Since the re-introduction of cinemas in the country by entertainment guru and entrepreneur, Ben Bruce through his Silverbird Galleria, Nigerian movies have tremendously improved in the market. As a result, producers have taken up the challenge of shooting quality films both at home and abroad and they are beginning to reap the fruits of their labour.
Nollywood which is 19 years old this year can pride itself after a long time of comatose, which later produced such great movies as Figurine, Ije, Champions of Our Time, Guilty Pleasures, Through the Glass,among others. These have become household names and box office hits across cinemas in the country and this effort have in no small way, revived the cinema culture in the country.
Last week, the Committee for Relevant Arts, CORA held a gathering of producers of these hit movies to share their experiences as well as suggest things to do artistically and technically to sustain the new trend in the industry and move the sector forward. To fire the first salvo was veteran filmmaker, Mahmood Ali-Balogun whose movie, Tango With Me is currently enjoying viewing in cinema houses. He agreed that progress is being made in the industry but suggested some valuable tips.
“ Scripting is a major issue here though we are gradually making progress. We should know who we are writing for, what medium? Some confuse stage with television and the cinema. For film the person who writes is called the screen writer. In reference to what direction the movie goes in the cinema, there is a limit to how long you keep them unlike the television. Money begets quality. Tango with Me, was an idea of a discussion I had with my wife few a years ago and it took me many years to come out with it after it had gone through several processes. At the eve of the production, my sound man died. I had to travel to Europe, spent good money in getting the right sound, though I wasn’t satisfied but that was the best I could do.”
Ali-Balogun added that those successful films were accepted because they spoke with pictures. His words, “A movie must have a beginning, middle and end. It is not about having different parts of a whole movie which is irrelevant. Another thing is post production which is very crucial to the success of a film.” The producer also asked journalists to appraise films properly even as he lamented the poor attendance of his colleagues at such a fruitful discussion.
Producer of Champions of our Time, Chidi Nwokobia identified funding and technical training as twin evils militating against the progress of the industry. “Nollywood over the years have been bastardised and the major challenge is funding because most successful movies are not small budget films. What we have is a group of businessmen who do bussiness. Let us begin to talk to the corporate bodies. We have good filmmakers but we need training.”
Adding his voice, Kunle Afolayan of The Figurine fame said that the foundation of a good film is the script. “Figurine was produced in four years. In making a film for the cinema, you must have entertainment. Francophone films are boring. The first thing is to identify which genre you want to do.”
Delectable actress, Stephanie Okereke who began with her experience in her movie, Through the Glass, said that selling the movie is important. “The public lost interest because they kept on seeing the same thing over and again, they don’t believe in us, we lost the illusion of movies, so, I thought of doing something different. We need to sell our movies to the world. The new trend movies are showing on cinemas.” Okereke however disagreed that much money is needed to make a good movie but that a good teamwork, trained hands, more cinemas and distribution remain the keys to winning the Oscars.
For Emem Isong who described herself as a commercial filmmaker for 15 years and who writes her script based on her conviction, she believes strongly in entertaining the audience. Veering from her usual home video terrain, she experimented Guilty Pleasures in the cinemas and it worked. Now she hopes to produce more for the cinemas.
Another producer, Vivian Ejike who took two years off to study and returned to better her skills was of the opinion that the industry needs the network support of one another to succeed. She shocked the house by revealing that in order to get the best in one of her productions, she flew in a technical hand from New York film school only for him to learn from the local hands. She concluded that people should be encouraged in improving on their technical skills. Speaking in the same vein, Daniel Ademilokun, a prolific director suggested collaborative effort and increase funding as the way forward while Lilian Aluko listed good sound and publicity as veritable tools for the advancement of the industry.
In defence of marketers, Don Nkem argued that marketers are not being carried along in the scheme of things. “We have limited cinema houses and the NFVCB framework has killed the industry because they have lost confidence in the marketer. As a result, there is proliferation of porn movies everywhere. The solution is expansion of distribution network. People should come together and cooperate.”
The floor was thrown open to the audience who contributed immensely to the topic of the day. The event which held at Freedom Square, Broad Street, on the Island was moderated by Steve Ayorinde film critic and Editor of Mirror Newspaper.
