FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (www.georgebritton.com) – Organizers of the National Entertainment Awards (NEA 2019) will be honoring legendary English actor who doubles as a musician, Idris Elba and the Founder and Global President of ANFAL, Samuel Hinga Pieh at the edition of the awards ceremony slated for 23rd December, 2019 at the Prestigious Five Star Golden Tulip Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown.
Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE (born 6 September 1972) is an English actor, writer, producer, musician, DJ, rapper, and singer. He is known for roles including Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire, DCI John Luther in the BBC One series Luther, and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013). He has been nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, winning one, and was nominated five times for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Elba appeared in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster (2007) and Prometheus (2012). Elba portrayed Heimdall in Thor (2011) and its sequels Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), as well as Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He also starred in Pacific Rim (2013), Beasts of No Nation (2015), for which he received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and Molly’s Game (2017). In 2016, he voiced Chief Bogo in Zootopia, Shere Khan in the live action/CGI adaptation of The Jungle Book, Fluke in Finding Dory, and played the role of Krall in Star Trek Beyond. He made his directorial debut in 2018 with an adaptation of the 1992 novel Yardie by Victor Headley.
Samuel Hingha Pieh grew up in Sierra Leone along with his fivebrothers; and sisters in a small city on the West African country’scoastal plains called Taiama. As a youth, Pieh, who is now an assistant biology professor at theState Technical Institute at Memphis, remembers hearing tantalizingtales about long dead relatives. His father and the village paramountchief (whose role is akin to a village historian) would speak ofancestors who had been snatched away, disappearing into the sea, neverto return again.
Pieh’s progenitor, Sengbe Pieh, is the central character in theground-breaking movie epic, Amistad. In it, director Steven Spielbergand producer Debbie Allen tell the story of fifty-three Africans whowere kidnapped from their homeland, shipped to the Americas for sale,and then transported from one end of Cuba to the other by the crew ofthe Spanish schooner, La Amistad, in 1839.
During transport along the Cuban coast, the Africans, led by Sengbe– or Cinque, as he was called by the Spaniards — broke free of theirshackles, slaughtered most of their captors, and took control of theship. They ordered the remaining crew to return them to Africa, butwere tricked and eventually captured by an American ship off the coastof southern New England, where they were imprisoned and put on trialfor the murder of the crew.
The NEA awards ceremony is an annual event designed to celebrate talented Sierra Leoneans with artistic skills in music, film, comedy, fashion, tourism, sports and cultural heritage, for personal and interpersonal growth. More importantly, it is designed to re-brand Sierra Leone to the outside world through entertainment.
The first and second editions of the National Entertainment Award (NEA 2017 and 2018) were held at the Bintumani International Auditorium in Aberdeen, Freetown and were organized by the LAKE Production (SL) Ltd, in partnership with RUGGED and the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs.
The maiden edition (NEA 2017) was one of professional showbiz of its time in the country. It brought the best in entertainment including fifteen government ministers, two of the biggest TV channels in the world, TV5 France and Hip TV-DSTV, and one of Nigeria’s biggest event host, blogger & CEO of Pocket TV – Osh Money. The Bintumani Conference Centre was coroneted and transformed into an opera or a royal castle of Kings and Queens of entertainment.
The euphoria was splendid, with ecstatic extravaganza. That was just the tip of an iceberg, all thanks to LAKE Productions (the premier and hosting company of NEA). NEA is assiduously striving to bring home the flavour of the BET, the Afrima, the Grammy and the Oscars kind of awards to Sierra Leone. NEA is the absolute ‘Taste of Elegance.’
The 2018 NEA awards ceremony is the ONLY event that brought together over 200 entertainers (from music, fashion, movie, sports, etc) in one night. This shows that the NEA continues to enjoy the appreciation and support of the public, despite the challenges. The NEA 2018 enjoyed the full endorsement of the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Madam Fatima Jabbie Bio as the best in the country. She was not just an observer, but also presented awards to awardees.
LAKE Production and partners have done an overhaul of the 2017 and the 2018 NEA Awards, while they continue to focus on changing the negative narratives of not believing in a heartland way of doing things. NEA 2019 is going to offer something different in a bid to further satisfy and mesmerize attendees and continue to provide them with unforgettable experiences.
The 2019 NEA ceremony is destined to be the cutting edge in the business of showbiz in Sierra Leone and beyond. Pre-event planning by LAKE Production and partners is expecting to yield a bigger event, superseding the maiden edition of 2017 and 2018. LAKE Production has already released the calendar of activities for the 2019 National Entertainment Award (NEA) to ensure a smooth organization and implementation of activities leading to the grand finale on the 23rd December 2019.
As LAKE Productions (SL) Ltd crave for a masterpiece 3rd annual National Entertainment Awards (NEA2019) in Sierra Leone, the company has on a joint conducted tour to the prestigious five star Golden Tulip Kimbima Hotel, successfully re-assessed and reached a one-stop-shop agreement arguably with one of Africa’s most outstanding and the first electronic digital stage and sound production company – Cribs International.
This amazing company will provide a full package of electronic digital stage and lightenings with different backgrounds set up/effects for each performing artists on stage including sound system, audiovisual production, electronic red carpet deco and post audiovisual production services for the 2019 National Entertainment Awards in Sierra Leone.
Cribs International is a reputable production sound and stage company in Sierra Leone who has just jetted in ultramodern customized electronic equipments to salvage the recurring and prevailing challenges show organisers have been facing in some internationally staged events.
It is no longer a secret that LAKE Productions has reviewed and adjusted most of its previous partnerships. The stage is now set to showcase the best in Sierra Leone entertainment. LAKE Production has brought in CREATIVE HUB – a Ghananian based company to deliver more goodies in the visual production artwork of the event. More partners will be brought in in due course. Top international acts will jet in to grace this year’s awards ceremony.
The NEA 2018 DVD is now trending on all television stations in Freetown and on social media. Despite the appreciations from the public for a very good event last year, we at LAKE are not well satisfied, we are craving for a better and bigger event.
The cocktail launched at Golden Tulip Kimbima Essential’s provided an insight of what is expected of the 2019 NEA awards ceremony. All entertainment stakeholders, corporate officials and institutions were present during this year’s cocktail launching. Refreshment were offered at no cost to over three hundred invited stakeholder attendees.
The CEO of LAKE Productions–Amb. Alhaji K. Tarawally aka Laj-K (a TV host, entrepreneur and a lecturer), is poised to make Sierra Leone proud by dignifying and entreating our celebrities with the most fashionable and grandeur experiences. Mr. Tarawally is convinced that the NEA will add significant value to our superstars and help rebrand the once defunct entertainment industry.
The goal is to build a creative industry that can thrive well and compete with its regional and global counterparts. No doubt, in the 21st century, the creative industries provide more jobs and revenues for nations and its citizens and if properly utilised in our country, all and sundry will benefit and contribute greatly to our GDP as it’s the case with countries such as: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, etc. It’s on this premise LAKE Productions was founded to THINK LOCAL AND ACT INTERNATIONAL.
LAKE Productions is a renowned event management company that is known for organising the National Music Awards (NMA), National Hip-hop Awards, Miss Freetown, National Music Festival, National Entertainment Awards (NEA), and more.
