If what happened last year and the previous years is anything to reckon with, then the motion picture industry, otherwise known as Nollywood, is surely on the right track to redefine the entertainment industry in Nigeria.
However, while the ovation is loud, industry watchers posit that there's need for practitioners to return to base as a way of consolidating on the gains of the previous years and charting a new direction for the industry in this new season.
For the fact that the advent of home video culture in the early 90s, seemed to have quickened the extinction of live theatre as well as the cinema culture in the country, the renewed efforts by some committed industry operators to raise the bar and rescue the industry from the stranglehold of mediocrity by returning to the cinema cannot be ignored.
Before the revolution, the industry was seen as a business venture powered by the Idumota and Onitsha based businessmen, whose interest was to amass profit and never to place value on professionalism, as they threw caution to the wind, doing everything possible to submerge the growth of the industry.
Then, the purposeful standard raised by the early movie producers and thespians like Hubert Ogunde disappeared on our screen.
What became the bargain of movie bluffs was a replacement of a display of violence, inordinate storylines and over-advertised and unrealistic ritual practices that portrayed the nation as a haven of witches for the greater part of 90s and early 2000.
Nollywood, apart from being made on shoestring budgets ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 a piece, spanning seven to ten days, were devoid of showing firstly in the cinemas ever before going to the public domain.
Produced and filmed straight on VHS cassettes, and later on VCD, without premiers, the movies were released and consequently distributed for sale to the public randomly and without proper regulatory system in place.
Though, recent movies indicate a slight shift from the videos of obscenity to family and societal cherished films, the fact still remains that there is a sharp contrast between what obtained during the days of Hubert Ogunde and the present day movie culture.
Industry watchers believe that for the practitioners to consolidate on the gains of the previous years, efforts need to be made to establish a link between the past and the present, by taking the movies back to the cinema as it was the case.
It was recorded that for about 40 years after the play 'King Eiejigbo', written by D. O. Oyedele (in 1904), there was no notable development, in the Nigerian Theatre/ home video culture, until Hubert Ogunde came to the scene in 1944.
Ogunde, who wrote both in English and in Yoruba, more than any one else, created the awareness of the modem theatre tradition in Nigeria, operating a travelling theatre company, and taking his plays to various parts of the country, via cinemas and also to other West African countries, particularly Ghana and Sierra Leone, for about 40 years. We need to return to this tradition.
Already, some practitioners are bracing up to return to the old tradition. Stephanie Okereke's award winning movie, "Through the Glass", which gross N10m in two weeks after it premiered at the Silverbird Galleria, Lagos, in September, is a case in point.
The movie, still in the cinema, also premiered in America, where it was shot and parades Hollywood stars, and others from Ghana and Kenya. Having gained international acclamation, it has turned out to become the monster hit that put Nigeria on the world map of movies, followed by Vivian Ejike's 'Silent Scandals" which premiered recently in Nigeria, and Silverbird cinemas in Ghana.
Other recent movies which identified with this tradition included, Emem Isong's Guilty Pleasures and Nollywood Hustlers, which premiered the same day, at Silverbird cinemas and jointly produced with the duo of Desmond Elliot and Uche Jombo. Mahmood Ali-Balogun's big budget movie "Tango with Me" raised the bar last year in Nollywood.
Most Nigerian movies are screened at international film festivals and are winning laurels.For the first time, Irapada, a Nigerian movie, was accepted at the British film festival.
However, before the coming of these movies, the likes of Kingsley Ogoro, veteran producer Zeb Ejiro and many others had blazed the trail producing monster hit, which made waves in the box office before hitting the market.
Ogoro's "Across the Niger" movie, which many described as blockbuster grossed not less than over $1m in the box office. Today, many actors and actresses are becoming producers, which many described as a welcome development but however expressed reservation that too many hands are likely to spoil the soup.
According to recent reports, "Nigeria is losing estimated $50 m yearly because of international piracy of Nigerian movies and films in America, Canada and other African countries as well as Europe, meaning that Nigerian movies are in high demand outside the shores of the nation.
Given the strides the motion picture industry has made in recent times, especially since last year, experts are of the opinion that there's need for the nation to explore the gains of the industry as well as work out modalities to use these new resources to improve the nation's economy.
With the high emphasis intellectual property skills is attracting in terms of recognition worldwide of Nigeria skills in Arts, Music and Film, experts have argued the obvious, insisting that the nation should brace up to the challenges of turning things around for the better by earning high income "like other knowledge, brain based economies like Japan, India, Korea, Israel, Malaysia, Brazil amongst others."
In this new season, practitioners in the movie industry should strive to consolidate on the gains of the previous years, as submitted by Ugo Harris Ukandu two years ago. There is the imperative need for the industry operators to learn to reach out in a highly organized form to engage the government, corporate entities and international organizations to seek grants, loans from banks to support and encourage the film industry. In as much as this effort is being made, effort should also be placed on high quality of the Nigerian movies, good story to tell about Nigeria and Africa, less emphasis on negative portrayal of our national and traditional lives.
The positive story about our villages, our culture, our towns, our elders, our youths, our schools, our government, democracy, respect of rule of law and decency should be encouraged and emphasized.
Also, while commending the steps taken by industry operators to work out plans to work with Film makers of Nigerian based in USA(FAN USA), to organize their marketing and distribution strategy internationally in USA and Europe to cut out piracy and to repatriate their money and efforts back in the Nigerian economy. This is commendable but more need to be done.
Examples are the dubious contracts each individual film makers, marketers, actors, actress and producers are undertaking individually with dubious individuals, internationally and within Nigeria for their personal marketing and distribution rights.
And these contracts are not biding or enforceable in the international copyright laws or anywhere in the world . Such hasty contract to produce and distribute Nigeria arts and Films internationally with no money coming to them or into Nigeria, is a win-win situation for the pirates and copyright violators.
The time is now for the movie and music industry in Nigeria to come together and have a conference, workshop for days or weeks for a way forward for our new impressive industry, so that Nigeria can earn money from the sweat of her people and not to let this industry become a curse like oil, cocoa, coal and palm produce which has exposed Nigeria as a nation that does not value its people or its God given resources and talent.
Also Nollywood producers must learn to toe the line of Bollywood in terms of quality production, storyline, sustainable distribution network and exploring themes that recapture personal life.
Bollywood Model
Indian ace-producer and broadcaster, Deepak Jain, said while many film industries across the world largely depend on the government support to survive, Indian film industry thrives on private sector initiatives. This means that the level of government involvement in the running of the industry is rather minimal and not holistic. This model is recommendable for the Nigerian movie industry.
