New Trends In Nigeria's NOLLYWOOD Movie Industry

The contemporary Nigerian movie culture, Nollywood, experienced a lull in Production and Marketing activities in the last three years. This state of inactivity is largely the result of several factors including:
a) the proliferation of movies with sub-standard production quality
b) poor marketing and distribution infrastructure
c) lack of professionalism in acting and directing
d) piracy
New trends in the industry, however, suggest fewer productions with improved quality, drastic changes in narrative structure, and a more effective marketing/distribution system.
This presentation will examine how the lull in Nollywood has compelled a new direction in production and marketing/distribution approaches.

Note: I served as a Research Consultant to the GMRC's initial Nollywood project in 2006.


PRESENTATION AT GLOBAL MEDIA RESEARCH CENTRE.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS
APRIL 2011





NOLLYWOOD: From The Low to Rising…
PREAMBLE:
The last two to three years have witnessed a major leap in the industry in terms of deepening the brand called Nollywood. Apart from gaining international recognition, our films have come of standard. Before now, the kind of films that were churned out of the industry were criticised by the people. But last year recorded a paradigm shift, in terms of quality of the films that were produced from Nollywood… We have realised that it is high time we started doing films the way it should be done.
“Before now, the strategy had always been; shoot your films within two or three weeks, do your post-production in another week and thereafter, your film is ready to hit the market on VHF and VCD. These were the days of boom of Nollywood, and that practice absolutely killed the big screen (cinema culture). Nobody was shooting for the cinema as the producers were only interested in shooting their films and getting them released into the market without paying any attention to the technical aspect of the production. The film makers were more driven by the commercial aspect of the showbiz. But last year proved to be different after the lull that was recorded in the industry between 2008 and 2009.
“Then, production dropped drastically as activities were paralyzed occasioned by the sub-standard quality of the films. In 2010, the bar was raised, and films like Figurine, Ije, Through the Glass, Home in Exile, Anchor Baby, Kajola and host of others acted as catalyst to this paradigm shift. Some people had argued that some of these films were 70 per cent done by tasted hands from Hollywood. Be that as it may, the most important thing here is that these films were directed and produced by Nigerians with technical supports by Hollywood practitioners.”
---- President of the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP)

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CASE STUDIES OF SOME NEW FILMS
FIGURINES by Kunle Afolayan
Produced and directed by New York Academy-trained Kunle Afolayan; Figurines recorded success at the box office, and opened the door to cinema screening as a viable option of exhibiting the film rather than the direct to CD/DVD that was the norms. It reportedly grossed over N30 million ($200,000) in its first and second runs of screening which lasted about three months. By the third month, the producer declared that he had recouped his investment; and that he was “already debt-free and even made profit”. He has concentrated on cinema release but he is working on distribution by DVD, while also frequenting festivals mostly on invitation. He has a cable station --HITV – that is interested in streaming it. The cable station had in fact bought the right to distribute the encrypted copies of the DVD.

Production strategies: It was shot on HD by an entire Nigerian crew, but part of the post-production (final sound mix) was done outside -- in the UK. Equipment were sourced from the Nigeria Film Corporation, NFC. The HD shots were enhanced through lens accessories to project on 35mm.
Budget: Over N50m ($335,000). Finance was raised through bank facilities, corporate organizations and product endorsements e.g GSK makers of Lucozade and the gold resort in ADA (accommodation facilities), and the NFC (equipment) .
Time of shooting: “ It took 3 months to shoot -- one month in Lagos, one month in Osun State and the other month was scattered around the other locations we shot the film in. It took longer than expected due to some financial obstacles but we pulled through”.
Marketing and Distribution: “We have been (screened) to a lot of festivals including the London African Film Festival; New York African Film Festival; Tokyo African Film Festival; Rotterdam International Film Festival; Pan African Film Festival Los Angeles, Tarifa International Film Festival and FESPACO in Ougadougou. And this year (2011), Figurines will be screened in many centres in Europe, America, Asia and around Africa. “We did a lot of promotion and marketing through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While the film was in production, we would post up photographs of scenes and the locations on the group page set up for the Figurine, and the responses were huge”.
FIGURINES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPa9aRwdzKs&feature=related

TANGO WITH ME, Mahmood Ali-Balogun
TANGO WITHME, produced and directed by Mahmood Ali-Balogun is shot on 35mm and has just been released by the Brickwall Film and Communications Company. It is a project that has excited the local film industry because of its sheer ambition, and the elaborate preparation that heralded its birth.
Stated the producer, Ali-Balogun: “I intended it to be a long step away from Nollywood. ‘Tango With Me’ desires to change the direction of Nollywood, raise the bar and return us to the pre-Nollywood days when we could hold our heads as a film producing nation. My targets are the international film festival circuits; and cinema exhibition”.

Budget: “I know I’ve gone beyond the N70m ($467, 000) mark. It’s far above the Nollywood mark in terms of budget.” Much of the financing raised through personal resources of the filmmaker. He also got support from family and friends with no institutional support; though he received some discount from Kodak for film stock and post production.

Production: He shot on Arri 535 which he got from The Camera House in L.A. But the production is essentially Nollywood in strategy. Did not overstep its reach through ambitious deployment of facilities such as building its own set. It used existing properties for instance.

Time: Tango was in production for about three years, but much of it was shot in between late 2009 and first quarter of 2010, while post production took the rest of 2010 and early 2011.

Distribution & Exhibition: It was released only last week to strategically coincide with the Easter break, when most Nigerians devote time to leisure activities. It is currently screening in at least 12 of the 24 screening rooms that currently exist in the country and already has invitations to grace some film festivals around the globe.

Marketing: He deployed essentially the social media facilities to bring the film to attention of the general public, as well as massive promotion on the TV and Radio, especially as he targets screening the film during public holidays and important dates in the country, when the people usually throng leisure centres.


http://www.tangowithmefilm.com; http://www.tangowithmefilm.com/trailer.php;

IJE, produced by Chinaza Anyaene
IJE (THE JOURNEY) was the final year MA project of an ambitious young Nigerian girl at the New York Academy. Said Ms Anyaene, a theatre arts graduate: “This film is actually my Thesis in school and it’s the first feature coming out of my school. People (past students of the academy) don’t like to go into it because they say it’s expensive, and shooting in Hollywood is difficult because you can’t cut corners. You just have to play by the rules and all the process this film had to go through also influenced the title Ije (The journey).
Production: The finance, producer and even content are Nigerian. It is a story about two sisters – one in Nigeria and the other in the USA; so it connects two continents and cultures. “We shot in Nigeria and Los Angeles... I didn’t have to hire any foreign crew to shoot in Nigeria. My producer went to the Nigerian Film Corporation and was amazed at what they had. They had the camera, lighting and everything”.

Budget: “It is a high budget Nollywood film. It cost about $1.9 million to produce. My finance actually came from Stella Maris Private school, which funded the film completely and it’s owned by Mrs. Uche Anyaene, my mother”. She, however, got technical support from her school and partner who has links to some Hollywood studios.
Time: “It took 18 months. This is the first Nigerian film to pass the Hollywood standard and that is why it took us 18 months”.
Marketing & Distribution: From its serial premieres (Nigeria and Hollywood) and intensely successful screenings in Nigeria, it had grossed well over N30 million ($200,000) in earning before tax in the first few weeks of showing mid last year. It made an additional N10 million($66,000) during her second showing in December. Distribution is still at the stage of cinema showing.
“It’s a Nollywood project, though it’s international… It’s international because the cast came from different parts of the world… we have Latin American, African American and others in the film… and this makes it easy for us to sell out different rights to different markets…. We’re currently on sales around the world. We have sales agents in America trying to sell it into foreign markets. We intend to go worldwide. We’re currently doing eight festivals in the world. We have the African territory marked out, Europe, Africa, America, Latin America. “In Nigeria, we’re doing cinema rounds before we go to DVDs. The marketers can decide what they want to do later”.
** Ije had a Hollywood premiere facilitated by Warner Brothers.
IJE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqNpVGTJdUE&feature=related


Black Gold, directed by Jeta Amata
BLACK GOLD, is yet to be released but it is a project that is generating a lot of buzz already first because of its choice of subject -- the insurgence in the oil-producing Niger Delta area of the country, which had preoccupied the entire nation in the past decade. It is a very sensitive subject that many filmmakers would rather not touch. It is about the first major collaboration with an outside studio or production outfit. It is co-produced by Suzzanee De Laurentiss, who runs a US and France-based production outfit, De Laurentiss Productions.

Again, Amata, who had broken a Nigerian film industry jinx by directing and co-producing the first celluloid film 16mm in about 20 years, Amazing Grace, exploited a strategy that had worked well for him in Amazing Grace and which has since become the practice – assembling a cast and crew that has been described as ‘Nollywood meets Hollywood’ phenomenon. In this film for instance are: Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Heat), Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day, Kill Bill), Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Donnie Brasco, Kill Bill), Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, The Expendables), Billy Zane (Titanic), Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Pirates of the Carribean, Hotel Rwanda), Razaaq Adoti (Black Hawk Down, Resident Evil: Apocalypse); these are then supported by local actors with huge followings among the populace including Mbong Amata (Inale, Amazing Grace).
Black Gold is currently in post production. Said the producers: “this movie is especially significant and will be of great interest as it is the first time a production of this calibre has ever been attempted in Africa. Usually, in movies like Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond, Hollywood comes in to tell the story, but in this case, the story of the Niger Delta is being told and produced for the screen by a group of film makers from the Niger Delta. There is no better time to showcase this project, as it deals with all the pertinent issues being faced in the region like oil spills, kidnappings and corruption”.

Other Titles:
ANCHOR BABY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yx_kiBOZDA

INALE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDe3-jWgZEQ
AMAZING GRACE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJs-h1YKdlw&feature=related
CHAMPIONS OF OUR TIME: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAsKl0MXDGs

Through the Glass Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYhXngxcIrU
The Bent Arrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vdJH_CnCOM







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