Lagos — Motion picture producers in Nigeria this week agreed that funding was the answer to their problems, but there was no agreement on who was to provide it.
Opinions differed among the participants at a summit organised by the Motion Picture Practitioners of Nigeria, with the theme of content and its distribution, on its second and final day. While some said funding was a responsibility for the government, others said the industry should be driven by business considerations, with private organisations making investment for profit.
The Nigerian film industry should follow the models in such countries as France, Italy and Germany, where governments fund film production, says Ola Balogun, veteran Nigerian film maker. In those countries, he says, "governments understand that films are agents for transforming the society."
Others however, said the industry - especially commercial film production - must be driven by business considerations. "Business and only business will drive the industry," said one participant. Government's role in the industry, he said, should be restricted to regulation.
The summit aimed to address the issues of content creation and relevance, as well as distribution in the Nigerian market. There have been questions over the quality and relevance of the content in locally produced films. Besides, producers say, the existing distribution structure (and some say none exists) is skewed in favour of the marketer.
But after two days of discussions, most participants agreed that funding was central in the search for solutions to the problems plaguing the industry. Adequate funding, they said, would eliminate the current structure of distributing films in Nigeria, which leaves producers with a few crumbs from the fruits of their works.
At present there are no cinema houses in Lagos, nor in most other cities in the country. Funds are therefore needed to build venues around the country, which will form the nucleus of content distribution in the country.
Rather than bemoan the absence of cinema houses, motion picture practitioners should see this as an opportunity, says Charles Igwe, a motion picture distributor. "Cinema has a role to play in the survival of the home video industry," he noted.
Igwe presented a model for establishing cinema houses at the local government level across Nigeria. This model would see exhibition centres established in all of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria. The ownership of these houses could involve private sector investors, with the local government chairmen being co-opted to make contributions in kind, such as land.
Igwe also presented another variant that involves the practitioners pooling their funds to establish the cinema centres where their films would be introduced first. Their counterparts in Ghana did this, in response to the similar problems of exploitation now being experienced in Nigeria.
Known - almost derogatorily - as the "Idumota Model," the current system involves taking home video tapes straight from the producer to the sellers at Idumota market here in Lagos, on a "sale or return" basis. The structure thus deviates from the conventional model of having a film released first through cinema houses, then through rental outfits, before producing it on tapes for sale to the public.
This structure leaves producers vulnerable to the whims and caprices of the Idumota traders. The works are pirated, the producers allege, leading to low sales of their original copies, many of which the traders return as unsold. "The current distribution pattern leaves a lot of room for piracy," said Emka Mba of Multichoice Nigeria, co-organisers of the summit.
In his paper, Dr Raymond Dokpesi, Chairman of Daar Communications (owners of African Independent Television and Ray Power Radio), extolled the importance of content in broadcasting. However, as Mba noted, content may be king, "but distribution is the kingmaker. If we must have content that will make money, we must have a model that distributes that content."
The question of appropriate distribution channels has overshadowed the issue of content, says Zik Zulu Okafor, a producer. "When we talk about content in the Nigerian context, it makes no sense if we don't have a good distribution system," he notes. Recounting his experience, Okafor said: "After making my first film, when I saw the results, I said, 'this is the saddest day in my life' , not because of content, but because of the distribution."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
It is almost the same experice for Amaka Igwe, who has produced two films, the last being done in 1999. "Now, we don't make money from the videos. We make the name and fame, but no money," she says.
"Until we have cinemas and viewing centres, we are just wasting time," says Amaka, insisting on the reform of the distribution system. Nigeria, she says, has the variables needed to establish a credible distribution system: a large population, the financial resources, and "a population that loves our films."
She understands, however, that getting cinema chains established in Nigeria is going to be an expensive business. While the requirements are large, the industry is dominated by small players, who, even if their resources are combined, can barely scratch the problem, says Mba of Multichoice.
