Hollywood, Nollywood and Bollywood are popular names synonymous with movie lovers.
Popular producer and director Stephen Chigorimbo with his South African counterparts have added another brand called Afriwood.
The Afriwood brand seeks to promote and distribute African movies in such a way that the producers make enough money to enable them to work on another production.
“We have noticed that some of the producers have to borrow money to make a movie but when the film is out they do not recoup the money they used to produce a film whilst people enjoy the film in the comfort of their homes.
“This is because of poor marketing and distribution methods and we want it to be a thing of the past,” said Chigorimbo.
Afriwood has branches in countries like Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia among others.
The company is currently distributing and marketing South African new movie Ingxoxo and Zimbabwean films such as I Want a Wedding Dress by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Deep Ocean by Admire Maramba and Big Time by the late Olley Maruma. The company is also distributing several Nigerian movies.
Chigorimbo said plans were underway with mobile operators to sign a contract where subscribers will download pictures, scenes and soundtracks from their favourite movie productions.
He said the idea of establishing the brand came after realising that countries with small populations needed to strengthen their marketing strategies to make money out of the film industry.
“We are a small nation compared to other countries. If you take the population of Nigeria is 120 million, so if 10 percent of the population buy the movie, producers are guaranteed to get back their money whereas in Zimbabwe we are just a population of not more than 15 million.
Chigorimbo took a swipe at people who pirated artistes’ work saying they should be guided by conscience and the desire to do what is right.
“My job is to produce; I am not a policeman. In fact, these pirates don’t need to be monitored. The law is there and it should guide them. What they are doing is like crossing red traffic lights, they risk their money and investments because the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with them,” said Chigorimbo.
