Nollywood, the name of Nigeria's film industry,
churns out about 2,000 films each year. With revenues of $250 million
per year, it makes less than Hollywood's single biggest movie of the
year. However, Nigeria sells its movies on the street for about $2 a
copy, and distributes its movies all over Africa. So the movies are
widely disseminated and have a cultural influence throughout the
continent.
While Mercy Johnson was terrific in "The Maid", the acting isn't even close to Hollywood standards. Hollywood has developed its act over a period of nearly 100 years, and the industry has mature methods of picking talent, directing, and producing its films. Nollywood spits out a film in two week at a budget of maybe $10,000. After editing the movie for about an afternoon, the producer starts distributing the video disc right away.
There are three ways for a movie to succeed in Nollywood. The best
way is to get the movie some play in the country's movie theatres. People go to theatres in Nigeria movies if they want the full movie experience. In a country where home theatre systems are unheard of, Nigerians love to sit for hours in dark rooms with great air-conditioning-the longer the movie, the better the deal. Another success avenue is television. Made for TV something producers strive for in Nigeria. Then there is the old-fashioned method of just selling lots of movies on the street for 2 or $3 per copy. There are films that sell over 50,000 units, giving a nice profit to the producer. The most successful actors can expect to make $10,000 over several films in a series, like Chelsia, Chelsia 2, and Chelsia 3.
Nollywood productions will not replace Hollywood productions anytime soon. The pricing method in Nigeria, however, insulates producers from incurring losses because of widespread piracy. Pirated copies are not much cheaper than the $3 price tag for Nollywood movies, but they are much cheaper than Hollywood's $20 films. The Nollywood model has no choice but to embrace piracy. But as piracy becomes more and more common for Hollywood movies, and the quality of these copies continues to improve, Hollywood may want to look to Nollywood for some ideas on distribution.
While Mercy Johnson was terrific in "The Maid", the acting isn't even close to Hollywood standards. Hollywood has developed its act over a period of nearly 100 years, and the industry has mature methods of picking talent, directing, and producing its films. Nollywood spits out a film in two week at a budget of maybe $10,000. After editing the movie for about an afternoon, the producer starts distributing the video disc right away.
There are three ways for a movie to succeed in Nollywood. The best
way is to get the movie some play in the country's movie theatres. People go to theatres in Nigeria movies if they want the full movie experience. In a country where home theatre systems are unheard of, Nigerians love to sit for hours in dark rooms with great air-conditioning-the longer the movie, the better the deal. Another success avenue is television. Made for TV something producers strive for in Nigeria. Then there is the old-fashioned method of just selling lots of movies on the street for 2 or $3 per copy. There are films that sell over 50,000 units, giving a nice profit to the producer. The most successful actors can expect to make $10,000 over several films in a series, like Chelsia, Chelsia 2, and Chelsia 3.
Nollywood productions will not replace Hollywood productions anytime soon. The pricing method in Nigeria, however, insulates producers from incurring losses because of widespread piracy. Pirated copies are not much cheaper than the $3 price tag for Nollywood movies, but they are much cheaper than Hollywood's $20 films. The Nollywood model has no choice but to embrace piracy. But as piracy becomes more and more common for Hollywood movies, and the quality of these copies continues to improve, Hollywood may want to look to Nollywood for some ideas on distribution.
