Nollywood Blues and Multinational Corruption in Nigeria

Nollywood Blues and Multinational Corruption in Nigeria 

There is more opportunism than professionalism in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

They should know that you can't have a film commission without at least one qualified film commissioner.

Having a film corporation is different from having a film commission.

In Nollywood, you will see someone posing and posturing as an expert on the international sales of Nigerian movies, but has not secured any international acquisition and distribution of any Nigerian movies and documentaries.

Nollywood can compete with Joziwood.

But Nollywood cannot compete with Hollywood 

You see the professional misconduct of celebrated stakeholders whose professional body misappropriated the foreign funds from the French government meant for film productions and they are still going about business as usual.

Yes. It is a good development to start a film market, because you can't have a functional film industry without an international film market. But you must know how to market the film market beyond the mere announcement of launching a film market.

In Nollywood, the box office can be fixed to favour a Nigerian movie more than other Nigerian movies.

I have written on corruption in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry, but both the local and foreign companies and other organizations have been partners in crime in the institutionalization of corruption in Nigeria.

The major sponsor of the leading musical society in Nigeria did not like my political poem, "Empty Shells in Our Oil Wells" shortlisted for the 2001 annual poetry prize. In 2004, the multinational oil company later invited me to the head office in Lagos on supporting my proposed documentary film, "Winds of Fire, Winds of Change" on the hazards of gas flares, oil pollution and terrorism in the Niger Delta region. But later rescinded and I abandoned the production of the political documentary film and rescripted it into the screenplay of "Naked Beauty" co-authored with Dr. Christian Chika Onu, the multiple award winning Nollywood filmmaker and author of "The Unusual Story of the Early Years of Nollywood", the first book by one of pioneers of the phenomenon of the first indie film industry in Africa.

"Naked Beauty" is exclusively published by Lulu Books in hardcover version, paperback and ebook versions.

The MacArthur Foundation told me about the support for investigative journalism against corruption in Nigeria, but ironically the selected news media receiving the funds, included newspapers that refused to publish my reports on millions of dollars in tax evasions by a major American multinational oil company in 2006, because they don't want to lose their adverts. The company invited me for discussion, but I declined to honour the suspicious parley.

- by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima

#nollywood

#joziwood

#hollywood

#professionalism

#journalism

#corruption

#filmmakers

#movies

#boxoffice

#french

#funds

#sponsor

#music

#poetry

#filmmarket

#commission

#filmindustry

#oilcompany

#america

#multinational

#gas

#pollution

#terrorism

#macarthurfoundation

#nigerdelta

#nigeria

#nakedbeauty

#chima

#chika

#books

ZENITH 2024 Inaugural International Film Festival

 

ZENITH 2024

Zenith International Film Festival: Coming Soon!

Zenith International Film Festival is an annual independent film festival for the promotion of the best in motion picture, from script to screen; where the most ambitious filmmakers will meet the most ambitious film distributors from all over the world.

Participation is strictly by application and competition is only by official selection. 

Only 20 films will be selected by the international jury.

The inaugural annual Zenith International Film Festival will be launched in Lagos before the end of 2024. 

 We may not be the first and we may not be the biggest, but our mission is to be among the best international film festivals in the world.

More details will be announced later.

#zenith
#filmfestivals
#officialselection
#nominees
#nominations
#awards
#prizes
#filmmaking
#movies
#actors
#nigeria
#filmmakers
#jury
#filmdistribution
#acquisition

#ZENITH2024

International Branding of NOLLYWOOD for the Global Market

 That the phenomenon of Nollywood has gained global recognition is a fact. But Nollywood is still lacking the required structure for competition in the global film industry and lagging behind South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.

I have addressed the shortcomings of Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry measured with the criteria for the international development of a film industry. These shortcomings are why Nigeria is not among the top 10 countries with the biggest film industries in the world.

Top 10 Film Industries 

1. Hollywood Movie Industry

2. Bollywood Film Industry

3. Chinese Cinema

4. United Kingdom of Great Britain

5. Japanese Cinema 

6. Cinema in South Korea

7. France

8. German cinema

9. Australia

10. Mexico

The constant emphasis on the large volume of movies produced annually making Nollywood the second largest producer of movies in the world after the Bollywood of India and ahead of Hollywood of the United States of America is not enough without film commissions and film markets.

Having the largest market is different from having the biggest economy.

South Africa has the biggest film industry in Africa and not Nigeria based on the annual revenues of the film industry from the box office, international co-productions, TV networks, movie merchandise and film tourism.

South Africa has the largest cinemas of the biggest film distribution and exhibition companies in Africa.

South Africa has film commissions which Nigeria does not have.

South Africa has a film market which Nigeria does not have.

South Africa has the biggest cable TV industry in Africa with MultiChoice which Nigeria does not have. 

The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) is hyped as the largest TV network in Africa, but running a deficit annually and cannot even pay salaries without revenue allocations from the Nigerian government. 

In terms of quality of TV productions, the NTA does not have local content of international standards compared to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that has been producing content attracting international acquisition and distribution.

The criteria for the international branding of Nollywood for the highly competitive global film industry include the top priorities of having world class international film festivals to attract the participation of the best filmmakers; international co-producers; film acquisition and distribution companies and for the promotions of movie merchandise and film tourism.

Presently among the few film festivals in Nigeria, only the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is rated as the best international film festival attracting some of the best filmmakers in the world with the potentials of having an international film market like the Durban FilmMart of the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa. 

AFRIFF made international news headlines in November, 2022 for cohosting the African premiere of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever",  the 2022 American superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

My articles on how Nollywood can make the Nigerian film industry a multibillion dollar film industry through the opportunities for movie merchandise and film tourism have been published and widely circulated online. But the Nigerian government and the private sector are ignorant of the huge economic benefits.

The Global TV and Movie Merchandise Market is forecast to grow by $90.53 Billion during 2022-2027, accelerating at a CAGR of 9.04% during the forecast period.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/02/06/2601901/0/en/The-Global-TV-and-Movie-Merchandise-Market-is-forecast-to-grow-by-90-53-bn-during-2022-2027-accelerating-at-a-CAGR-of-9-04-during-the-forecast-period.html

Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Huayi Brothers, Enlight Media, Lionsgate Films, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, TOEI COMPANY, Alpha Group, The Walt Disney Company, Twentieth Century Fox and Toho Company are the key copyright owners in the global Movie Merchandise market. The top 5 took up about 66 Percent of the global market. USA is the largest consumption regions of Movie Merchandise in the world in the past few years and it will keep increasing in the next few years. USA market took up about 50 Percent the global market, while Europe was 25 Percent, and China is followed with the share about 6 Percent.

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/movie-merchandise-market-research-2023-2030-2023-04-13

Nigeria has awesome attractions for film tourism which I have been promoting with the publication of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series since 2013 to show the beauty of Nollywood in family friendly books to attract people worldwide. 

My popular article, "The Best Film Locations in Nigeria" has attracted thousands of readers with over 17, 000 readers on TripAdvisor.

http://totnaija.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-best-film-locations-in-nigeria.html?m=1

Nollywood has attracted Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney and other leading international American film and TV production and streaming companies.

The best film locations in Nigeria should be developed as international tourist attractions like the Obudu Ranch in Cross River State. Holiday resorts and hotels should be built on the locations for filmmakers and tourists.

What is the value of the global film tourism market?

As per a recent market analysis by Future Market Insights (FMI), the film tourism market is poised to reach a valuation of US$ 66.7 Billion in 2022. Sales are projected to increase at a 6.8% CAGR, with the market size reaching US$ 128.78 Billion by 2032.https://www.accesswire.com/717595/Film-Tourism-Market-is-anticipated-to-increase-at-a-high-CAGR-of-68-during-2022--2032-Future-Market-Insights-Inc

There are models for templates for the international branding of Nollywood for the global film industry which I have shown with the references to South Africa. 

By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

Executive Producer,

Screen Naija YouTube Channel,

Vuulr Program Partner

Cinewav Partner

August of Enchanting Content

August of Enchanting Content

It has been a busy August for me communicating with some of the biggest film and TV production, acquisition and distribution companies in America, Europe, Australia and India. I have a large catalog of movies, series and documentaries for international theatrical release, TV channels and OTT platforms.
VISION FILMS, INC and Vuulr have premium content. Vuulr has new  buyers and sellers for international film and TV rights of enchanting dramas, comedies, documentaries and animes.

The first MIP Africa held last week from August 24-26, 2022 at the  International Convention Center (CTICC) in Cape Town, South Africa.
MIP Africa had special overviews on South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania with United States of America as the first guest country.
85 exhibitors met with 60 hosted (all expenses paid) buyers, as well as some of 240 “member” buyers.

#mipafrica #filmmakers #buyers #sellers #filmmarket #acquisition
#Nigeria #Africa #Southafrica #Ghana #Tanzania #distribution #TV #movies #series #India #Europe #film #America #Australia #exhibitors #distributors #content #entertainment

DISCOVER MIP AFRICA 2022

DISCOVER MIP AFRICA

MIP Africa is a B2B market for film, television, and digital content distribution and co-production business in Africa. Whether you are involved in producing, distributing, financing or buying film and TV content for African audiences, MIP Africa is the Content Market that will put you face-to-face with the people, content and ideas to give your business a new doorway to huge opportunity.

Blood & Water's Ama Qamata

"As a female filmmaker, one of the key things you hope and dream for is to have your story represented on a global stage, and adds, “It’s amazing to see so many creative Africans, experienced and up-coming, coupled in one space, on one platform telling stories for our people and being the ones in charge of everything, from creating the stories to how we tell them- it’s incredibly special.’’
- Nosipho Dumisa, South African creative, writer, director and producer for Netflix's Blood & Water

https://www.fameweekafrica.com/en-gb/mip-africa.html

#film #netflix #television # #business #opportunity #digital #people #content #creative #b2b #africa #water #stage #writer #filmmarket #filmmaking #filmmakers #acquisition #distribution #africa

NOLLYWOOD: How Can A So Called Booming Film Industry Be Full of Hungry Actors and Directors?

NOLLYWOOD: How Can A So Called Booming Film Industry Be Full of Hungry Actors and Directors?

Nollywood makes news headlines as a booming film industry, the second largest in the world after the Bollywood of India in the production of movies estimated to be worth over US$250 million annually which is less than the total budget of Avatar ($280 million), Tangled ($260 million), Spider-Man 3 ($258 million) or Pirates of the Caribbean sequels ($300 million).
See "Nollywood: The Nigerian Film Industry by Harvard Kennedy School on http://www.isc.hbs.edu/pdf/Student_Projects/Nigeria_Film_2008.pdf, which every literate person in Nigeria and others in the world should read

The realities in Nollywood are different from the booming headlines, because majority of the actors and directors are living in poverty from Lagos to Asaba.

Majority of the filmmakers are not well paid for their movies by the leading multinational cable TV network, MultiChoice Nigeria of the MultiChoice Group and many of them just wanted to have their movies on the DStv Channels of MultiChoice such as the Africa Magic for the publicity. Then only few of them smiled to the bank from the box office revenues of their movies distributed and exhibited by local film distributors and cinemas. The cinemas have not been making enough for a so called booming film industry without a film market. The highest grossing Nollywood movie from the box office in Nigeria, Funke Akindele- Bello's "Ọmọ́ Ghetto, The Saga" made less than N700 million which is not even up to the monthly incomes of the co-CEOs of Netflix, Reed Hastings who  earns more than $40.8 million annually and Ted Sarandos who  earns more than $38.2 million annually.
So, Nollywood is still far from the news headlines of a booming film industry.

#nollywood #bollywood #ceos #boxoffice #income #revenue
#film #netflix #filmmakers #africa #nigeria #network #india #school #bank #filmmarket #distribution #cinemas #actors #directors #spiderman #avatar #harvard #movies #dstv #multichoice #asaba #budget #hastings #sarandos #news #africamagic #piratesofthecaribbean

Nigerian Film Corporation, Show Us the Money!

 The Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC). should be run by competent professional experts with proven knowledge of the film industry locally and globally and not by civil servants without any proven expertise and experience in the management of the Nigerian film industry.

As we speak, Nollywood and Kannywood are made up of independent film and TV studios, administratively challenged ad-hoc producers association; financially challenged guild of directors; administratively challenged actors guild; accredited and unaccredited film schools and film festivals doing their best without any competent government administration.
The NFC had a film festival two weeks ago and majority of Nigerians did not even know about it, because of the administrative incompetence of the corporation. The theme was "Show Us The Money" and there was no film market to attract international acquisition and distribution companies to show them the money.

 
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
The Publisher/Editor, NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series.
@247nigeria Twitter.

#film #Nigeria #Nollywood #Kannywood #actors #producers #directors #guild #accredited #government #management #experience #money #schools #administration #civil #corporation #filmmarket #studios #filmschool #filmindustry #filmfestivals

Film Financing is Not the Priority for the Nigerian Film Industry

The Nigerian film industry has no film market. Nigeria does not buy or sell films. We went to Cannes and Toronto and returned without selling or buying any film. And we lie that Nollywood employs 1 million people. Where?