International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

“Nollywood” – the Nigerian direct-to-video film industry – has become the third largest film industry in the world, producing a staggering 1,500 titles per year. It began during the Nigerian political, social, and economic crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the collapsing national currency made celluloid film production prohibitively expensive and when rampant crime made people hesitate to go out to cinemas at night. Widespread ownership of video cassette recorders, an infrastructure developed to sell pirated cassettes of foreign films, numerous personnel who had been working in film, television, or theatre, and a huge potential market allowed the creation of a novel film industry based entirely on video (→  Video ; Africa: Media Systems ). The pivotal figure in the creation of the Nigerian video film industry is Kenneth Nnebue, an Igbo dealer in electronic goods who in 1992 produced Living in Bondage , the first film in Igbo, followed by Glamour Girls in 1993, the first film in English. The industry is still dominated by Igbo businessmen, who often finance films as well as control their marketing and distribution. In some cases, marketers such as Nnebue and Ojiofor Ezeanyaeche have evolved into writing and directing roles, shaping the creative vision of films (→  Cinema ). The business model is to make films very cheaply and very quickly: the average budget is about ... log in or subscribe to read full text