Nollywood: Nigerian Film Industry

 

Presently, Nollywood, or Nigeria's film industry is booming and has become the third largest in feature films production. However, unlike the top two producers, Hollywood and Bollywood, Nollywood movies were produced with very little budget in terms of time and money.

 

In a matter of a little more than ten years, Nollywood has risen from an unheard of industry to a multimillion dollar industry which employs thousands in the country. The reason for this success is attributed to Nigerian entrepreneurship and digital technology.

 

The popularity of videos came about in the late 1980's and early 1990's. These times were characterized by crime and insecurity and that is why people were reluctant to go to movie theaters during the night. It led people to prefer videos for home viewing. These videos were mostly American and Indian films. However, Nigerian entrepreneurs saw the opportunity to add products of their own to this growing popularity of home video viewing.

 

The release of the 1992 video entitle Living Bondage which was about the occult became a huge selling success that many people followed suit in producing these type of videos. A lot of film producers entered the movie making industry since. Now there are hundreds of latest Nollywood Nigerian movies producers that have an output of around a thousand movies per year. With new technological advancement, these producers adapt them as soon as they become available and affordable. Thus most are now using digital and HD cameras. Computer-based systems help them in editing, music and other post-production work.

 

Every week people get to have around thirty new titles which they can purchase in shops and market stalls. They are able to sell around fifty thousand copies for each film. To learn more, you can go to http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/nigeria?a=british.And if the movie is a hit, producers expect to get more sales. The films are sold at an affordable price that almost all Nigerians can afford. This gives producers a very great profit.

 

The actors in Nollywood movies and Nigerian music videos are natives of the country. The settings are common places around. And the plot of the movies revolves around moral dilemmas common in the society. These are things they understand and have to grapple with daily in their lives like romance, comedy, the occult, crooked cops, and others. It appeals much to the audience and the producers because this is the story of their lives.

 

Whereas their only audiences were local people before, it has now gone beyond their boundaries to English-speaking Africa. It has also become a staple on the South African satellite TV network. Presently Nollywood's popularity has spread and is reaching African constituents of Europe and America.