Unlike the western countries where movie production is backed by megabucks from corporate organisations, Nigeria is a different story. Sometimes, individuals are left to foot the entire bill of their productions. In this piece,
terh agbedeh takes a look at Nollywood’s effort to involve Corporate Nigeria in motion picture production in the country
Competition is good: it brings the best out of us. It also invites the players to experiment and innovate, do the thing in different ways and see what the best way is. To improve and continually reinvent the process is what takes something to the next level.
Nollywood has been around for over two decades and everyone who has been watching the Nigerian movie industry would agree that it is in dire need of reinvention. It has come to that turn in the road where it must take a stand, move ahead or collapse. No doubt, it has grown from what it used to be; but has it really been moving in the right direction? And who will give Idumota and Iweka Road the run for their money?
Enter Project Nollywood, an initiative set up to bolster the film industry in Nigeria, and which has led to the establishment of a company called Project Nollywood Limited (PNL), and is being backed by the financial might of a bank.
Since the industry is perhaps one of the few in Nigeria that can truly portray an image of good or bad, PNL is viewed as an emerging structure and best-business-practice initiative of an otherwise chaotic environment that will frog-leap the industry in an unprecedented way.
One of its four directors and a key player in Nollywood, Fidelis Duker (DGN), spoke with Sunday Independent. He said PNL was "conceived to be a company producing and distributing films in a standard form that would guarantee returns to all stakeholders: the producers, directors, actors and the viewer, for whom a film is made, in such a way that viewing becomes a pleasure. That was the original idea and it will continue to be the main idea behind it."
He credited Charles Novia as the initiator.
It was Novia, a filmmaker and music label owner, who involved Chico Ejiro, Fred Amata and Duker. Seeing that it was a great idea, they all sat down and brainstormed to bring it to its present status. The project has given birth to four movies: Caught in the Middle, Senseless, Letters to a Stranger and 100 Days in the Jungle.
"We want to create a proper and veritable production and distribution company. That has been the objective since inception. From start, we knew we needed a strong backing and so we approached Ecobank," Duker said.
According to him, the consolidation and mergers in the banking sector led them to look in there for not just funds but direction.
"Four of us have our individual production companies, (but) we felt that we needed to merge as well, unlike the solo run we were doing that wasn’t taking us anywhere.
"We had our own independent production companies; so if we came together, we would be stronger in Nollywood. That is also the strength of the company. Though we are different, ideologically, our bonding has been our strength. Novia is the MD/CEO, Chico Ejiro is the Distribution and Marketing Director; Fred Amata is the Operations and Strategy Director while I’m the Finance and Administration Director," he said.
Continuing, he said PNL was started in February 2007 with the main aim to improve the quality of film production and distribution. Eight months down the line, over 100,000 copies of movies released on the project have been sold. With these figures, "a far cry from what the regular market offers us, it’s been a success story so far." And with the way they are going, it is easy to tell that this is just the beginning. Success, after all, begets success.
He attributes the absence or lack of sponsorship from corporate Nigeria to a dearth of a proper structure, system of accountability and best business practice to work with. That problem has been taken care of with the emergence of PNL. The company has shown that if there is "a proper structure, corporate Nigeria will come to Nollywood and other culture sectors to assist in terms of financing. There has to be a banking statement, balance sheet and bulk flow. These would motivate companies to respond. We have to modify to attract investment. Even if it is not done well, there has to be a genuine interest, and things could be done better. Things are beginning to change; companies in the culture sector are evolving to change all that in terms of structures and being accountable."
Good to hear. But can Nollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole handle this new romance with willing companies? The filmmaker says it is possible and all the sacrifice that has to be made to keep this going is to be more accountable, to create partnerships, evolve better business practice and begin to create more structures and sustain the ones in existence. He adds that growth, development and jobs, like never before, will come to the industry, while creating a good impression about Nollywood as capable of doing business the way it should be done and inspire confidence in other companies to do business with the industry.
As someone who has benefited from this new project, he would like others in the industry to also gain; so he tells other companies to be more receptive to the needs of the industry rather than being cynical. For instance, he expects that when industry people meet them with proposals for business, they should be receptive to them.
"Also, they should endeavour to listen and make inputs to the proposals before them and not just dismiss them with a wave of the hand," the director said.
His view is that the future of Nollywood is assured owing to recent developments particularly regarding financial help from banks. "The industry has come to stay. It means that the future is very bright. Yes, I think it’s a turning point, and it will continue."
Each of the four that make up PNL has come out with a movie: Senseless by Duker, Caught in the Middle by Novia, 100 Days in the Jungle by Ejiro and Letters to a Stranger by Amata. But one wonders why not even one has gone to the cinemas. However, Duker said the plan for the movies so far produced was not for exhibition, adding that there are few cinemas in Nigeria for Nollywood films to guarantee returns. For him, that is not ruled out in the company’s future productions. And such films would be tailored for cinemas right from inception of scriptwriting and shooting.
The former president of the Directors’ Guild of Nigeria (DGN) was not done as he had something to say about the practice of shooting commercials outside the country, which has become the norm with Nigerian companies.
"The contracts should be given to Nigerian companies and not outsiders. Then the money will be in Nigeria where these products are consumed," he submitted, noting that the shooting for such commercials could be done anywhere in the world where there is a suitable location. He also mentioned that Nigeria has an abundance of good locations like Calabar, Jos and other parts of the country. "When contracts are given to South Africans, Nollywood has no say. Guilds should be watchdogs and play their roles of blowing the whistle when there is an infringement in their area of business," he said.
About reality shows geared towards discovering stars for Nollywood, Duker feels that some companies are only using the industry to sell their products without impacting on it. He cited the just-concluded Amstel Malta Box Office (AMBO), which is in its third year. "What impact has AMBO made on Nollywood? Is Izu Chukwu the best director in Nollywood to have directed all their films so far? How many others have benefited from AMBO in Nollywood? AMBO housemates are people you don’t know. AMBO should call for pitching of films from Nollywood producers, even in the audition process and not just use established actors. I featured Azizat Sadiq in my film, Night of Vulture in 2000 but she became AMBO star in 2005. Is AMBO developing old or new stars? Is the production company of AMBO reality show a Nollywood company? What institutional development has AMBO brought to Nollywood in terms of manpower training, equipment support and other inputs that should make Nollywood great? This leaves the sour impression that AMBO is pure
PR for the product being advertised," he added.
It would seem, however, that AMBO is one step in the direction of bringing Nollywood out of the woods. More companies need to move in that path. The competition will be good for the industry.
PNL: Using Corporate Nigeria To Reinvent Nollywood
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