Nollywood's Vision 2020

iRokotv could become a billion dollar company by 2020
--Jason Njoku, CEO iRokotv

Canal+ and Netflix Eye Nollywood Opportunities

(By Will McBain) – Canal+ and Netflix Eye Nollywood Opportunities

Increased foreign investment in the wake of the purchase of a Nollywood studio by Canal+ could be a game-changer for Nigeria’s already thriving film industry. Will McBain looks at the prospects for a sector targeted to make $1bn in export revenue by 2020.

Nollywood has begun the biggest financial makeover in its history with this summer’s acquisition of Lagos-based production house ROK film studios by French media giant Canal+.

The studio was bought from Africa’s largest subscription-based video-on-demand company IROKOtv, whose founder Jason Njoku called the sale the “largest media deal in West African history”. Actress and producer Mary Njoku – Jason Njoku’s wife – founded ROK studios and will stay on as director general under the Canal+ acquisition.

The Women Driving Nollywood in 2019

(By Daniel Okechukwu) - These Are the Women Pushing Nollywood to Greater Heights in 2019

From Mo Abudu to Ema Edosio, these women are transforming Nollywood for the better.

          Women have had a place in Nollywood since its inception, but that was mostly in front of the camera. Behind the scenes, things have historically been governed by men: they produce and direct the biggest films and generally dictate the market for Nigerian film.

          In 2019, the era of overwhelming male dominance is over, thanks to a new type of female mogul personified best by Mo Abudu. Since the release of her first film Fifty in in 2015 she has ruled the Nigerian box office. Three films she executive produced—The Wedding Party 1, The Wedding Party: Destination Dubai and Chief Daddy—sit atop the list of highest grossing Nigerian movies of all time. The original Wedding Party grossed ₦453 million, its sequel did ₦500 million, and her latest Chief Daddy made over ₦300 million in three weeks. 

          Four of the films produced by her film company EbonyLife are among the top 10 highest grossing Nollywood films. Mo Abudu's success has ushered in a new trend of women making boss moves in Africa's biggest film industry.

Netflix: What's in it for Nollywood?

What Netflix’s involvement in Nigeria’s massive film industry really means

(By Alessandro Jedlowski) - Big investors seem to be mainly interested in Nollywood's already established popularity with African audiences

Global streaming service Netflix set its eyes a few years ago on Nigeria’s film industry, better known as Nollywood. Distribution of Nigerian movies on Netflix started around 2015. At the time the American giant bought the rights of blockbusters such as Kunle Afolayan’s October 1st, Biyi Bandele’s Fifty and several others, after they had already been distributed in Nigerian cinemas.

          During the Toronto International Film Festival 2018, Netflix announced the acquisition of worldwide exclusive distribution rights for Nollywood star Genevieve Nnaji’s debut film as director, the comedy Lionheart. The film marked the first Netflix original film from Nigeria. Many saw this as the beginning of a new era in the relationship between one of the world largest streaming platforms and Africa’s most prolific film industry.

The Death of an Industry

(By Jason 'Igwe' Njoku) - The Death of an Industry 

In July 2011, as part of our series A due diligence, Tiger Global had McKinsey & Co conduct a study of Nollywood. The remit was:

1. Nollywood content popularity across Africa

2. Nollywood Industry Structure and Dynamics

- market size, growth, concentration and key trends

- content creator economics

3. Internet, broadband, payments and advertising trends across Africa.

They spoke with over a thousand people in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

Over the weekend, I re-read elements of the study, just to refresh my memory on all that had happened over the last 4.5 years. Let me go ahead and share some of those slides with you.

Sexism, Diapers, and Making it Work in Lagos

Adibeli Nduka-Agwu

(By Adibeli Nduka-Agwu) - Sexism, Diapers and Making it Work in Lagos 

It was my first week in Lagos, squeezing in a workout at the hotel gym, when a pudgy business man I had met earlier entered and started staring. Somewhat irritated I asked: “Sorry, can I help you?” He leaned closer and beamed: “It’s ok… I just enjoy watching you sweat.” My workout was over, my work life had begun.

I left the West three years ago to work across Lagos, Johannesburg and Nairobi expanding iROKOtv.com, “The Netflix of Africa”. I’ve had male counterparts refuse to speak to me (one physically closed his eyes until my male subordinate spoke); I was asked by a male client in a packed meeting room if he could sit on my lap, and the number of business men that hoped they could conclude our deal in their hotel room is endless. Sexism has followed me to Lagos like a virus: unwanted yet unshakable. Yet (and this may surprise some), I would argue that being a woman in Lagos has felt like LESS of a career barrier for me in my work compared to my time in North America or Europe.

Nollywood, iROKOtv, and French-Speaking Africa

(By Jason 'Igwe' Njoku) - Expanding Iroko in French Speaking Africa (FSA) 

When Canal+ invested in Iroko, a bunch of people in the English speaking Africa world kinda scratched their heads. Canal who? Little did we know that Iroko had been distributing dubbed content across FSA since 2013.

In Nigeria, for the most part, French Speaking Africa never really comes up in casual conversations. Unless we are talking domestic staff (especially cooks) and going to Cotonu to buy imported cars, we, as a people, are so inward looking that we don’t really bother to remember that both Nigeria and Ghana are literally surrounded on all sides by French speaking countries. Granted they are all pretty small, but being ~180m people in Nigeria vs ~230m across FSA one can understand a degree of naval gazing.

Nollywood and Mrs Njoku: Content is King

Mary Njoku

(By Jason 'Igwe' Njoku) - Content is King. How I ended up working for Mrs Njoku. Part 1. 

So, ROK on DStv was one a few weeks ago. I thought it important to tell the story of how it came to be. How a new approach to movie making fundamentally returned Nollywood to its roots as a medium to tell our stories.

In 2011, when Mrs Njoku was still Miss Remmy, she told me that she would prefer, by 40, to end up behind the camera rather than in front of it. That was her dream. She always loved storytelling and felt that Alaba-led filmmaking was disconnected from the storytelling core which had popularised Nollywood. She had all these ideas but no-one would really listen. I was her boyfriend so I was obliged to. Everyone who knows me knows I am pretty much wrapped up in myself and I rarely bother about anyone else. So it pretty much went in one ear and out the next. Even though she had been in arguably the biggest hit of 2011, Blackberry Babes, the year was a dry period for movie making for Miss Remmy.

When IROKOtv Celebrated 6 Years

(By Jason 'Igwe' Njoku) - Man. This is a little strange. Very little drama in 2017. We’re IROKO. There is always a little drama lurking somewhere. Alas none this year. To be honest, I ended up spending 5 months of 2017 in London so that pretty much took the wind out of any dramatic things outside of introducing Nnenna, my daughter, into the world. Being a parent is special. When I wasn’t one I used to move around the world fucking fearless. Now, everyday, I’m just scared. Scared that they may fall ill (kids at nursery are always ill), scared that I may let them down (apparently no one told me there is no rule book to raising kids, you just hack it as you go along) and scared that you can’t pay school fees (Holy ghost fire this will never happen in Jesus’ name).

To be honest the most dramatic thing that happened to IROKOtv over the last 12 months has actually been the launch of ROK channels on DStv and SKY. On Tuesday, I was in Johannesburg, and two young Nigerian men blocked me at the fuel station (I drive myself). One of them recognised me and was trying to explain to the other who I was. You know.

You know. The husband of the woman, you know, Nollywood actress, Mrs Mary, who runs ROKTV.

See my life. Post wedding. It was a concerted multi-year campaign to migrate people calling her Mary Remmy, to simply Mrs Njoku. Now I am the husband of the woman who runs ROK. I guess I am just resigned to being the queen in this relationship. In her shadow forever. It’s okay.

Inside Nollywood's Giant Economic Machine

(CNN)--They used to be the preserve of informal home gatherings around old flickering TV sets, but Nollywood films have now gone global.

Movie streaming giant Netflix has dedicated an entire section to Nigeria's mega film industry, so rather than having to buy a DVD, viewers around the world can now get their fix of Nigerian drama straight to their computer screens -- Nollywood is notorious for churning out hundreds of movies per month, capturing viewers with stories ranging from romance and drama to comedy and witchcraft.

Nollywood and Benefits of the Internet

VENDORS snake their way between cars in the Lagos traffic, hawking the latest Nollywood DVDs to tired drivers. Nigeria’s film industry churns out up to 50 titles a week. Most go straight to DVD to be sold on the streets for the equivalent of a couple of dollars. But the market can be slow. Taiwo, a hawker in the commercial capital, says that on a good day he might sell five films. “When it’s quiet, maybe two.”

Nollywood is a big business—contributing 1.2% to Nigeria’s gross domestic product and employing more than a million people—but the distribution of its films poses a barrier to the industry’s growth. Sales of DVDs account for more than 90% of revenue but filmmakers complain that poor regulation of street markets leaves them open to piracy. That, combined with often low sales volumes, means that little cash reaches their pockets.

The saving grace is that most of Nollywood’s output is shot on a minuscule budget. Nollywood productions… are often filmed in just ten days and cost some $40,000, yielding notoriously low-end content. “Making money is tough, especially for film-makers who are increasing the budget, paying more attention to the quality, and making movies that can travel,” says Obi Emelonye, a director. “Distribution is hands-down the biggest problem... Solve that, and Nollywood will explode.”

Nollywood, iROKOtv and A Global Audience

An episode of Shuga, a popular soap opera set in Kenya, is playing on a screen at the offices of iRoko TV - an online platform commonly dubbed the "Netflix of Africa". In a corner of the room, facing the rest of the operation and separated by a glass partition, sits Jason Njoku, the company's founder.

Born and brought up in London, Mr Njoku is now Lagos-based and building what is proving to be a revolutionary tool, as Nollywood - Nigeria's Hollywood - moves on from DVD to digital platforms.

Since 2011, iRokoTV has racked up millions of views, its founder says, "connecting African films with fans globally" with its huge online catalogue. The company pays filmmakers about $10,000 (£5,900) to $25,000 for the digital rights to stream their content for a period of time.

In fact, Jason Njoku says the group spends $3m-$4m a year on licensing and producing content, hoping to make back the money in two to three years. Subscribers pay a monthly fee of $8 with unlimited access to movies from around Africa on the iRoko TV platform, although most productions come from Nigeria and Ghana.

iROKOtv Exists for Nollywood to Survive, iROKOtv Boss

Abi Ishola, Co-host of Culture Shock: Nigerians in America, spoke to Jason Njoku, the founder and CEO of iROKOtv, at the company's office in New York City. Jason speaks on why he founded iROKOtv, discusses the $8 million investment he received to expand iROKOtv, explains how the money will benefit his company and the entire Nollywood industry, and also gives advice to young entrepreneurs in search of investment deals. And just how much is iROKOtv worth? Analysts say $30 million. Find out what Jason says.