The Nigerian Economy and the Creative Economy Are in the Doldrums of Conceit and Deceit

The Nigerian Economy and the Creative Economy Are in the Doldrums of Conceit and Deceit

Let me just make the comprehension easy in my brief commentary.

Anyone who says the Nigerian economy is doing well is a liar. Anyone who tells you the Creative Industry is booming is another liar.

The present administration of the Nigerian government blaming the immediate past administration of  former President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR for the current economic woes shows political dishonesty and administrative incompetence of those in the corridors of power.

The major projects recently commissioned with fanfare by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR were started by former President Buhari. 

You cannot take credit for the work started successfully by the previous administration and still turn around to blame and complain about the economic setbacks which were caused by recurrent expenditures on federal projects of which you actually benefited from the multi-million dollar contracts by proxies of the same national ruling party of Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC) since 2015 to date.

Honesty remains the best policy in any public and private office. 

Making excuses and living in denial of your own faults and failures is sheer conceit and deceit.

Have you noticed?

The absence and reductions of adverts and promos by majority of the companies in Nigeria are actually indications of the state of the Nigerian Economy. This means that the situation is critical.

 In the creative industry, only MultiChoice of South Africa is profitable in Nigeria. 

The Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) cannot afford to produce enough content; has zero budget for acquisition and distribution and still wasting millions of naira having unprofitable channels on DStv and GOtv of the MultiChoice and the partnership with StarTimes is unprofitable and should be scrapped. 

If the NTA can't buy content produced by Nigerian producers that means the Nigerian film and TV industry is in economic crisis.

Only few Nigerian movies are making money from the cinemas and only few can be acquired by Netflix and other foreign streaming platforms. More than 90 percent are on YouTube channels in competition for revenues from views and only few can make ends meet.

The private TV stations cannot afford to pay for the acquisition of local content.

Both the NTA and private TV stations don't compete for film and TV acquisition and distribution deals in the international film and TV markets, because they don't have marketable content of international quality to sell and they don't have the money to buy top grade content from other countries.

It is dumb to be over the moon watching music videos of few Nigerian Afrobeats artistes on foreign TV channels who are just a fraction of hundreds of others who can't even afford to produce music videos is enough for anyone who is not a dummy to know that the Nigerian creative industry is still underdeveloped and the creative economy is underdeveloped. The creative industry is actually disorganized in Nigeria.

Coming to the international film festivals in Nigeria; none of them is profitable to the creative economy.

Ask them how much money they have contributed to the creative economy, they don't know. Because there are no annual forensic reports on the economic benefits of film festivals in Nigeria.

What are the deliverables from all the editions of the film festivals in the past 10 years?

The organizers cannot tell?

The popular annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) submits annual reports on what the film festival contributed to Canada:

"Our 11 day Festival generates more than $200 million dollars in annual economic activity to the tourism and hospitality sector for the City of Toronto and Province. We drive over $36 million dollars in taxes to the three levels of government annually through our Festival and year-round TIFF Bell Lightbox cinemas."

- Toronto International Film Festival Inc.

I have the report for anyone who wants a copy.

Which international film festival in Nigeria has any annual report for the state government and federal government?

We must stop the political conceit and deceit by political appointees who are equally being misled by political jobbers and title chasers and opportunists in the Nigerian entertainment industry.

The Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy cannot make any impact on the Nigerian economy without deliverables from every sector of the entertainment industry on the economic benefits. 

What are the market valuations of the fashion and textile industry, cosmetics industry, contemporary art and photography industry, film and TV industry, advertising industry and other parts of the creative industry?

Lest we forget, assumptions are not credible. 

You cannot waste millons of naira on local and international events without showing us the economic benefits in your annual report. 

We want to see verified facts and figures and not mere news reports, photos and videos.

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

The Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

Since 2013.

Happy World Television Day

In 1996, the United Nations general assembly declared November 21 World Television Day. The UN recognized television as having an increased impact on decision making as well as being an ambassador for the entertainment industry. Television is a symbol of communication and globalization that educates, informs, entertains and influences our decisions and opinions.

The first terrestrial television broadcast signals in West Africa occurred on Saturday October 31, 1959 and belonged to the Western Nigeria Television Service (WNTS). This was a critical milestone in Television history and today Africa boasts of over 600 television stations (excluding repeater stations.)

The launching of the TV in the Western Region of Nigeria made the Yorubas, the most educated people in Nigeria led by the most visionary African political leader in the 20th century, the great sage, Chief Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀, GCFR (6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987), Nigerian nationalist; one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria and first Premier of the Western Region.

Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) began broadcasting on 31 October 1959 under the name Western Nigerian Government Broadcasting Corporation (WNTV), with Olapade Obisesan as its first Chairman. It was based in Ibadan and was the first television station in tropical Africa."

The First TV Image
The city of Tashkent is home to the first image patent in television history. In 1926, scientists N.G. Piskunov, V.I. Popov and B.G. Grabovsky, on the recommendation of the famous professor of St. Petersburg University B.L. Rosing, managed to get a patent for their technological development, which was carried out based on the faculty of physics of the Central Asian State University (now NUUz).

On July 26, 1928, B.P. Grobovsky presented to the commission a non-audio tele-image transmitted from the territory of modern Amir Timur Square. It was a huge contribution to the development of television as a unique channel of mass information and communication.

Today, in Central Asia countries, television is the most accessible media channel for all segments of the population. The countries of the region are actively developing the private television sector, as well as cable, satellite and digital television.

To celebrate the World Television Day, I have started the script development of my "Black, Bold & Beautiful' reality TV series that will be ready for broadcast locally and globally in 2024.

"Black, Bold & Beautiful" is the celebration of black, bold and beautiful go-getter women in Nigeria, the rest of Africa and the Diaspora.

Happy World Television Day!

Cheers!

- Ekenyerengozi MichaeI Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series

Screen Naija YouTube Channel

Lighting Techniques That Film Schools Cannot Teach

Lighting Techniques That Film Schools Cannot Teach

GET CREATIVE

There’s a certain subset of lighting techniques that film schools can’t teach. Cinematographer Owen McPolin ISC sheds some light on the creative thinking and resulting methods used when illuminating spaces.

Even the highest-end shows will eventually present a camera team with problems which require a solution nobody has ever used before. Owen McPolin ISC has been shooting mainly for television since the late ‘90s, with recent credits including episodes of Penny Dreadful, Ripper Street and Shadow and Bone. He tells us that even the best-prepared production might occasionally provoke desperate measures."

 

Read it on 

https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/supplement_posts/get-creative/

NEW ARTWORKS AND NFTS

See the gallery on 

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2023/10/new-original-artworks-and-nfts-for-sale.html

The Most Popular Film Stills From A Nigerian Film and TV Production

The most popular stills in circulation from a Nigerian film or TV  production are from the second phase of the principal photography of my documentary film, "Lagos in Motion" in 2016.

I published the photo book of the stills.currently distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.

View the NFTs exclusively on the Algorand blockchain

https://nftmyimage.com/@nigeriadaily
NFTs last longer than photos, videos and films that are not on the blockchain. 

The NFTs will be in the decentralized InterPlanetary File System.

The pictures show beautiful #Nollywood actress, model and beauty pageant Queen, Celina Ideh and other people in "Lagos in Motion" in the Toyota SUV as I was recording whilst the vehicle was moving us to another location in Lagos, Africa's largest megacity; on the Lekki- Ikoyi Link Bridge, Elegushi Beach, new Tejuosho Market and Onike in Yaba.

Film stills are very important in film studies.

Stills are essentially photographs taken on the set or during the production of a movie. They serve as a visual representation of the film, capturing key moments, characters, and set designs. These images are commonly used for promotional purposes, including posters, press kits, and marketing materials. And they are also used by scholars and students of film studies. 

#filmmaking

#filmproduction

#filmmakers

#filmstill

#screenshot

#documentary

#documentaryfilm

#movies

#series

#filmstudies

#students

#scholars

#Lagos

#Africa

#megacity

#photography

#book

#photobook

#Amazon

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima.

How Many NOLLYWOOD Movies Have Been Shot on Canon?

How Many NOLLYWOOD Movies Have Been Shot on Canon?

How many Nollywood movies have been shot on Canon?

This is a very important question both for Nollywood and Canon.

Knowing how many people are using your products is critical to the growth of your company in Research and Development (R&D); Marketing and Sales Analysis of the products and services.

Nollywood is the largest film industry in Africa in the productions of movies and should be the largest market for cameras for both cinematography and photography. 

The Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN) , Producers Guild of Nigeria (PGN) and Cinematographers Guild of Nigeria (CGN) or Association of Cinematographers in Nigeria (ACN) should know and have the data on the cameras and accessories used for film and TV productions in the Nigerian film industry.

These facts are included in the indices for the development and growth of the film industry.

What are models and specifications of the Canon cameras used for film and TV productions in the Nigerian film industry?

When did Canon cameras become the most popular cameras in the Nigerian film industry?

Does Canon know the film and TV productions shot with Canon cameras?

The most popular and the best Canon cameras used in Nollywood and Kannywood?

The best movies, documentaries and music videos shot on Canon?

The award winning film and TV productions shot with Canon cameras?

By the way, the third part of my on going documentary film, "Lagos in Motion" was shot on Canon.

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/ Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
Executive Director, Screen Naija YouTube Channel.

In Her Eyes Through Her Eyes Filmmaking Workshop For Women in Nigeria

For 100 women who want to become outstanding filmmakers in the Nigerian film industry.

Contact by WhatsApp:

Tel: +234 706 637 9246

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.

The Legacy of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe

 

The Legacy of Peace Anyiam-Osigwe 

Africa has beautiful stories to tell, says Peace Anyiam-Osigwe. At 16 years old, the Nigerian published her own magazine. She later continued bringing a “voice to voiceless issues” as a talk show host and film producer. Founder of the African Movie Academy Awards, Peace now dedicates her time to building cinemas in rural Africa, and helping other Africans tell the untold stories of their homeland.

Among other accomplishments, you’re a published poet, a TV/film director and producer, and creator of the African Movie Academy Awards. Of all that you do, what are you most proud of?

#Peace #Peaceanyiamosigwe
#Nollywood #Nigeria #Africa #movies #cinema #TV #series #filmmaking #filmmaker #legacy
#film #building

Source
https://blog.ted.com/fellows-friday-with-peace-anyiam-osigwe/

Message Development For Screenwriting

Message Development For Screenwriting

Having a Message Development workshop is a must in screenwriting.
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
prize winning writer and Publisher/Editor of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series, the first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry published since 2013.

I see the ignorance of the knowledge of message development by the majority of screenwriters in Nigeria.
They don't understand characterisation before writing screenplays.

To remember the five elements of Characterisation, simply remember the acronym STEAL, which stands for speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions and looks.

Speech. Characters' personalities can be greatly defined by the words they say and how they say them. ...

Thoughts. ...

Effect On Others. ...

Actions. ...

Looks.

Everyone who wants to be a good screenwriter must understand message development in character development to depict the personality of every character in the screenplay for a movie or series.

As a professional scriptwriter for TV from when I was only 18 in Nigeria, there was no room for flippancy in the writing of the dialogue. And I wrote for three years before I left to work as a public health illustrator for the John's Hopkins University's Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) when I was 21 to produce fully illustrated booklets on family planning methods in the different languages of Pidgin English, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa for the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) in the 1980s and later became a national program consultant for the UNICEF in Nigeria. I produced a fully illustrated booklet for nomadic education which would have been very effective in the primary education of the herdsmen and their families and would have been used for the prevention of conflicts between the herders and farmers in Nigeria.

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

LaVida Studios Secures the Biggest International Investment for Nollywood

LaVida Studios Secures the Biggest International Investment for Nollywood

LaVida Studios, one of leading film and TV productions centres in Nollywood has secured a US$50 million three-year collaboration with The Story Lab of the United States of America for 10 films and television projects focused on bringing African stories to the global stage. Focusing on both scripted and unscripted film and TV projects, the alliance will see production serviced exclusively by LaVida Studios for all Africa-based productions out of The Story Lab. This groundbreaking partnership is the biggest international investment so far in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

LaVida Studios cofounded by Chioma Ude and Olugbenga Obadina is based in Lagos,the entertainment capital of Nigeria’s fast developing Nollywood, the largest indie film industry in Africa. LaVida is known for the award winning film, Seven on Netflix, as well as Third Party, Stuck and Eye-Witness for AfricaMagic/Showmax,

PAC Capital Limited has committed an initial $50 million for LaVida’s film and TV projects, including the collaboration with The Story Lab. The funding is being accessed from PAC Capital’s PanAfrican CCI Fund 1, a $100 million fund dedicated to financing film production and distribution in Africa.

LaVida and Dentsu are also planning to team with the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) to create a joint initiative, AFRIFF/Dentsu & TV program which would recruit and support top African writing talent in creating original stories that appeal to a global audience.

Chioma Ude, founder of AFRIFF and managing partner in LaVida Studios, said: “We are thrilled to be working together with Dentsu and its The Story Lab team in the U.S. to bring authentic and compelling African stories to the world.”

The partnership, which is being spearheaded by Geneva Wasserman, executive VP and head of scripted content, The Story Lab U.S., who joined the organization in 2021, is thanks in part to her having already served as a board member for the AFRIFF network.

Wasserman said: “The combination of LaVida’s partnerships with top Nigerian creators and Dentsu’s global network and presence will serve as a bridge between these top content creators and the global market through this collaboration. We are honored to bring these stories to the world.”

Mike Ferry, head of The Story Lab U.S. added, “It is partnerships like this one which really help move the dial when it comes to discovering and elevating emerging talent. I’m so pleased we can be part of amplifying the diverse voices of Africa alongside our friends at LaVida and AFRIFF.”

LaVida Studios and Chioma Ude are represented by CAA and The Story Lab U.S. is represented by UTA.

"Expanding distribution infrastructure and access to African content globally; substituting the apprenticeship model in Nollywood for formal education and mentorship and; co-production with global production studios, are three major initiatives that will definitely take Nollywood to the next level. These are highlights of what the partnership between LaVida Studios and TSL is poised to achieve. It’s exciting times ahead," said Olugbenga Obadina.

Nollywood and the French Connection

NOLLYWOOD

Nollywood and The French Connection

Before the Nigerian government started supporting Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry with grants from the Project Act Nollywood and the NollyFund of the Bank of Industry (BoI), the French government through the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the film and TV productions of selected Nigerian filmmakers. The French Audio Visual Attaché in Nigeria (2002-2006), Monsieur Pierre Barrot authored one of the first books on the phenomenon of Nollywood, "Nollywood: The Video Phenomenon in Nigeria" published by the Indiana University Press in 2009.

One of films sponsored by the French government, "Eternal" by Chike Ibekwe won the best film award (Ecrans Dór) at the 14th edition of Ecrans Noir Film Festival in  2010 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Another outstanding film produced with the support of  Fonds images Afrique of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs was "Changing Faces";by Faruk Lasaki,  the first Nigerian film to be dubbed into French and broadcast by Canal France International in 2009 to all television channels in French-speaking Africa under the title "La Métamorphose".

Nigerian Films and TV series projects which benefitted from French production funding and were fully completed.

Projet	Producteur ou réalisateur	Genre	Aide accordée	Origine	Année
Our husband has gone mad again	Albert Egbe	TV Series (13 x 26 minutes)	40 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2003
The Virgin ?	Tunde Kelani	TV Series	35 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2003
Claws of the lion	Francis Onwochei	Feature Film	30 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2004
Tides of Fate	Greg Odutayo	TV Series	40 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2005
Eternal	Chikeh Ibekwe	Feature Film	40 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2005
The Head of State	Jimi Odumosu		45 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2005
Changing Faces	Faruk Lasaki		60 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2005
Off Campus	Chikeh Ibekwe		35 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2005
Relentless	Andy Amadi Okoroafor		Aide réécriture   100 000 euros	Fonds Images Afrique	2005     2006

 

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Publisher/Editor

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series

Nollywood Has Nothing Original To Show Us On Netflix

Nollywood Has Nothing Original To Show Us On Netflix

From all I have seen of NIgerian movies on #Netflix so far, including the Netflix's Nigerian Originals in movies and series, I don't see any that can compare and compete with the best from America, Asia, Europe and Australia on Netflix in screenwriting, casting, directing, production design, music and cinematography. 

There is nothing new that is different from the normal melodramas of #Nollywood on DStv, IROKOtv and public TV channels.

Too much makeup, inappropriate costumes without knowledge of appropriate costumes for storytelling with the cinematography and the music is out of sync with the different scenarios showing  apparent ignorance of using soundtracks for characterisations and the acting is plastic in many scenes like they want to copy scenes from the telenovelas of #Telemundo.

A total lack of originality.

The best NIgerian series is not on Netflix, it is "Oasis" currently showing on TVC.

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor, 

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series 

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

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

Mary Remmy Njoku, The African Queen of Content

 The African Queen of Content

Mrs. Mary Remmy Njoku’s creative work so far has led ROK to produce more than 540 movies and 25 original TV series.

She founded ROK Studios, a leading African film and television studio and production house based in Lagos, Nigeria. It has produced over 540 films and 25 original TV series, including Festac Town, Single Ladies, Body language, Losing Control and Husbands of Lagos since its launch.

Njoku launched ROK on Sky, a network airing across the UK in 2016. She also launched ROK on DSTV, a network airing across Africa, in the same year.

She was nominated for The Futures Awards and EbonyLife Prize for Screen Producer in 2017.

In April 2018, ROK Studios launched two new channels, ROK2 and ROK3, to meet the growing demand of ROK on DSTV.

She produced the movie Nwanyioma in 2018, where her role required her to completely shave her head.

In 2019, Njoku oversaw the acquisition of ROK to CANAL+, the largest international deal to-date for a Nollywood brand.

Netflix Needs More Nigerian Content To Attract More Nigerians

#nigeria #banks #network #movies #tvseries #entertainment #Nollywood

#subscriptions #millennials #acquisition #amazon #africa

Netflix Needs More Nigerian Content To Attract More Nigerians

Some of the best Nigerian movies and TV series are not on #Netflix.
They are on DStv, iROKOtv, StarTimes and on other OTT platforms run by two leading Nigerian banks and one multinational GSM network.

I watch more than 20 Nigerian movies and five different series weekly on DStv and many trailers of new Nigerian movies every day released on Showmax and iROKOtv.

Netflix needs to comprehend the demographics of the population of Nigerian lower and upper Middle Class and Upper Class, who are the largest subscribers of cable TV channels and they are from the largest dominant tribes of Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa Fulani. You have to show them movies and series they can relate with.

Netflix should balance the equation for the acquisition of Nigerian movies and series. Check out the #content on REDTV of UBA,  NdaniTV of GTBank and airtel TV of Nigeria. They have more exciting Nigerian movies and series with hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Increase your Nigerian content and  your Nigerian subscribers will increase with more new movies and series by new outstanding Nigerian producers preferred by the Nigerian millennials who are from the Middle Class and Upper Class of Nigeria whose population is over 35 million.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

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

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

Reading in Motion: The Most Popular Screenshot from a Nigerian Motion Picture

#Fridayvibes 💕💋✌🏼️ 💞

Reading in Motion showing beautiful Nollywood starlet, international pageant beauty queen and model Celina Ideh in "Lagos in Motion: Sights and Sounds of Africa's Largest Megacity" documentary film of Ekeyerengozi Michael Chima. The screenshot of this scene has become the most popular screenshot from a Nigerian motion picture.  Screenshots or stills are important in the art of filmmaking and can be published as a photo book which I have done with "Lagos in Motion" and it is the first book of screenshots of a film or TV production in Nigeria, published and distributed by Amazon.

 

I have not completed the principal photography of panoramic views of Lagos City from sunrise to sunset and 🌃 nightfall.

Reading in Motion One of the most circulated film stills from a Nigerian documentary film and movie. I titled it, "Reading in Motion" showing #Nollywood actress,, Celina James reading, "Conspiracy of Lagos" by Bisi Daniels in."Lagos in Motion " I showed three beautiful young Nigerian actresses reading novels about Lagos and Nigeria. Because, any motion picture of Lagos without showing any aspect of the literary culture and literature and haute couture of the people in Africa's largest megacity is incomplete. There is no narrator and no narration in the documentary film. I simply showed Lagos and people in the people in the city in motion. 

CASTING CALL For new film productions in Lagos

CASTING CALL

For new film productions in Lagos.

Preproductions for the part two of two new movies are in progress and this is an open casting call for actors and others who want to act in the movies and want a successful career in Nollywood.

We have been active in Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry since 1996 and now working with top filmmakers such as Leo Uche, Africa's leading action actor, stuntsman and director of  "Spiritual Revelation", the first Nollywood movie on Metempsychosis.

View the trailer on  https://youtu.be/u_dQ1EkGADs

View the new trailer of the first African Avatar film, "The Legend of Gatuso" on

http://totnaija.blogspot.com/2021/08/michaella-rosman-youngest-canadian.html?m=1

"The Legend of Gatuso" is a new movie by Leo Uche completed in 2021.

For invitation to the auditions on September 10, 2021, the Registration Fee is N10, 000 (ten thousand naira).

Registration Fee should be paid to the GTBank current account number 0016426297

Account name of Ekeyerengozi Michael Chima.

Those outside Lagos will have their auditions by Google Meet.

Best regards,

EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor, 

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR®Series 

Vuulr Program Partner,

Ambassador of Drylab R&D AS of Norway,

247 Nigeria (@247nigeria) / Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/247nigeria

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

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

Tel: +234 706 637 9246

Nollywood and the Image of Nigeria in the Global Village

Nollywood and the Image of Nigeria in the Global Village

(Written in 2006 for an African American magazine)

We all know that action speaks louder than word and seeing is believing.  And nobody can deny this fact of life.

The history of the film industry in Nigeria did not start with the emergence of Nollywood as the Nigerian movies have been dubbed by the rest of the world and now celebrated as the third largest film industry in the world after American Hollywood and Indian Bollywood. 

“The world has continued to marvel at how Nigerians "manufacture" and "fabricate" scores of movies in a week.  It is reported that but for India, Nigeria produces more movies in quantitative terms than any other country in the world.”

~~ Tayo Aderinokun, Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank

Glover Memorial Hall was the venue of the first film to be shown in Nigeria in August, 1903 and this was done by the ruling colonial office of the British Empire that went on to show primarily educational clips, features and documentary reports of the royal trips to Nigeria and other colonies, English football matches, Westminster Parliamentary debates and other films of little or no value to the culture of Nigeria. And the cinema houses that soon showed up all over the popular cities in Nigeria from Lagos to Ibadan to Kano also showed Western films and later Indian films. But it is important to note that "Sanders of the River" by Edgar Rice Buroughs made in 1935 had some unique parts shot in Nigeria. The film featured the first world class Nigerian actor Orlando Martins (1899 – 1985) and was the first film to put the motion picture image of Nigeria on the map of the world.

Then Nigerian filmmakers such as Adamu Halilu, Mallam Brendan Shehu, Dr. Ola Balogun, Chief Eddie Ugbomah, the late Chief Hubert Ogunde and Francis Oladele produced classic films on celluloid since 1968 and Nigerian films were also competing among the foreign ones in the cinemas until the Indigenization Decree of 1972 transferred the ownership of over 300 cinema houses in the country from their foreign proprietors to Nigerians who did not have the expertise and capital to run them successfully and the economic depression of the late 1980s and the mass importation of Video Cassette Players worsened the situation as cinema houses lost the patronage of cinema goers who now preferred to buy the cheaper pirated films in video cassettes and watch them in the safer and more comfortable privacy of their homes. The popularity of home videos also affected the stage performances of plays by Nigerian playwrights as the numbers of people going to the theatres and town halls to watch live plays began to reduce. As the saying goes that necessity is the mother of invention, the challenges of survival for Nigerian theatre arts practitioners prompted them to dare the production of their plays in home videos. The Yorubas who were always the pioneers of the popular street theatre were also the pioneers of the home movies industry with “Aje Ni Iya Mi” by the late Isola Ogunsola who employed an Ibo man Nnebue of Nek Video Links to produce the video.  And Nnebue seeing the great opportunity went on to produce the best selling “Living in Bondage 1 and 2” in 1992 before others joined the bandwagon.  And now Nigerian movies have taken over TV screens all over Africa from Anglophone countries to the Francophone countries and over 20 million people watch Nigerian movies of which over 15 million are within Nigeria and the rest among the over 7 million Nigerians living in different parts of the world and most of them are in America, Western Europe, Asia and Australia. We are now living witnesses of the emergence of the phenomenon called Nollywood.

Over 50 movie titles are released weekly in Nollywood and attracting the attention of the rest of the world and Nollywood has become the picture of the Nigerian culture in the eyes of the world. Therefore, we must address the importance, relevance and significance of Nollywood as the image of Nigeria. As Dr. Odia Ofeimum stated in “In Defence of the Films We Have Made” in his keynote address at the second National Film Festival, 27 November 2003 and I quote:  

“Powered by its home-grown sense which has been the source of its viability, it was primed to travel and to breach porous borders. Nigerians travel a lot and their video films have been traveling with them. Due to the surprise of self-recognition in our stories or the manner in which Nigerians tell them, other people have connected with the video films. So it was not enough to overcome the Nigerian market place. Through saturation marketing, Nigerian home-video mania crossed the borders even beyond the necessities of trade. Once the barn-storm-rating of the video camera overtook the cinema house, and by-passed its camp-following of foreign dominated distribution networks, it began to turn into a super-asset in a makeshift revolution that only those who are thoroughly impervious to social promptings have been able to ignore. The rest of the world may not have wanted to pay attention.”

(http://www.westafricareview.com/issue5/ofeimun.htm).

Therefore, I believe the next stage of the sustainable development of the Nigerian film industry is the management of the aesthetics and ethics of the Art and Craft to portray a positive image of Nigeria to the rest of the world.

The desperation for quick profits and short-cuts to fame has made both the majority of Nigerian filmmakers and their domineering marketers to disregard the international standards of filmmaking as they rush to make over 50 movies weekly and careless about the content and context of the script and the craft. Thus making Nigerian movies to be known more for the quantity than the quality and millions of viewers have complained about the horrors of juju, lawlessness and bribery and corruption of the Nigerian public officials and others shown in most of the movies. Millions of foreigners have been shown the images of gawky Nigerian police officers collecting bribes at police check-points and engaged in other sharp practices and these negative images have only worsened the bad image of the Nigerian Police and of Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries in the wrong. And this is the irony of the popularity of Nollywood. Because, as at present Nollywood is like a trailer overloaded with goods on the express way being driven by a desperate man without a driver's license and the others on the vehicle are struggling to correct the driver or even take over the steering from him. So, people are gasping and moping in awe and fear at the daredevil stunts of the vehicle and praying it does not crash. But is this the true picture of Nigeria?

No! 

We must tell the true stories of Nigeria to the rest of the world.

The stories of our great heroes and heroines or “sheros” like Queen Amina, Emotan, Moremi, Madam Tinubu and the contemporary role models such as Dr. Dora Akunyili, Hajia Sambo and others.   

Nollywood has become synonymous with the ingenuity of the smart Nigerian as Nigerians never give up in their pursuit of their goals to catch up with the leaders in whatever field of human enterprise they are interested in all over the world.  But Nollywood should not ape Hollywood or Bollywood.  Nollywood should be the mirror of Nigeria from the past to the present and the future.  Therefore, Nollywood actors and actresses should not be competing to master who can fake the American Yankee accent or Cockney accent and should not be apes of Hollywood or Bollywood stars.

Nollywood should be proudly Nigerian, heart and soul.  

Nigerian filmmakers should work in cooperation and support and pool their resources together to make Nigerian films that should be as good as any of the best films in the world. We should no longer be ridiculed for the common B-rated movies flooding the home videos rental shops and corners of the streets.  We have had enough of the same rehashed stories with the same plots and badly produced too.  We have had enough quantity without quality. Because, we must do our homework before we can produce excellent films that we can show at the Cannes and qualify to be nominated for the Oscars and not turned down again for poor standards.

We have a vehicle for the global village and we have already succeeded in impressing the rest of the world.  So, we can now decide what our vehicle should convey and show to the whole world.

The world should see the hardworking Nigerian widow, who is the mother of six children as she wakes up at 4 am in Lagos and leaves for the far away Mile 12 market to trade and earn the means of livelihood.

Why?

She is doing it for the upbringing of her fatherless children she must send to school and pay their school fees, buy school uniform and textbooks and feed and clothe them and pay their medical bills whenever they fall ill.

The world should see the honest to God Nigerian police officers as they work day and night and they shun all temptations of bribes.

The world should see the hard working Nigerian labourers toiling daily to make ends meet.

The world should see the diligent Nigerian pupils walking miles to go to school and later to the farms, streams, and back to their.homes to do the chores.

The world should see the work-in-progress of proud Nigerians at work and at home doing their best in cooperation and support for the government in the nation building of a new Nigeria in the leadership of Africa in the comity of nations in the new millennium.

 

These are the true illustrations that our movies should portray and show to the rest of the world and let us be proud of Nigeria. 

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Novemeber 5, 2006.