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 But later rescinded and I abandoned the production of the political documentary film and rescripted it into the screenplay of "Naked Beauty" co-authored with Dr.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

LINDA IKEJI: 50 Most Outstanding Women in Nollywood and the Nigerian Film Industry

LINDA IKEJI: 50 Most Outstanding Women in Nollywood and the Nigerian Film Industry.

Linda Ikeji is a prominent Nigerian blogger, writer, and entrepreneur, widely recognized as a pioneer of the digital media landscape in Nigeria. She is best known for her highly influential and popular platform, Linda Ikeji's Blog, which focuses on Nigerian news, entertainment, lifestyle, and gossip. 

Career Overview

Early Career: 

Ikeji started writing at the age of 10 and began her career as a model and waitress to support herself through the University of Lagos, where she earned a degree in English language.
Blogging Pioneer: She started blogging as a hobby in 2006, using cybercafés due to limited internet access in Nigeria at the time. Her blog gained significant popularity around 2011 and became one of the most visited sites in Nigeria, reshaping how the country consumes entertainment news.

Media Mogul: 

Ikeji expanded her brand into a media empire, launching ventures such as Linda Ikeji TV (LITV), an online radio station (Linda Ikeji Radio), and a social networking site (Linda Ikeji Social).

Filmmaking: 

She has also ventured into film production, with recent projects including the movie Dark October (2023) and Reverse (2025), with the latter inspired by her personal experience of being denied hospital treatment. 

Influence and Recognition
Impact: 

Her success has been cited as a case study for the business of blogging in Africa by Forbes Africa. She is recognized for demonstrating the potential of new media as a viable business.

Philanthropy: 

Through her project "I'd rather be self-made; No thanks," she supports young women aged 16-25 with entrepreneurial aspirations, having disbursed millions of naira to help them start their businesses. 

Linda Ikeji is considered an integral part of the Nigerian digital age, a figure who evokes both praise as a hardworking pioneer and criticism for her controversial publications. 

PS;

The 50 Most Outstanding Women in Nollywood and the Nigerian Film Industry is a special feature in the third edition is the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series to be printed in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA and will be distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.

The "NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series" is a book series by Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi that provides a comprehensive overview of Nollywood, Nigeria's film industry. Published in both print and digital formats, the series aims to capture the "big picture" of the industry and is targeted at a global audience interested in Nigerian cinema.  

Focus: The series is a celebration and documentation of the Nigerian film industry, covering current affairs and notable aspects of Nollywood. 

Formats: It is available in multiple formats, including paperback, hard-cover, and e-copy versions. 

Distribution: The books are distributed in Nigeria, the U.S., the UK, Canada, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world to reach its target audience.

 

Author: Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi is credited as the author of the series.

#nollywood 

#chima

#books 

#series 

#mirror 

#movies 

#filmmarket 

#filmstudies 

#filmmaking

#education

#information

#nigeria

#canada

#uk

#unitedstates

#america

#caribbean

Not Every Indian Film is Bollywood and Not Every Nigerian Movie is Nollywood

  

Not Every Indian Film is Bollywood and Not Every Nigerian Movie is Nollywood

Bollywood and Nollywood have been called the first and second largest film industries in the world for the production of the largest quantities of movies.

Bollywood is generally labelled as the Indian film industry. But it is not the overall representative of the film industry of India, because there is Tollywood, the popular Telugu film industry of Telugu language based in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in southeast India. Bollywood, the Hindi language Cinema is based in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay).

Tollywood was first coined before Bollywood and has a filmmaking history of over 100 years since 1909 when the Father of Telugu Cinema, Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu produced short films and showed them in different regions of South Asia and he built the first Indian-owned cinema halls in South India in 1921.

Tollywood is the second largest film industry in India by box-office revenue after Bollywood. And Tollywood films sold 233 million tickets in 2022, the highest among all Indian film industries. As of 2023, Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of movie screens in India.

The boisterous Telugu film industry has several Guinness World Records such as the Ramoji Film City, which holds the Guinness World Record as the largest film studio complex in the world.

The second highest grossing Indian film so far, is "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion", a 2017 Tollywood epic action film directed by S. S. Rajamouli following the current highest grossing Indian film "Dangal"  a 2016 Bollywood biographical sports drama film directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao.

I have written on the significance of the difference between Bollywood and Tollywood before on my Nigerians Report Online on Blogger.

Like Bollywood, Nollywood has been termed as the sobriquet of the Nigerian film industry since the name was coined by The New York Times in 2002. But the name Kannywood for the Hausa language film industry based in Kano was coined in 1999 before the The New York Times discovered Nollywood and said "it is like Hollywood" with starry-eyed guerilla filmmakers making dozens of movies daily from bootstraps budgets. All the movies were shot straight to video from handheld VHS cameras and sold in VHS tapes on the streets and stalls of Lagos and Onitsha before distribution to other countries across the borders to start the first indie film industry in Africa. 

While Nollywood is largely based in the predominantly Christian

southern region of Nigeria, Kannywood is based in the predominantly Islamic northern region of Nigeria.

Adamu Halilu, the Father of Hausa language Cinema was the first Nigerian indigenous filmmaker with the documentaries, "It Pays to Care" (1955) and "Hausa Village" (1958) and later made the classic film, Shaihu Umar (1976), a story of African slavery based on the novel of the same name by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of Nigeria.

The first Hausa language home video, "Tirmin Danya " was produced in 1990 in Kano.

 The National Film and Video Censorship Board, (NFVCB) Abuja, started recording and censoring video films in Nigeria from 1995, and a total of 1600 Hausa video films were officially documented between 1995 and 2005.

Majority of the foreign film critics, journalists and scholars who claimed to be experts ignored Kannywood in their reports, features and books on the Nigerian film industry.  Both Nigerian and foreign scholars have done comprehensive researches and published books on Kannywood. The most popular are Dr. Idi Adam; Dr. Abdulkareem Abdulrahman; Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim;

Dr. Carmen McCain; Prof. Brian Larkin and Dr. Mahmoud Nourah Bamalli.

Queen of Nollywood, Genevieve Nnaji.

Joint Queen of Nollywood, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde 

Queen of Kannywood, Rahama Sadau.

Alpha Male Nollywood actor, Enyinna Nwigwe.

My NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series is the first publication that has celebrated the beautiful queens of Kannywood on the same pedestal as the beautiful queens of Nollywood in the second edition published in 2014 and distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers in hardcover version, paperback version and Amazon Kindle version.

Ike Ude's photo book, "Nollywood: Radical Beauty" ignored the stars of Kannywood. 

The big problem of Kannywood is being under the dictatorship of the Islamic religion with majority of the actors, actresses and filmmakers being Muslims.

They are monitored by the Islamic police of Kano State and the other Sharia states in northern Nigeria with several cases of the violations of their fundamental human rights even in their private lives. 

Nollywood Alpha Male actor Enyinna Nwigwe can hug and kiss the Queens of Nollywood, Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde in a romantic movie, but he cannot even dare to hug and kiss Rahama Sadau, the Queen of Kannywood on screen without incurring the wrath of the Islamic watchdogs of Kannywood.

-By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
International Digital Post Network Limited,
King of Kings Books International,
Screen Outdoor Open Air Cinema (SOOAC)

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry

https://www.amazon.com/author/ekenyerengozimichaelchima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchimaeyerengozi
New Nigeria
www.pinterest.com/nigeriansreport

COMING SOON

The First Annual Bollywood To Nollywood Filmmaking Workshops

#bollywood

#tollywood

#india

#nollywood

#kannywood

#hollywood

#nigeria

#asia

#africa

#cinema

#movies

#films

#videos

#filmindustry

#entertainment

#books

#scholars

#newyorktimes

#hindi

#telugu

#christian

#islam

#christians

#muslims

#religion

#filmmakers

#filmmaking

#cinema

#lagos

#onitsha

#mumbai

#pradesh

From The American King T-shirt To Uli Oma T-shirts

I have designed T-shirts, tote bags, facecaps and so much more.

My most successful is The American King T-shirt I produced in 2022 for the promotion of the theatrical release of the Hollywood and Nollywood romantic comedy in Nigeria.

Vision Films Inc of California, USA paid for 300 T-shirts.

Here are moviegoers who received The American King T-shirts during the Easter Weekend at the Exodus Cinemas in Makurdi, Benue State in NIgeria."

http://totnaija.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-american-king-t-shirts-easter.html

From The American King T-shirt I designed my ULI OMA T-shirts.

Beautiful Uli T-shirts.

Inspired by the Uli body painting of the Igbos of Eastern Nigeria.

The Uli Oma T-shirts, Sweatshirts and Tote bags are available by made on demand in limited edition.

I am very proud of how much I have been doing for the international appreciation and promotion of our Uli Art and Igbo Poetry form of verse which have not been celebrated since Prof. Uche Okeke passed on to eternal glory.

By Ekenyerengozi MichaeI Chima,

Email: ekenyerengozimichaelchima@gmail.com

#uli

#oma

#uliart

#igbo

#art

#bodyart

#bodypainting

#nft

#Nigeria

#tshirts

#sweatshirts

#poetry

#ucheokeke

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2023/11/s-and-sweatshirts.html

A Century of Nigerian Cinema: Dangerous Men

 

A Century of Nigerian Cinema: From "Palaver" To Nollywood
1926-2026

The Best Nigerian Action Movies

Dangerous Men
Genre: Action
Runtime: 105 Minutes

Storyline
Emmanuel is an assassin who goes against the order of his contractor X and refuses to carry out a hit placed on Senator Kingston. Emmanuel is forced to take turn a homeless man into the perfect killer. The deadly duo forms an alliance with Kingston and go after X. This leads to the ultimate showdown between the assassin and the head of the organization. Get ready for non-stop action, masterful fight sequences.

Produced By
Gugu E Michaels
Directed By
Gugu E Michaels

Cast
George Davidson, Leo U'Che, Gugu E. Michaels, Stella Regis

About the Crew
Accomplished filmmaker GuGu E. Michaels has worked as a director and producer on a number of projects.
Feature films include Thugz, Repentance, and Dangerous County.
Actor George Davidson is well known in his home country of Nigeria.
Winner 2012 - Best African Film at the World music and indie film festival - Washington, DC.
In 2012 Michaels, racked up over 12 nominations in organizations like World Music & Independent Film festivals with Dangerous Men including Best Action, Best Cinematography, Best screenplay and Best African film.

#nollywood
#nigeria
#centenary
#actionfilm
#crime
#politocs
#corruption
#drama
#movies

 

Effective Content Marketing in Nigeria Must Target the Gen Z

Effective Content Marketing in Nigeria Must Target the Gen Z

You cannot do effective content marketing if you are ignorant of the demographics of your target audience.

The target audience for online entertainment, e-commerce and fintech industry are the Generation Z, or Gen Z of people born between 1995 and 2010. The 'Z' in the name means "zoomer", as this is the first generation known to 'zoom' the internet.

Majority of them make up the population of 65 million Nigerians using social media platforms.

They spend $975m daily on online betting.

Data from the National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF) has revealed that over 65 million Nigerians actively engage in betting, spending an average of $15 daily. This is just as it disclosed that everyday, 14 million bet takes and payments are made online in the country.

According to one of the fast rising upwardly mobile Nigerian Gen Z techies, Benjamin Unah, Co-Founder & Chairman - Primeries

https://primeries.com/, the #1

 streetwear marketplace that connecting shoppers to the hardest streetwear brands and creatives in Africa, "they are the most active shoppers online and subscribers of entertainment providers for streaming music and movies."

According to the report on Understanding the Gen Z in Nigeria: Trends and Insights - Sagaci Research

"Trends among the Gen Z in Nigeria: more likely to go to physical shops and use cash
Male Nigerian consumers aged 18-25 exhibit different shopping behaviours compared to older ones. A significant 58% of them would rather go to a shop than buying products online versus 47% of the older group. This result stems from young people’s preference for a physical experience; they want to visit stores, see the product firsthand, and make their choice in person. Additionally, 26% of these younger consumers prefer using cash, a higher percentage than the 16% observed in the 26+ demographic.

In contrast, older consumers are more inclined to use debit cards, with 41% opting for this payment method compared to 29% of the younger age group. Following recent banking issues in Nigeria, younger people now prefer to keep physical cash on hand for added security and to avoid potential problems.

Read the complete report on 
https://sagaciresearch.com/gen-z-nigeria-insights/
"
.

An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Award for history, this "wonderful history of the golden age of the movie moguls" (Chicago Tribune ) is a provocative, original, and richly entertaining group biography of the Jewish immigrants who were the moving forces behind the creation of America's motion picture industry.

Read it on Amazon Books

An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood

The Global Target Audience For Nollywood Movies and Series in Igbo and other African Content

The Global Target Audience For Nollywood Movies and Series in Igbo and other African Content in International Film Acquisition and Distribution

Using Culture and Strategy:

My market survey for a new Nigerian Igbo movie, "Infant at Heart" directed by Aguyi Ikeobi ND, a graduate of the London Film School and produced by Vera Kanu, a seasoned producer in Nollywood with famous Nollywood actor, Nkem Owoh and one of the most beautiful Nollywood divas, Monalisa Chinda in the leading roles has an estimated target audience of more than 100, 000 Igbos who will like to watch Igbo movies and can afford to pay for the tickets at the cinemas in Nigeria. 

There are also thousands of Igbos in Ghana, Cameroon and Gabon who are fans of Nkem Owoh who will be excited to watch it.

The Cultural Web 

There are more than 45 million Igbos in Africa and the Diaspora.
Nollywood movies still command hundreds and thousands of fans in West Africa and Central Africa.
The first Nollywood videos were actually videos of the popular Igbo TV series, "Masquerade" on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) in the 1980s recorded on VHS tapes and watched on TV in Cameroon and Gabon.

See also Nigerian Home Videos - Festival des 3 Continents
https://www.3continents.com/en/programme/2003/home-videos-nigerianes/

The significance of cultural web is important for marketing strategy in the distribution of products and services, especially movies and TV series. 
Audiences first and foremost prefer content they can identify with and then are anxious and curious about content of other cultures.

Majority of the over 11 million viewers of "The Black Book", the 2023 Nollywood crime thriller film by Editi Effiong on Netflix were South Koreans who were anxious and curious to know what is "The Black Book".

The largest market for African movies and series are the Afro-Latinos: comprising some 150 million in the Americas.
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL32713.html#:~:text=Afro%2DLatinos%20comprise%20some%20150,marginalized%20groups%20in%20the%20region.

Unknown to Canal Plus and other multinational entertainment providers, FRANCE 24 Español has already unlocked the market, but yet to provide the African movies and series they (Afro-Latinos) will be excited to see.

The Igbo were dispersed to colonies such as Jamaica, Cuba, Saint-Domingue, Barbados, Colonial America, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago, among others.
The Igbo language is still spoken in Cuba, along with the Efik language, but in a creolized version. In ceremonies of the Abakuá culture, you can see traces of the Igbo Culture.
These are populations waiting for  Igbo movies and series and other African content.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

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

The books have been printed in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America and distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.

They are the highest priced book series by an African author and publisher. 

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.

Nigerian Filmmakers: Beyond Nollywood, Beyond Netflix

Nigerian Filmmakers: Beyond Nollywood, Beyond Netflix

TV is not Cinema and Cinema is not TV.

- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Nigerian filmmakers must capture the big picture of the future of Nollywood.

Majority of the filmmakers in Nigeria should know and understand the importance and significance of Art Direction and Production Design in filmmaking. 

Many of them don't even know the definition of Art Direction.

There is no filmmaking without Art Direction.

Netflix in Nigeria: It is No Longer Nollywood As Usual

The filmmakers in both Nollywood and Kennywood must now be more adventurous and ambitious in the content and context of filmmaking beyond mere narrative storytelling.

Any dummy can play guitar. 

But any dummy cannot be Carlos Santana or Sir Victor Uwaifo.

Nigerian filmmakers are still using having their movies on Netflix for bragging rights when none of them has made the official selections of the most competitive and prestigious international film festivals in the world after decades of making movies.

We are still waiting for them to be in the official selections for the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and compete with the best filmmakers in the world and not competing against themselves in Nigeria.

They have been making movies even before C.J Obasi got his GCE and he has gone ahead of them to win coveted awards at the Sundance Film Festival, FESPACO and other esteemed international film festivals where they have failed to make the official selections or failed to win any prize.

The future of Nollywood is bigger than Netflix.

Beauty is more than having a pretty face.

99.99 percent of the biracial actresses in Nollywood can't act.

Three of them are annoyingly amateurish.

They have been featured in movies just for having a pretty face by intellectually challenged filmmakers in Nollywood who think having white looking Bimbos in their movies will attract more viewers and moviegoers.

Having a pretty face and being photogenic can attract filmmakers, but acting begins with learning how to act and not pretending to act when you don't know how to act.

We are two years to the epoch of 100 years of filmmaking in Nigeria. But I doubt if the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy had a clue until I have mentioned it.

How much have we achieved in a century of Nigerian Cinema?

What are milestones in the history of filmmaking in Nigeria since the production of the first feature film, "Palaver" in 1926 by the Academy Award winning English filmmaker, Geoffrey Barkas?

The making of "Palaver" was published in the second edition of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series in 2014.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,

The Publisher/Editor,

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,

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

The Estimated Target Audience of Christian Cinema in Nigeria

The Estimated Target Audience of Christian Cinema in Nigeria

Christian Cinema is for evangelism, church planting and increasing the faith of believers as there is widespread decreasing passion for the gospel in Nigeria and we believe showing powerful facts of the Holy Bible can revive our faith in God and ignite the Pentecostal revival in Nigeria through Cinema Evangelism with the regular screenings of 

 Christian films in all the local government areas in the country with films dubbed in Arabic, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other local languages.

Image credit:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/changing-religious-composition-of-nigeria-causes-and-implications-of-demographic-divergence/C780E68F677B92253395051D3B1C8FA3

In 2023, Nigeria had the largest Christian population in Africa, with around 88.4 million people who identified as Christian. The "
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1368604/christian-population-in-africa-by-country/

Professed and practicing Christians in Nigeria are estimated to be 46. 8 percent of the over 201 million people in the country. And they are the largest populations in the southern states and in the middle belt states. 

The northern states are predominantly Muslims.

The estimated target audience of Christian Cinema in Nigeria will be 18, 576, 000 people annually in all the 774 local government areas in the country with more than 80 percent of them from the south and middle belt.

There will be screenings mostly in the churches, followed by screenings in town halls and village squares or centres.

Tickets will sell from N100 (one hundred naira) to N500 (five hundred naira) per person.

Special private screenings will be provided for Christian groups and others with the tickets selling from N2000 (two thousand naira).

CCN will generate an estimated N29, 288, 000, 000 (Twenty Nine Billion and Two Hundred and Eighty-Eight Million Naira) annually from the sales of tickets and from advertisements.

We have received the partnership support of Cinewav of Singapore for instant cinemas to support Nigerians to have solar powered cineplex in every village in Nigeria. 

View Cinewav cinemas on
 https://www.facebook.com/cinewavapp?mibextid=vPdvX0B5T65af74v

Patterns of Evidence of the United States of America has agreed to let us do screenings of their films in Nigeria in churches and public spaces.

Christian Cinema in Nigeria is open to partnership and sponsorship and for advertising of approved products and services.

Contact:

King of Kings Books International

Tel: +234 814 582 6448

On WhatsApp.

Email: kingofkingsbooks@hotmail.com kingofkingsbooks@gmail.com

The First Nollywood NFT

The First Nollywood NFT

The first Nollywood NFT is a video clip of two young Nollywood actresses, Nunnsi Ojong and Celina Ideh in the "Lagos in Motion"documentary film of Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, the Publisher/Editor of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series, the first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

The Nollywood Video Clip Streaming on the Algorand Blockchain

Today, Monday, September 18, 2023, I successfully put a video clip from my "Lagos in Motion" documentary film on the blockchain of Algorand sponsored by the Algorand Foundation.

The video shows fast rising Nollywood stars, Nunndi Ojong (all shades of beauty) and Celia Ideh, international beauty pageant Queen and model. They are part of this historical moment on the Algorand blockchain and showing the opportunities for the possibilities for Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.

https://nftmyimage.com/v1pKBV4e6LXELucuCxhxHQ

CREATED

Sep 18, 2023, 12:28 PM UTC

The NFT will live forever on the decentralized InterPlanetary File System.

Millions of people on the blockchain will will be anxious and curious to watch it. 

https://nigeriansreportng.blogspot.com/2023/09/nollywood-streaming-on-algorand.html

#nollywood

#nft

#movies

#documentary

#lagosinmotion

#lagos

#video

#clip

#michael

#chima

#actor

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One Village, One Cinema To Generate N29 Billion Annually To Boost Creative Economy of Nigeria

 

The One Village, One Cinema initiative of the International Digital Post Network Limited, an  affiliate partner of Cinewav of Singapore will generate an estimated annual revenue of N29 billion for both the Christian Cinema in Nigeria (CCN) programme and SMEs in the entertainment Industry in all the 774 local government areas in Nigeria, famous for the phenomenal Nollywood, the largest indie film industry in Africa. 

With only an investment of N10, 000, 000 (ten million naira) that is currently less than US$10, 000 (ten thousand dollars) you can have a low budget cinema that can be installed within an hour indoors or outdoors and it can generate an average monthly revenue of N200, 000 - N400, 000 from the sales of the tickets from one location in a village in Africa's most populous nation with an estimated population of more than 200 million people.

The Christian Cinema in Nigeria (CCN) alone has an estimated target audience of 21 million Christians.

The N10 million investment includes the cinema equipment and all expenses paid one week training course at Cinewav in Singapore for one person who will be the operator of the cinema and can train others to become operators in Nigeria.

The cinema equipment can be taken from one location to another location from village to village. Tickets will be sold from N500 per person which is about one quarter of the amount paid for a ticket at the standard cinemas located in the upscale shopping malls in towns and cities. The urban cinemas are not enough for the increasing population of moviegoers with regular disposable incomes. There are less than 400 screens in the country in few cities with most of them in Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa's largest economy. 

The increasing demands for more cinemas compelled the International Digital Post Network Limited to start the One Village One Cinema initiative for both entertainment and public enlightenment and to boost the entertainment industry and accelerate the creative economy of Nigeria.

The initiative will be launched in 2024.

The cinemas will show approved movies, documentary films, series, sports and adverts. 

Public announcements for government programmes and other events are allowed.

The charges for public announcements and adverts are negotiable from N10, 000 - N100, 000 per location.

Revenues from public announcements and adverts are estimated to be N500, 000 - N1, 000, 000 monthly.

During outdoor screenings, only those who paid for tickets can hear the audio with the Cinewav  audio app.

International Digital Post Network Limited plans for more than 12, 000 cinemas in Nigeria, including  solar powered Cinewav Cineplex.

Potential investors, partners and  sponsors are the local, state and federal governments; private sector of local and foreign companies and organizations; especially telecoms, banks, fintechs and other businesses in Nigeria.

"What is the future of big screen?

"Most of the world is without a cinema hall. That will all change! One village, one cinema. Why not?"
~Anthony Tate, Virgina, U.S.A.

We would be happier to use cinemas to break social class barriers and build bridges of unity among communities for the common benefit of all.

Cinema has never been an elitist medium of communication.
Cinema is a tool for public entertainment and enlightenment and has been very effective and imperative in mass literacy campaigns in developed and developing countries for decades. Cinemas made Hollywood the film capital of the world buoyed by over 38,605 indoor screens in 5,561 sites and 628 Drive-In screens in 381 sites in the US, the largest in the world".

Screen Naija One Village, One Cinema Project: The Revival of Outdoor Cinema in Nigeria | Screen Outdoor Open Air Cinema

https://screennaija.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/screen-naija-one-village-one-cinema-project-the-revival-of-outdoor-cinema-in-nigeria/

"Breath of Life" is the Best Nigerian Film of the Year 2023

2023 has been a great year for Nollywood.

Nigerian filmmakers made outstanding movies in 2023 and several of them won notable awards locally and globally, including C. J "Fiery" Obasi's multiple award winning mythological fantasy film, "MAMI WATA", Nigeria's entry for the Best International Feature Film

Category of the 2024 annual Academy Awards; , winner of the Best Nigerian Film at the 19th edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA).

"MAMI WATA" premiered at the annual Sundance Film Festival and the cinematographer, Lílis Soares won the Special Jury Prize in the World Dramatic Competition for the film's cinematography in black and white. The film won three awards at FESPACO; Prix de la Critique Paulin S. Vieyra (African Critics Award), Meilleure Image (Cinematography Award) and Meilleur Décor (Set Design Award). The first Nollywood film to win these highly coveted international awards.

It is nominated for the Best  International Film Category of the 39th annual Independent Spirit Awards in the United States of America; the first for a Nollywood film.

Babatunde Apalowo's "All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White" was joint winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF).

“Funmilayo Ransom Kuti" by Mrs. Bolalenle Austen-Peters won the Oronto Douglas' Overall Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay awards at the 2023 annual AFRIFF.

Editi Effiong’s crime thriller, "The Black Book" for Netflix became the first Nigerian film to be number one on the Global Netflix Chart of the most watched movies on the world's largest streaming platform.

"Orah" by Nigerian Canadian filmmaker Lonzo Nzekwe premiered at the 2023 annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Finally, Funke Akindele's new film "A Tribe Called Judah.” is the icing on the cake of the best Nigerian films of 2023.

In overall assessment of all these outstanding films, Nigerians Report Online has selected BB Sasore's "Breath of Life", the Best Nigerian Film of the year 2023.

 "Breath of Life" is an Unforgettable Journey of Discovery of the Power of Faith, Love and Triumph of the Human Spirit

"Breath of Life" is a period drama set in Ibadan in the 1950s. It is about "Timi", a gifted clergyman who turns into an "old lonely curmudgeon when his family is tragically taken from him. Until Elijah, a humble man with big dreams of becoming a priest, comes into his life. Through Elijah, Timi not only learns to live again, but also realizes purpose for all his gifts and wealth."

The Oscar performance of Wale Ojo as "Timi" has proven that he is indeed  more than an actor of actors, but also an auteur of genius in his excellent interpretation of one of the greatest portraits of unique and unforgettable characters in Nigerian drama.
No other actor in Nollywood would have been able to play a better  challenging role of such an iconic character of "Timi" as Wale Ojo did exceptionally well.
He is among the best actors in the world in the same class with Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins of Hollywood for his mastery of being absorbed in the personality of every character he has played the leading role in different movies. This is a rare  accomplishment among actors in Nigeria, because only few of them have such command in characterization and intellectual depth.

Overall, in concise and precise analysis, the "Breath of Life" is a breathtaking cinematic drama of intellectual and spiritual insights on the triumph of faith, love and the human spirit in the conquest of the existential realities of life in the world. The survival, triumph and victory of the human spirit in the vicissitudes of the trials of life.

The director, producer, cinematographer, screenwriter, composer of the soundtracks and production designer have made a film that will become one of the timeless classics of filmmaking in Nigeria. "Breath of Life" is more than the typical Nollywood movie. It is a beautiful story in motion picture that will resonate with people in different societies in the world, because it is a universal journey of discovery of the true essence of human existence on Earth.
It would be more appreciated dubbed in other languages for the rest of the world to share in the beauty of this drama of the worth of every breath of life.

"Breath of Life" is one of the best films of the year and the kind of Nigerian film that should have been in the Official Selection of the annual Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or.

Principal cast:
Wale Ojo, Bimbo Manuel, Sam Dede, Tina Mba, Sambasa Nzeribe, Genoveva Umeh, Chimezie Imo, Demola Adedoyin, Melly Atari and others.

Produced by
Eku Edewor and Aderinola Adeyokunnu.
Written and directed by BB Sasore, Ola Cardoso is the Director of Photography and Kelechi Odu is the Creative Director.


More details on
https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Breath-of-Life/0MAIUKK9AP09W0F2HQ99XWI0DD

A must on the watchlist of everyone who loves great movies.

- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series,
The first book series on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry since 2013, printed in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America and distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers in paperback, hardcopy and Amazon Kindle.
"

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.