Afrigather Written by Stephen Agwaibor
Normal supervisor of FilmOne Leisure, Ladun Awobokun, believes expertise has supplied transparency of numbers in Nollywood. Nonetheless, Nollywood has a lot work to do to spice up cinema attendance.
The final supervisor of FilmOne Leisure, Ladun Awobokun, has hailed the function of expertise in bringing about what she calls a “transparency of numbers” in Nollywood.
Talking at a hearth chat on the Moonshot Convention hosted by TechCabal, Awobokun famous that “A variety of tech has been utilized in Nollywood to simplify the best way we do issues. One which we’re most proud about, which has made our business develop, is the transparency of numbers,” she stated.
Awobokun highlighted Comscore, the worldwide media measurement and analytics agency that gives information and analytics to guage media throughout platforms. The corporate had in 2019 announced that it was increasing into West and Southern Africa. It now companions with the Cinema Exhibitors Affiliation of Nigeria (CEAN) to supply weekly performances of films on the field workplace. The usage of analytics to trace the information of cinephiles has had a profound affect on Nollywood, informing how film producers determine on the type of motion pictures they put out. Awobokun additionally added that expertise has helped filmmakers verify and monitor funds.
Regardless of these, Awobokun says expertise can enhance to create accessible choices for filmmakers. “Cinema screens are costly, generally between $30,000 and $70,000. It will be good if somebody got here in with alternate options which can be accessible for us,” she stated.
The evolution of Nollywood
Awobokun disclosed that the business had advanced over the past decade, notably with respect to movie high quality and profession improvement. The worldwide attraction of Nollywood motion pictures, akin to The Black Ebook and Gangs of Lagos, converse to this, which she says informs why extra worldwide cinemas are coming to Nigeria to arrange store. These early successes are additionally making a pipeline the place native filmmakers go abroad to accumulate expertise to enhance native content material. “Nollywood is right here to remain,“ Awobokun stated. “It’s now an business the place folks can have full careers in areas like scriptwriting, not like earlier than.”
Enhancing cinema attendance
Regardless of the strides, Awobokun expressed some concern. She highlighted points concerning cinema operations in Nigeria. “Let me offer you a number of numbers. Between January and September, within the cinema business, over ₦4.8 billion [was spent], however there have been only one.6 million admissions. Lagos alone has 20 million folks, but there have been only one.6 million filmgoers in Nigeria for 9 months.”
Awobokun says the low numbers in cinema attendance have an effect on how moviemakers make investments. “Cinema homeowners taking a look at these numbers will discover them sobering,” she stated.
By a trial-and-error method, filmmakers be taught the ropes of what sort of motion pictures do properly and the best way to market them. Awobokun stated she is aware of from expertise to not put out sombre motion pictures throughout vacation seasons as they have a tendency to carry out poorly. In the end, she famous, “Funding in filmmaking isn’t an emotional determination; it’s a enterprise one.”
