NOLLYWOOD AND THE NIGERIAN PRESS

The inability of the entertainment press to probe or focus on the business side of Nollywood is part of the reason why the growth of Nollywood has been stunted over the past few years.  I was reading tweets from a Nollywood insider recently and she opined that for Nollywood to become profitable, it needed a vibrant press discussing and investigating various issues surrounding the industry.

The tweets got me thinking.  From some of the articles i read in the print media, you can discern that some of the people who cover entertainment are mostly uneducated and uninspired fans or failed artists who perchance got jobs at newspaper houses.  Even more appalling is the fact that a great percentage of them are unscrupulous drunks who hang around drinking joints gossiping and making up stories for tomorrow’s papers.

Azu Amatus of Entertainment Express  

The editors of major dailies usually don’t take entertainment seriously so they hardly place any premium on news related to Nollywood especially those relating to big business.  Consequently, what we get are “who slept with whom” stories or regurgitated press releases that nobody investigates before submitting for publication.  Once in a while, you might get some good pieces from the likes of Victor Akande, Shaibu Hussein, Chuks Nwanne, Azuh Amatus but nothing more.

Things have become so bad in recent times, that entertainment and lifestyle blogs have become the first source for news about Nollywood.  These days, advertising dollars usually reserved for the print media is being diverted to blogs in droves as advertisers can see the instant impact of their fees.  Apart from a few bloggers who want to see Nollywood progress into a proper industry, the rest are opportunists who prey on the lowly side of Nollywood enough that they can sit on their beds and make millions of Naira caring nothing of the damage they do to an entire industry.

So what is the future of Nollywood? We cannot predict but what we know is that it will not survive without an educated press corps willing to research and objectively probe the practices of the industry.

ARIK AIR & STEPHANIE OKEREKE's WEDDING

Nollywood actress Stephanie Okereke and Husband Linus Idahosa

Just in case you missed it, Nollywood star Stephanie Okereke recently celebrated a beautiful and lavish wedding on the outskirts of Paris, France a few weeks ago.  To ensure that some of her colleagues made it to the wedding, she provided a chartered Arik flight to get them to Paris.

Since chartered planes run anywhere between 60 and 75 million Naira to Europe, some blogs reported that ARIK AIR and AIR FRANCE were supporting the Nollywood star via sponsorship of some sort. I don't mean to insult but some bloggers are as imbecilic as goats eating grass on the English countryside.  My first thought was who passed around this kind of lie for people to feed on?  It couldn't have been from the Bride and Groom who likely shelled out the millions needed to get their guests to the occasion, or was it the airlines themselves trying to reap where they did not not sow?  Whomever put the story out there, our ability to accept whatever is fed us in the name of information has become mind boggling to say the least.

Nollywood stars got free tickets from their colleague to attend her wedding

One of the toughest things in Nigeria is to get corporate sponsorship money especially when there are no white people involved. Nollywood event organizers especially those trying to host events in London are pretty much aware how tough it is to get sponsorship from Airlines to even get minimal guests to Movie premieres and award ceremonies not to talk of a wedding full of film people.  ARIK may support once in a while with some rebates of a few tickets but you will sweat till you drop.

So before you go prancing into Arik's offices asking for a chattered flight for your own event, and shouting "you supported Stephanie Okereke, why won't you support me?" Please bear in mind that  chances are Arik did no such thing. You better find money for your own event or make sure you support the wining political candidate in 2015!  Meanwhile, you can watch the wedding trailer for inspirations right here

DSTV EXPANDS AFRICA MAGIC NOLLYWOOD CHANNELS BUT WHAT DO FILM MAKERS GAIN

Nollywood actors Uche Jombo & Desmond Elliot pose for AFMAG publicity 

You may have heard recently that DSTV, the continent’s most popular television network expanded its AFRICA MAGIC stations from 2 to 5 stations.  AFMAG is the DSTV channel that airs mostly Nollywood related content.  With the changes, the company has decided to put all African related content on AFMAG stations instead of splitting them between MNET and AFMAG.  Simply stated, Nollywood films, Studio 53, Jara, Jacob’s Cross, Tinsel, Big Brother are now under one big umbrella.  Good move on the part of DSTV,  after all, Nollywood was the catalyst for creating all these other shows mentioned.  On a lighter note, the changes should turn down a few stuck up noses at Tinsel’s acting camp.


So do the changes signify changes in producer’s potential incomes?

Nollywood producers selling movies to DSTV’s Africa Magic often have to sell their films at bargain basement prices ranging anywhere from a low of $500 to $3,000 for higher end movies. These figures have always been a source of acrimony between DSTV and content sellers.

Some of the producers feel cheated especially since they feel that Nollywood has primarily driven the growth of the company across Africa.  Other producers believe that DSTV has contributed to the disposal nature of Nollywood content.  The argument is that the low fees paid for content encourages poor quality products which is why you will not readily see films from quality producers such as Tunde Kelani, Leila Djansi, Kunle Afolayan, Chineze Anyaene and the rest of them.

Producers state that the typical contract is for a period not less than 2 years (smarter producers have started asking for 6 months to a year contracts). The adhesive contracts entitles DSTV to air the films on any of their platforms as many times as they deem fit. In fact, we understand that unbeknownst to less savvy producers, DSTV often obtains 3rd party contracts rights from them as well.  This means that they can sell the rights to third parties and may be even reap bigger benefits than the paid for.  This has come as a nasty surprise to many producers who usually do not involve lawyers in their deals, and are too ignorant to understand the ramifications of their actions. 

Check out this link http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/broadcast/issue-no114/distribution/thema-tv-acquires-ri/bc

BBA Amplified winner 2011 Karen Igho poses

So what is Nollywood to expect from DSTV now that business seems to be booming?  Believe me, if business were bad, DSTV would not be expanding the number of channels dedicated to an industry.  So far, some producers have reported being offered anywhere between $6,000 to $10,000 for their films. These prices are apparently attracting more producers like Emem Isong, Vivian Ejike and Shirley Frimpong. Their films are currently in heavy rotation on Channel AfMag128. Viewers are already complaining that the programming is monotonous.  DSTV may have to up the fees to get new Nollywood producers to sell to them or maybe develop a “PAY PER VIEW” platform for those who spend millions making films to recoup their money.