun Motivates, Mr Fred Lawanson, let’s start with the spotlight on you. Tell us about you; your ethnicity, personality, family and education.
Thank you very much for having me. Feels great to be here. Let’s put it this way, I am a Lagos boy! I was born, bred and “buttered” in Lagos irrespective of the state of origin, I am a lagosian . I went to command school at primary and secondary levels, Lagos State University and UNILAG. My background is finance. Most people say I’m Intelligent, cool, calm and collected, in fact some people call me pastor. I’m a husband, a father and a leader who is passionate about empowerment. I believe in the philosophy of “Live and let’s live”. My two personal mantras are: “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” and “Just do it” like one popular brand would say.
Tell us a bit about your entrepreneurship journey.
My dear t’s been a rollercoaster ride. Filled with sweat, pain, joy, failure, success, determination and Learning . Learning about business, people, processes, financial management, goal setting, selling, leadership and so many other things. A lot of people don’t believe me when I tell them I was once a “danfo” (commercial bus) driver. I’m still work in progress though and very much given to learning.
What inspired your movie ‘Like a serpent’?
Hmm, two things; Women! My wife in particular and my belief as a Christian. My wife used to feel that women are “the underprivileged” in the home and society judging by what women go through and the sacrifices they make but I tell her they are more powerful especially in terms of influence but unfortunately, most of them don’t know the power God blessed them with hence, they suffer. Secondly, I looked at recent happenings around the world especially in our immediate environment as regards societal decay and I wanted us to see the self destructive path we are threading especially in Christendom now, where focus is more on activities as against relationship with God and moral standards. The Bible admonishes us to be “wise like a serpent” in Mathew 10:16 but unfortunately, we’ve become more like the serpent but not the way Christ admonished . So, it’s a combination of evangelism and entertainment.
Enlighten us briefly on the storyline of the movie
It’s a simple storyline of a Christian family who got entangled in church politics along with other temptations or distractions which threatened the fabric of their marriage but eventually overcame and got wiser. It also showcases modern day societal issues that confronts us on a daily basis. One thing people that have seen the movie keep saying asides the fact that it is very entertaining, is that the storyline is what they caneasily relate to. For me and everyone on the project, that was one of our objectives.
What messages are you trying to pass through the movie? Who is it for?
The movie is actually for everybody especially adults because there is a message for every category but the message that stands out for me is the need for us to check ourselves, learn from our mistakes and make effort to change for better. We have a website with www.likeaserpent.com
You can also stream the movie HERE
We love the concept of empowering through your movie, it is an innovative one, kindly shed more light on it.
Thank you very much. The idea was born out of a challenge. Everybody knows that piracy is the major challenge for filmmakers. They profit from where they do not sow, make more money than the filmmakers and are not willing to come to the negotiation table. Also, since we are just starting, we do not have a well structured distribution channel especially for our DVD copies yet . So, rather than make money for pirates, why not use it for empowerment?
I happen to work with an organization that is into training, skill acquisition and business grants and we were able to work out a plan with two options:
First, Churches, Non-governmental organizations, Companies, societies or groups can partner with us by purchasing a specific quantity of our Movie DVD for onward distribution to their people and in exchange, they can send a number of people to us for free empowerment training and business grant. They can also choose to distribute the copies for us in exchange for the training as well. Part of the proceeds from sale of the DVD is what we will use to pay for the training and grant.
Secondly, individuals with influence especially online can also partner with us in distribution as well. They can either use the proceeds for empowering others as well or keep it for themselves.
I believe the synergy from such partnership will help reduce poverty and unemployment in our society.
How long will your partners benefit from this empowerment?
We intend to make it a continuous thing although the format might change in future . It’s just our own little way of saying thank you for their support and our little contribution to the development of society.
For anyone interested in your empowerment, how do they go about it?
All they need to do is contact us as long as they have the capacity to distribute our movie. Also, our empowerment training and private movie screening will hold on the 25th of November, 2017. We will give detailed explanation about this to interested prospective partners that reach out to us.
Thanks For Enlightening Us.
You Can Reach Out To Mr Fred Lawanson
Email: info@likeaserpent.com, info@maestroentertainmentnetwork.com fred.lawanson@gmail.com
Phone numbers : 08032432390
Facebook: facebook.com/maestroentertainmentnetwork
