Nollywood: A multi-billion dollar industry built from scratch

By Emmanuel Ukudolo

At fourteen, the Nigeria home video Industry, branded Nollywood would definitely not pass as a toddler: It has blossomed into a full grown industry surpassing the expectations of even the best known critic. It has evolved like a child's play over a period, right from the era of Ken Nnebue's “Living in Bondage” and has succeeded in asserting itself as the leading film maker in Africa and the third largest in the world, ranking after Hollywood (United Sates) and Bollywood (India).  “It turns over billions of dollars and generates millions of jobs annually” says Director-General, National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Mr. Emeka Mba.

In Nigeria, Leke Alder Consulting estimates that the total market potential of the film industry relative to the size of the economy is now over N522 billion from US1.9 million(N250 million) in 1994, while PricewaterhouseCoopers, estimates that the industry would generate US$600 million in the year 2010.
Ironically, productions have been largely executed with digital cameras unlike the celluloid format, which has become the template for defining quality. Nevertheless, the practitioners have through this homegrown format attained their number three rating globally and a subject of meticulous inquisition by many.

Available records from the NFVCB indicate that 1,970 films were churned out locally in 2004, some in English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and other minority languages. Through these works, filmmakers explored subjects ranging from violence, rituals, authentic traditional stories, folktales and socio-political satires.

Nollywood, like her counterpart in India and the US is believed by experts to survive on tripods ranging from robust producers and production outfits, level-headed directors, disciplined actors, well organised marketing /distribution networks and finance. 

By 2004, there were seven production studios, 37 video viewing centres, 2,196 video clubs, 65 distributors, 263 retailers and five cinema halls according to records available at the NFVCB. But way back in 1997, then President of Film Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (FEAN), Alhaji Mustapha Apanishile said that there were 86 cinema halls in Lagos alone. 

Meanwhile, for a long time, independent producers were at loggerheads with the marketers whom they allege to be the brain behind pirated video works.

The likes of Femi Lasode and Jetta Amata and Ladebo who have defied the odds to make films using a new format in recent times have to travel out to process the films. Although filmmakers have advanced from using miniature cameras to the very recent High Definition Digital Camera (HDD), production studios have not been able to match these developments. Besides Studio Tinapa, owned by the Cross River State Government, a standard studios as you would have in Hollywood and in South Africa remains elusive.

Analysts are convinced that progress so far recorded among the guilds by way of organisation, discipline and care among practitioners is based on recognition that no guild could function without involving others.   Some artistes have also been at the receiving end of this symbiotic romance. They include Genevive Naji, Jim Iyk, Ramsey Noah, Omotola-Jelade Ekeinde, Richard Mofe Damijo, etc allegedly blacklisted by marketers for unacceptable behaviors, forcing some, notably, Naji and Ekeinde to switch to music and comedy.

“We have not blacklisted them; we only withdrew patronage from them”,   Nsikaku said at a forum in Lagos.  But not all the artistes seem to be learning from this wave of discipline sweeping across the industry. Ini Edo, who emerged toast of producers after the ban on Naji and others became the next target, and was booted out for alleged nauseating behaviour.

Some of those lucky to escape the hammer from marketers have become victims of one form of scandal or the other.   First was Anita Hogan whose nude photographs allegedly found their ways on the internet. She denied the scandal, only for her to consummate marriage with her lover, Ted Mark allegedly featured beside the nude actress on the net.  Next was Hassanat Taiwo Akinwande (Wumi), was jailed for drug trafficking.

Any film or video work forwarded to the board for censorship is by the guidelines expected to have educational or entertainment value, promote Nigerian culture, unity and interest; must not undermine national security, induce or reinforce corruption of private or public morality. In addition, such a film must be seen as unlikely to encourage or glorify the use of violence and expose the people of African heritage to ridicule or contempt. Such works most not be seen to encourage illegal or criminal acts, racial, religious, ethnic discrimination or conflict and must be excused from blasphemy and obscenity.

While advancement has been made in some areas within the sector, the major problem confronting the industry so far has been the use of foul language, low audio, poor picture quality, lack of research and incomplete storylines among others. Apart from cost which seems to be pushing filmmakers away from the celluloid format, its peculiar techniques many analysts feel, could have been another hurdle some practitioners are reluctant to cross.

But many believe that all that can be achieved through training. “All you need to do is to go to film school to learn, and the same thing goes for video. It is not enough to say I can operate a sewing machine therefore I am a tailor. What about the operating principles? How to cut the cloth, sew and whip the edges after cutting and all that. It is not just the difference in the cost. What about the aesthetic values and the final products? Therefore, in camera operation, it is not only about seeing through the view finder, but also ensuring the sound quality, and every other thing involved because the danger with the video is that the operators are only left with a single system.