STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

In recent times, the argument that the Nigerian video film industry, Nollywood is the third largest movie industry in the world in terms of art and business is fast gaining ground. Although, this affirmation seems very untrue and an over estimation, it is however a statement of fact. Owing to the state of cinema and filmmaking in Africa currently. The combination of high costs and a Western stranglehold on funding and the unavailability of the cinematographic technology in Black Africa is making many young directors in Africa rely on cheaper, often more versatile digital methods both for production (shooting) and exhibition. In the light of these reality where digital video is a fount of hope (Knight and Manson,2005) Nollywood is indeed the third largest movie tradition in the world in terms of its comparative digital edge and also when the number of “flicks” which is turned out annually from the industry is considered a most recent survey conducted by Spectrum Television Media indicated that about four thousand (4,000) home video films are released by Nigerian filmmakers, an average of ten (10) movies per day; 2,000 of which are censored. The continued growth of the industry and the high volume of video films produced is occasioned by a number of factors which would enunciated.

Film is popular culture, just so, the Nigerian home video has come into prominence as a form of entertainment both in Nigeria, on the African continent and indeed the world. Film has visual bias, which gives it universal acceptance, appeal and impact. People the world over enjoy watching cinema, just like music, TV or radio, they have naturally come to appreciate and embrace it. Today, to Nigerians and Africans both on the continent and in the Diaspora, Nollywood is as important as Hollywood or Bollywood.
Nollywood is a purveyor of culture. Film helps to preserve the culture of a people, ethnicity or race from eroding away and this is a focus of implementation of the National policy on Film in Nigeria, Article 4 (3) c, which states that “film will be produced to protect and promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and our national aspirations in the process of development”(Nigeria Cultural Policy, 1991) Nigerian video films portray the ways of life of the average Nigerian in the daily struggle for survival, shows our belief systems, contemporary as well as ancient culture. People especially those abroad want to be abreast with issues and happenings in the society as well as relax; they turn to the industry, there are major Nigerian video film marketers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.

Convenience, in a society where the cinema culture is unavailable, home viewing has becomes the norm, saving grace. Prior to the 1990s Nigeria had a very rich film culture. There were professional filmmakers who shot with celluloid such as Ola Balogun, Eddy Ugbomah, Ladi Ladebo. And there were cinema houses where the works were exhibited. However, inadequate funding and the utter neglect of film as a tool for social cohesion, mass mobilisation and education by the government, the non-existence of valid and appropriate film policy and laws and the rise of Pentecostalism and Churches led to the death of the then thriving industry. The advent of an unfavourable economic climate, the proliferation of the Nigerian film market with foreign films which came in VHS format and cineprint and also the decline in education which gave birth to the now very popular Area (Agbero) Boys Syndrome who made cinema houses around the country their hangouts also aided the collapse of that industry. Today it is convenient for people to sit in the comfort of their homes, houses, offices with their friends or family, slot in a video cassette into the VCR player or place a DVD in a Digital Video Disc player and watch Nigerian video films without the threat of harassment from an Agbero Boy or an Area Boy Gang which was in case in the 1980s when cinema thrived. The slump in education in the country in the mid 1980s and early 1990s saw students dropping out of schools and taking to vices. The cinema houses became a haven to this new school of “NFAs” (No Future Ambitions) and Wanna-Be Vagabonds who became masters in extortion, rape, torture, thuggery and thefts at the cinema and in society. Some movie goers were attacked, raped, tortured, and harassed or were even arrested at the cinema by the Police during raids. These events were happening simultaneously in different parts of the country thus the cinema culture declined. Unlike the cinema, which is very expensive to produce and exhibit video films are very easy to package, exhibit and distribute hence a reason why fewer and fewer African movies are premiered or featured at International Film festival. Filmmaking with the analogue celluloid machine costs a whole lot of money, the cost of producing a full length 35mm feature film at three hundred thousand Pounds (E300,000) while a 120m roll of 35mm celluloid film costs one hundred and twenty Pounds ( E125) and around 150 rolls will be required to shoot a 90-minute film before editing. This put celluloid reel cost at around E20,000.00 .For each cinema hall that the film plays at simultaneously , a separate print- a copy of the film- will be required at a cost of E5,000.00. (Knight and Manson,2005) With these heavy costs there is little or no guarantee that the heavy investment expended on the movie will be realised from its exhibition. But with video the technology for production is apparently available and accessible to the Nigerian filmmaker. Additionally thousands of copies of his work can be sold quiet easily upon its release.
The videodiscs and videocassettes of the movies are cheap to buy; new releases are sold for N350.00 ($2.50) and the technology for exhibition is within the reach of most Nigerians. Also, the content of the video films are in local dialect and are often subtitled when not in common language. This is another reason why the industry is booming.
Consequently the advancement of the industry can be attributed to the adoption of video films as an aspect of programming on local television stations, cable television networks and even on some satellite television. There are channels on Cable and Satellite that are entirely dedicated to showing Nigerian movies; they include Yotomi, AfricaMagic on DSTV, Nollywood on Trend TV Network etc. Furthermore, the industry provides employment and contributes to the nation’s economic index. Film, like Theatre is a melting point of all the arts of painting, costumes, writing (drama, poetry and prose), acting, directing, producing, photography etc. Film is the biggest art form and a lot of people find employment in the industry as actors, designers, stunt personnel or crew. A notable Yoruba film producer says about N100 Million goes into film production in Nigerian film industry monthly that is, about N1.2 Billion annually (Ayorinde,2004) in 2004 a survey by the Guardian Newspaper put the value of the industry at N4 Billion naira. This is in the upstream sector of the industry, while in the downstream sector, a lot of people are employed as marketers, video club owners, video club attendants etc. The success of the “Iweka Road” distributors and marketers and the “Alaba Boys” is due to the boom of the industry.
Nonetheless, the Nigerian video film industry is bedevilled by problems, which prevent the industry from taking its place of prominence amongst the important film industries of the world. Such problems include the lack of an organised structure, the shield of secrecy and the invasion of charlatans into the industry.

The lack of an organised structure is another problem impeding the growth of the industry. There are no proper records on productions in the Nigerian film industry. No information about how much it costs to produce a movie, no statistics on audience, marketers and no accurate data on the volume of sales per movie etc. Also there is no clear cut demarcation between those who are producers, those who are actors, those who are directors, cameraman, film crew, designers etc and also there are no codes of conduct guiding the practice of film. It is common to see an actor in virtually all the movies that are released in the year and a producer or a director can take up to fifty (50) projects in a year. Meanwhile in India’s Bollywood and the United States there are limits to the number of films an actor can star in in a year and also how many projects a producer can take up in a year. The film industry itself is shielded in secrecy. Nobody knows who gets paid what, nobody can say exactly how much it costs to produce a particular home video in Nigeria whereas such information are open and easily accessible overseas. This lack of openness has led to serious bottleneck in securing sponsorship from corporate bodies (Ayorinde,2004) that refuses to give support to the industry. Also the industry’s development is inhibited by poor film technological know-how and the activities of charlatans in the words of popular Nigerian film actor Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) who do not know the ropes and churn out movies that are substandard, movies with poor story structure and defective technical quality. [Punch,2005] The “man- must-wack-syndrome” is seriously affecting the structure of the industry.


Adenugba Olushola,
March,2005
Ibadan