A way forward for the film industry

[Sola]

By Obidike Okafor

The Goethe Institute in collaboration with Communicating for Change (CFC), hosted a roundtable talk on Nollywood on September 24.

The roundtable looked critically at the successes and challenges facing the Nigerian film industry. The session was led by seven discussants: newspaper editor and culture activist, Jahman Anikulapo; Peace Anyiam-Osigwe of the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA); Chike Ofili of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos Chapter; Yewande Sadiku from IBTC (Investment Banking and Trust Plc); Emeka Ogbonnaya, Zonal Manager of Nigerian Copyright Commission; and marketer, John Okonkwo.

The list was completed by filmmakers, Teco Benson and Madu Chikwendu. Sandra Mbanefo Obiago of the CFC moderated the discussion.

Nollywood 101

Obiago gave a presentation including a short documentary on Nollywood.

The presentation provided statistics and facts about Nollywood’s beginnings; the percentages of films in local languages and those in English; the different sub-genres, from epics to romance and action flicks; the price of movies; and the different avenues through which people get to watch films.

The earnings of each person involved in production were mentioned, with the director, producer, camera crew and the actors getting the lion’s share.

Obiago’s presentation also looked at the economic potential of Nollywood, which is watched by an estimated 180 million people. According to marketing expert, Leke Alder, the market potential relative to the size of the Nigerian economy is over N552bn naira.

“It depends on all of you to put Nollywood on the front burner,” Obiago told the discussants, as she wrapped up the session.

The last five years

Assessing Nollywood’s development over the last five years, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe kick-recalled that, “When we started AMAA, we used to get a lot of entries, it was difficult to scale it down to the last 15. In the beginning not up to five movies met the standards.

There is a huge difference now. Most movies that win now are screened at international film festivals. She continued, “For the first time, Irapada, a Nigerian movie, was accepted at the British film festival.” However, she raised concerns about a downturn in the number of films, and piracy.

“If you go to Kenya and Angola you will find 21-in-one DVDs of Nigerian movies. The industry needs to put together an anti piracy fund,” Anyiam-Osigwe said.

On piracy, the zonal manager of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Emeka Ogbonnaya, said, “We have started night inspections and sealed plants producing pirated CDs.

The NCC is underfunded, the money for fighting piracy is far below what is required, but within the little we have, much has been done.” He added that, the “NCC has no legal standing at the borders; we rely on our sister agencies.”

Teco Benson complained about rental outlets: “Renting movies is wrong; the movie producers don’t get any money from it. When people rent movies and nobody buys the films, filmmakers are not making money anymore.

"The laws don’t have enough teeth… We see NCC in the papers but we have not seen their effect. Piracy is not seen as wrong; even pirates don’t know it’s wrong.” But he concluded on a positive note, saying, “Nollywood is the hope of this country.”

Distribution and financing

Also up for discussion, were issues of financing and Nollywood’s significance on the international market. Benson urged for better distribution framework for the industry, while John Okonkwo stated that there’s not enough interchange between distributors and other industry stakekholders.

Yewande Sadiku gave a piece of advice on financing: “If Nollywoood does not understand the language of bankers and financiers, they won’t cross that bridge.”

She said producers should prepare paperwork that will make it easy for financers to follow the money and know that there is profit to be made. Anyiam Osigwe however suggested that banks are prejudiced and only support movie projects that have international backing.

A house divided

All agreed that Nollywood can help promote the Nigerian brand, but according to Teco Benson, “the industry is fragmented into ethnic and tribal lines.”

He cautioned that this division makes it impossible for the industry to speak with one voice. Jahman Anikulapo added that, “People exploit Nollywood because they know it is a house divided. Nollywood needs to reprioritise.”

Roadmap to success

Teco Benson believes that Nollywood has helped put Nigeria on the lips of people all over the world. “Nollywood has given us an image,” he affirmed.

John Okonkwo shared his own roadmap to success: “Woo the marketers and carry them along, so that they can help move Nollywood forward. When we can translate what we do into money then we can say we have succeeded.”

Anyiam- Osigwe also said: “Let us look at what is going to sell. Let us look at what will show us positively. We need to get the banks to support and advertise in Nollywood.”

Sadiku believes that if Nollywood productions can make it on the international market, the benefits will be enormous. But first, piracy must be curtailed. “It’s only in Nigeria that a pirate walks on the street proudly. He must act like the thief he is, for there to be success,” Sadiku said

Next