Producing Nollywood movies

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday August 24, 2012 7:48:7:

Nollywood movies have gone global so now it is really one of the few exports Nigeria really has that is bringing us income and making many people who were once poor and jobless now have a good income.

It really started as a small business but now big budget producers are jumping into Nollywood but the good thing is that to be a movie producer in Nigeria, you don't have to spend big money to do as the market is still highly unregulated and there is free entry and exit.

You can make money producing movies in Nigeria either with a low or high budget and even if you don't have money but have the assets, as there are a lot of people who would willingly offer a volunteer service just to have their faces on tv.

What does it take to produce a Nigerian movie?
Producing a movie in Nigeria starts with having a good story behind it. Script writers are needed and nowadays even many movies are just rewritten to produce new movies so it is really not hard. However, movies with new stories behind them tend to gain more respect and audience so it's best to be unique.
One only needs to understand the Nigerian way of life and be able to discern what is real and what is not to be successful as a movie producer. The next step is deciding on a location and how many actors or actresses would be involved. In Nigeria, even 10 actors are good enough for a movie as it is still a small and growing business that is turning many producers into millionaires.

How much capital does one need to produce a Nollywood movie?
There is no legal capital requirement really but you can start with even N500,000 as running capital as long as you have the equipment like cameras, shooting crew, mobility, make up team, director and so on.

To get top actors, you may pay more like from N500,000 and above per movie but if your movie is made of new faces, you may pay less for it. New faces or less important actors are paid much less than known faces. In Nigeria, there is really no fixed price for remunerating your artistes as it is really based on negotiation and even some are paid a little above minimum wage.

How do Nollywood movies make money?
Nowadays, there is a growing number of platforms by which Nigerian movies are making money so it doesn't look like an industry or business that will shrink in the long term. Nollywood movies bring income for the producers since it now has a global audience and movies are produced in VCD and DVD and sold around the world. If you have the right marketers, it can make more money for you when it is distributed widely. Then there is also DSTV and other cable tv services who now pay royalty for Nigerian movies licensed to them by producers. On the internet, there is also IrokoTv who is reported to be spending up to $3000 to buy rights to a movie for display on the internet. So there is a big market for Nigerian movies around the world as Nigerians across the world like in China, USA and UK. In Africa, Nigerian movies rule and it really just requires that you make a massive distribution to get more income. One movie produces can keep on paying you royalty for the rest of your life so it is like a long term asset.

Small time movie producers are going to Youtube
Nowadays, there is a growing number of even smaller time movie producers who go to Youtube as partners and upload their movies in order to make income as a partner. They mostly produce short movies which can be as short as 5 mins with a Nigerian background and make money from adverts Youtube places on it. The Youtube partner program for video producers currently is not available to Nigerian residents but if you have residence in another country like China, US, UK, Kenya or South Africa, you can sign up as a partner