The Creative Economy is Driven by the Digital Economy

Image credit: 
https://city.cri.cn/20210507/633e86e4-7cc0-92c5-a18c-439c6dec1d4b.html

The development of the Creative Economy is hinged on the development of the Digital Economy in the 21st century.

The creative industry in the 21st century is driven by digital technology from the street to the internet. 

Monetization of every format of intellectual property (IP) is mostly generated by digital applications of production, acquisition, distribution, collection and exhibition of which the transactions for the revenues are through fintech applications and services.

We cannot have a robust creative

economy without the support of the digital economy. Both economies have become interlocked as can be seen in Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, X and the new developments by the MultiChoice Group in Africa. 

The largest revenues of the entertainment industry are online.

Where else can we have billions of downloads and views of content?

Recommended:

THE ROLE OF DIGITAL ECONOMY IN ADVANCING CREATIVE INDUSTRIES-CREATIVITY 2030 SEMINAR

https://city.cri.cn/20210507/633e86e4-7cc0-92c5-a18c-439c6dec1d4b.html

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

The Founder/CEO,

International Digital Post Network Limited,

Lagos, Nigeria.

All That Glitters is Not Gold in Nollywood

All is Not Well in Nollywood.and the Nigerian Film Industry.

All that glitters is not gold. 

Majority of the producers. directors, actors. actresses and other practitioners in the Nigerian film industry are facing critical economic challenges ignored by the Nigerian government.

An official of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) invited me for a meeting on how to get distribution for thousands of new movies, because only about 100 -200 get acquired by the MultiChoice Group, Startimes, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Showmax. The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) stations and local private TV stations don't have enough budgets to acquire the movies and series. The are grossly underfunded. 

The loads of local content without acquisition and distribution are either on YouTube or put aside in drawers. The producers are heart broken and depressed, because their investments have failed to produce the returns on investment and have left them bankrupt.

The cinemas are having challenges due to high costs of recurrent expenditure in Nigeria.

If, you are in doubt, you must be from another planet. 

We have humanitarian emergencies in Nollywood that most people are not bothered about. 

I have always helped whenever I could in spite of my own critical economic challenges.

I have done my best for the overall benefit of all in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry and I am still doing my best locally and globally to increase the appreciation, acquisition and distribution of Nigerian movies and series.

Presently, I am targeting new Internatonal markets in the Americas, Asia and Eastern Europe where I have attracted potential partners for acquisition, distribution and co-production.

The federal government and responsible ministries must address these challenges if we want the best for Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

- By EKENYERENGOZI Michael CHIMA,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series.
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry since 2013.

#nollywood
#economiccrunch
#bankruptcy
#producers
#directors
#filmmakers
#actors
#photographers
#cinematographers
#acquisition
#distribution
#production
#partnerships
#partners
#netflix

#amazon

#showmax

#primevideo

#movies

#series

Memory of October 20, 2020 Has Been Released on Selar

"Memory of October 20, 2020" photo documentary on the aftermath of the tragic EndSARs protests in Lekki on October 20, 2020 in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria is of historical significance showing one of the survivors having sleepless nights of the nightmares. The photo documentary shows the 🌃 nightmares of his trauma.

View on Selar

https://selar.co/016e11

#memoir 

The Largest Market For Yoruba Epic Movie, "Orisa" is in Brazil and Not in Nigeria

The Largest Market For Yoruba Epic Movie, "Orisa" is in Brazil and Not in Nigeria

The Yoruba epic movies, "Orisa" and "Jagun Jagun", are the biggest Nollywood movies so far in 2023.

These epic movies can attract more people beyond Nigeria. But 

the producers don't know how to promote them globally. 

They are fixated on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video and the  cinemas in Nigeria. But the largest audiences for them are outside Nigeria. 

Over 10 million Afro Latinos in the Americas with Yoruba lineage have enough disposable incomes to watch the movies in cinemas and on cable TV channels.

In Brazil alone, millions of people will rush to watch "Orisa". 

The producers have to see the Big Picture in international film distribution and exhibition.

FilmOne Entertainment has tried with the theatrical release of "Orisa" in the United States of America, showing at selected Regal theaters. But we must see the Big Picture of the future of Nollywood in the world and the future begins today and is in our hands.

The Africans in the Diaspora have a population of over 350 million people and as a country will be the third largest in population in the world after China and India.

Countries with significant populations of Africans in the Diaspora:

United States

46,936,733

Brazil

14,517,961

Haiti

8,583,759

Colombia

4,671,160

Jamaica

2,700,000

Venezuela

2,641,481

Mexico

1,386,556

Canada

1,300,540

Ecuador

1,200,000

Cuba

1,034,044

Dominican Republic

1,029,535

Africans in the Diaspora remit more than USD 65 billion to Africa annually, more than the total foreign aid by the IMF and other international organizations to the continent in the last five years.

Why is Brazil the Largest Market For "Orisa" and "Jagun Jagun"?

There are over 14 million Africans in the Diaspora in Brazil and majority of them are traditional devotees and those who are fully informed on the widespread Yoruba Orisa religion and culture since the transatlantic slave trade to date. 

They have popular annual Orisa festivities attracting millions of Brazilians and thousands of tourists from other countries.

Their history is common public knowledge.

The film industry of Brazil is bigger than the film industry of Nigeria having millions of moviegoers with GDP per capita of $8,918 USD in 2022, a 15.86% increase from 2021. 

The GDP per capita in Nigeria was $2,448 in 2022 and with the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, it has decreased and shown in the decreasing box office revenues, because majority of the moviegoers cannot afford to pay for the tickets again

.

The Film Industry in Brazil - 

At the end of 2022, there were around 3.4 thousand movie theater screens in Brazil, up from over 3.2 thousand a year earlier – an annual increase of four percent. 

The number of movie tickets sold in Brazil increased by 81.7 percent between 2021 and 2022.21 Mar 2023

https://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/film-industry-in-brazil

With 3.4 thousand screens in Brazil compared to less than 300 screens in Nigeria, the larger market of moviegoers is Brazil.

Film distributors in Nigeria should  promote "Orisa" and "Jagun Jagun" through the international film festivals in Brazil and contact the film distributors in Brazil at the 2023 annual American Film Market (AFM) coming up from October 31 – November 5, in Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Santa Monica, CA, USA.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

The Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series

Nigeria Daily Twitter

https://twitter.com/nigeriadaily

New Nigeria on Pinterest

www.pinterest.com/nigeriansreport

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

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi

Sex, Netflix and Showmax

Sex, Netflix and Showmax 💕💋💥

Every Nigerian man who can afford to buy condoms monthly can afford paying for Netflix and Showmax

I have done marketing family planning methods, including selling condoms for two years when I did on the spot market surveys of all the major markets in Lagos State, including the Mile 12 market on the mainland.

Do you know that majority of Nigerian men spend more than N20, 000 monthly on condoms? 

I mean each one spends more than N20, 000 on condoms monthly.

How much is the monthly subscriptions for Netflix and Showmax in Nigeria?

Oh! I forgot, Nigerian men need more sex than watching Netflix or Showmax? 

Seriously?

Wrong.

Nigerian men watch more TV than having sex.

How many hours do they spend on sex every day?

Of course, majority of us spend more hours watching movies and series than having sex weekly.

Netflix, Showmax and Amazon Prime Video can have more than 40 million subscribers in Nigeria by 2025 if they use social marketing strategies for their advertising and marketing campaigns. 

Static billboards and banners on the streets are not the best methods of advertising in Nigeria. And using celebrities have failed in several cases for the promotion of movies at the box office. 

Several movies featuring Nollywood stars with millions of followers on Instagram have bombed. 

Netflix acquired a movie by a popular celebrity with over 50 million followers on Instagram, but I doubt if even 100, 000 of her followers subscribed to Netflix to watch her movie.

If you can sell condoms, then you can sell subscriptions for Netflix and Showmax.

#sex #Netflix #Showmax #movies #series #condoms #Instagram #boxoffice #celebrities #subscriptions #subscribers #advertising #marketing #socialmarketing #followers #billboards #Nollywood #Nigeria #Lagos #surveys #communication #education #banners #information #family #planning #promotion #campaigns #Nigerianmen #men #women

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series

3 Important Achievements of Netflix in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria

3 Important Achievements of Netflix in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria

Netflix has supported the creation of over 12,000 jobs and generated $218 million to the GDPs of South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, where they are operational.

Netflix has funded economic activity which created over $44 million in tax revenue and an increase of over $200 million in household income.

Netflix is investing more in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry than Amazon.

#Netflix
#SounthAfrica
#Kenya
#Nigeria
#Nollywood
#investment
#Amazon
#filmindustry 

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

Why Netflix is the First Choice of Filmmakers in Nigeria

Why Netflix is the First Choice of Filmmakers in Nigeria

At a meeting with one of the biggest film companies in Africa in February, they told me that Netflix is the first choice of Nigerian Filmmakers, because Netflix pays more for their content than Amazon Prime Video and other major competitors in the  streaming industry.

To be on Netflix is the dream of every Nigerian filmmaker for more money, more prestige and more privilege in the global film industry.

I was told that the filmmakers are willing to wait for even a year to be acquired by Netflix instead of being acquired by other streaming platforms within six months.

Netflix has over 230 million subscribers worldwide, including 74.3 million in the United States and Canada; 76.7 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 41.7 million in Latin America and 38 million in the Asia-Pacific region.

Filmmakers in Nigeria have improved the quality of their film and TV productions to meet the international criteria for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other leading foreign streaming services.

Nigeria produces over 1, 000 movies annually, but only few of them are acquired by Netflix. 

The Nigerian film industry popularly known as Nollywood has been a sociocultural and economic phenomenon in filmmaking in Africa and according to UNESCO, the  "Nollywood Model' could help unlock 20 million African film jobs.

Netflix Originals Won the Streaming Wars in 2022

Netflix’s "Stranger Things" taking the top slot among all series.

Netflix Originals Won the Streaming Wars in 2022 

#Netflix #streaming #movies #originals #series #viewers #streamingwars

Americans streamed more than 19 million years’ worth of content last year

Streaming services continue to gain momentum as audiences’ favored destination for content, but the past year of viewing behavior illustrates how dramatically content offerings have evolved since Netflix introduced audiences to original programming back in 2013.

Before the debut of House of Cards, the political drama series on Netflix, which was the first TV series to appear exclusively on a streaming service, virtually all other streaming content had been licensed from other sources. Perhaps viewed as an experiment or a risk by some at the time, original content has grown to become a competitive advantage for streaming services, as many original titles attracted viewers to the platforms, and in some cases, they outperformed acquired content.

In total, Americans streamed more than 19.4 million years of content last year, up 27% from about 15 million years in 2021. The increase was driven by the breadth of new and expanded services, coupled by the depth of content—particularly streaming originals. In the years following the arrival of House of Cards, annual viewership reviews would highlight the incredible support that deep libraries of acquired content would provide. That changed in 2022, as viewing minutes for top-performing original content dramatically outpaced top-performing acquired content, with Netflix’s Stranger Things taking the top slot among all series.

Read the full report on 

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/streaming-unwrapped-2022-was-the-year-of-original-content/

Discover Nollywood from the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series on Amazon Books.

Hardcover versions available by special request 

2023 Oscars Nominations

2023 Oscars Nominations: See the Full List

A new class of Oscar nominees has been unveiled. On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with special hosts Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams, announced nominations for the 95th Oscars. Everything Everywhere All at Once is the year's most-nominated film, with 11 total nominations, including Best Picture, Best Directing, and four acting nominations. All Quiet on the Western Front and The Banshees of Inisherin follow with nine nominations apiece.

Winners will be announced during the 95th Oscars on Sunday, March 12. Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the ceremony, which will be televised from the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and air live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

Here is the complete list of nominees in every category:

Best Picture

All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)

Malte Grunert, Producer

Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios)

James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)

Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

Elvis (Warner Bros)

Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)

Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

Tár (Focus Features)

Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)

Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

Triangle of Sadness (NEON)

Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

Women Talking (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures)

Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Austin Butler in Elvis

Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser in The Whale

Paul Mescal in Aftersun

Bill Nighy in Living

Actor in a Supporting Role

Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin

Brian Tyree Henry in Causeway

Judd Hirsch in The Fabelmans

Barry Keoghan in The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett in Tár

Ana de Armas in Blonde

Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie

Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans

Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Actress in a Supporting Role

Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Hong Chau in The Whale

Kerry Condon in The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stephanie Hsu in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Animated Feature Film

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

The Sea Beast

Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

Turning Red

Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Cinematography

All Quiet on the Western Front

James Friend

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

Darius Khondji

Elvis

Mandy Walker

Empire of Light

Roger Deakins

Tár

Florian Hoffmeister

Costume Design

Babylon

Mary Zophres

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Ruth Carter

Elvis

Catherine Martin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Shirley Kurata

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Jenny Beavan

Directing

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)

Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)

Todd Field, Tár (Focus Features)

Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness (NEON)

Documentary Feature Film

All That Breathes

Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

Fire of Love

Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

A House Made of Splinters

Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

Navalny

Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Documentary Short Film

The Elephant Whisperers

Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

Haulout

Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

How Do You Measure a Year?

Jay Rosenblatt

The Martha Mitchell Effect

Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

Stranger at the Gate

Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Film Editing

The Banshees of Inisherin

Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Elvis

Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Paul Rogers

Tár

Monika Willi

Top Gun: Maverick

Eddie Hamilton

International Feature Film

All Quiet on the Western Front

Germany

Argentina, 1985

Argentina

Close

Belgium

EO

Poland

The Quiet Girl

Ireland

Makeup and Hairstyling

All Quiet on the Western Front

Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

The Batman

Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

Elvis

Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

The Whale

Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Music (Original Score)

All Quiet on the Western Front

Volker Bertelmann

Babylon

Justin Hurwitz

The Banshees of Inisherin

Carter Burwell

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Son Lux

 The Fabelmans

John Williams

Music (Original Song)

"Applause" from Tell It like a Woman

Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

"Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick

Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

"Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

"Naatu Naatu" from RRR

Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose

"This Is A Life" from Everything Everywhere All at Once

Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Production Design

All Quiet on the Western Front

Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

Avatar: The Way of Water

Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

Babylon

Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

Elvis

Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

The Fabelmans

Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara

Animated Short Film

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

The Flying Sailor

Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Ice Merchants

João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

My Year of Dicks

Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It

Lachlan Pendragon

Live Action Short Film

An Irish Goodbye

Tom Berkeley and Ross White

Ivalu

Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

Le Pupille

Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

Night Ride

Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

The Red Suitcase

Cyrus Neshvad

Sound

All Quiet on the Western Front

Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

Avatar: The Way of Water

Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

The Batman

Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

 Elvis

David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

Top Gun: Maverick

Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

Visual Effects

All Quiet on the Western Front

Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

Avatar: The Way of Water

Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

The Batman

Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

Top Gun: Maverick

Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

All Quiet on the Western Front

Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Written by Rian Johnson

Living

Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

Top Gun: Maverick

Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

Women Talking

Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Writing (Original Screenplay)

The Banshees of Inisherin

Written by Martin McDonagh

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans

Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

Tár

Written by Todd Field

Triangle of Sadness

Written by Ruben Östlund

TAGS

OSCARS

https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/2023-oscars-nominations-full-listhttps://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/2023-oscars-nominations-full-list

Is Nollywood Really Booming?

Is Nollywood Really Booming?

The sociocultural phenomenon of the guerilla filmmakers of Nollywood, the first indie film industry in Africa has been attracting global attention making news headlines of the foreign news media since the early 1990s and making the stars of the low budget movies household names across Africa.  "Nollywood is booming" echoed from the street to the internet and on the popular cable TV channels called Africa Magic on DStv and GOtv of the MultiChoice Group of South Africa. 

According to a widely circulated report since 2020:

Nigeria’s film industry contributed 2.3% and about 239 billion naira ($660 million) to the GDP and projects that the industry will increase its export revenue earnings to over $1 billion. The motion picture and music recording industry exceeded 2020 projected $806 million revenue contributing about 730 billion naira ($1.8 billion) to the country’s GDP.

The country’s television and video market grew by 7.49% to $806 million in 2020, up from $732 million in 2018. The industry is projected to earn about $900 million in 2023. The market is driven by subscription revenue, which accounted for 72.26% of total revenue in 2018. TV advertising accounts for 21.31% of total revenue.

https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/nigeria-media-and-entertainment

With other similar reports; to the foreign news media, Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry is booming with references to the success stories of DStv, GOtv and Showmax of the MultiChoice Group; the increasing numbers of cinemas with all the highest grossing Nollywood movies in the box office making millions of dollars annually since 2016; the exciting attractions of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other OTT platforms with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. But the fact is; Nollywood is not among the 10 biggest film industries in the world by box office revenues, TV budgets and revenues. 

Nollywood no longer produces the often reported over 2, 000 movies annually used to rank it as the second largest film industry in the world after Bollywood of India and ahead of Hollywood of America. Since the COVID-19 pandemic with the consequences of the lockdowns and restrictions of physical contact with others at work, productions of movies and TV series have reduced in Nigeria.

Nollywood is not the biggest film industry in Africa. 

South Africa has the biggest film industry on the continent with the biggest and largest film distributors and exhibitors; including the popular Durban Film Mart, Cape Town International Film Market and Festival and MIP Africa. The biggest GSM telecom network in Nigeria is MTN from South Africa used by the majority of Nigerians for data to use the internet and the MultiChoice Group of South Africa is the biggest and largest cable TV network in Nigeria. 

The local private and public TV stations in Nigeria cannot compete with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and other broadcasting services of South Africa in the entertainment industry.

The reports that Nigeria has the biggest film industry in Africa are  false.

Nollywood is booming continues to be echoing and repeated in the news reports, but the realities are different inside Nigeria.

Behind the showtimes of the cinemas in the big shopping malls of Lagos and other states; behind the glitz and razzmatazz of the red carpets of the premieres of movies and international film festivals in Nollywood; majority of the filmmakers with their casts and crews are struggling and suffering to make ends meet. Majority of them cannot afford brand new cars or SUVs and cannot afford to build or buy houses. 

Dozens of practitioners suffered and passed on in Nollywood last year 2022, but only the famous ones made news whilst the unknown ones passed away unsung. Many of them could not pay their medical bills.

Many of those who survived the critical financial challenges only survived by divine interventions of Almighty God through various means, including the kindness of several "Good Samaritans" who gave them helping hands to rescue them from their misery.

I had a catalog of movies, TV series and documentaries of the best quality, but all the TV channels in Nigeria could not afford to pay for the TV rights as low as US$750 per movie or episode for two years. They cannot even afford to produce content of premium quality and the employees are underpaid.

There is no single film and TV market in Nigeria and no film commission, except the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) without a film commissioner. 

The NFC does not know that there should be a film commission in every state in the country, including Abuja. 

Nollywood is far from booming, because even the fortunate ones among the filmmakers who  produced the highest grossing movies and series acquired by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Showmax and other major foreign film acquisition and distribution companies have not become multimillionaires in dollars like their counterparts in Hollywood. 

None of the highest grossing Nollywood movies made up to US$2 million.  

The Hollywood blockbuster "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" has become the first film to make N1 Billion from the box office in Nigeria and one billion naira is less than US$2 million by the  current exchange rate of the dollar to the naira of $1 for N730. $1m is about N730 million. 

A movie in a booming film industry by global valuation should be making millions of dollars within three weeks and not struggling to make two million dollars within three months of the theatrical release. Nigeria does not have up to 300 screens and the population of the country is over 200 million, the largest in Africa. Exhibitors spend millions of dollars annually on recurrent expenditures of the cinemas in a country without regular power supply for electricity and they have to use big industrial generators with daily supply of diesel or petrol. There are days a cinema will not have up to 20 moviegoers and the generator will be used for power supply for screenings without interruptions.

I don't envy the exhibitors and investors. 

Uber is making more money in Nigeria than all the members of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN).  

It is better, richer and safer to invest in an urban taxi transport service in the country than to invest in having cinemas in Nigeria. And guess what? An Urban taxi cabs service can still make money from Nollywood without sweat. How?

Nollywood creates thousands of jobs, but over 90 percent of these jobs are not permanent, because the jobs end once the production of a movie ends. Many of the  actors have to fast and pray to get new roles in the next productions. Majority of the actors, cameramen, camerawomen, gaffers and others are among the lowest paid employees in Nigeria. Their incomes cannot make ends meet for them and their dependants without any social welfare and without any insurance policy. 

Nollywood is still a developing film industry with multiple streams of incomes. But the lack of structure is hampering the economic growth.

Movie merchandise and film tourism are still unexplored sectors of Nollywood which can be avenues to create permanent jobs for many people and increase the revenues from the film industry. 

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

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NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series 

First book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry available in paperback and hardcover versions.