A RETROSPECT OF OLD NOLLYWOOD AND THE BIRTH OF NEW ORDER
By Omowonuola Odusanya
Change they say is the only constant thing in life. There will always be a room for growth in everything we do, the same applies to our film industry. Nollywood has over the years grown into what we have now- new Nollywood that is the toast of investors and viewers across the globe. There has been different views and opinion to the changes that have taken place in the industry either positively or negatively.
The new Nollywood is marked by a degree of professionalism that the old Nollywood never had, it refers to aesthetically sophisticated film that is characterized by new and different method of distribution which include cinemas and online streaming services. The new Nollywood is well structured and more formal in nature, making it seem more like a serious business now.
The old Nollywood on the other hand was characterized by a high level of unprofessionalism. Actors, directors, producers and even the cinematographers and light engineers mostly learnt on the job, using their discretion with little or no formal education. In the present new Nollywood, things have changed, as filmmakers now seek formal education and have improved to large extent on their filmmaking skills. We cannot overemphasize also the impact of advancement in technology and internet on this new Nollywood.
Technology has greatly advanced and this manifests in the audio and video qualities of our recent movies. The Advanced Filmmaking equipment and technical expertise deployed in filmmaking make the production come out better than the ones of the old Nollywood era. Film makers now go extra miles to do foley and sound designs for their works. Sophisticated cameras with high end lenses are now being used.
These improvements happening in the Nollywood industry have paved way for the international film bodies, distribution platforms, actors, directors and brands to notice Nollywood and partner with them in movie making.
When it comes to funding, the cliché that encapsulated the old Nollywood experience was- “Nollywood is not bankable”. A surreal mix of debt and mistrust that could readily come to mind was the intervention of Eco bank. The commercial bank as at that time had thought that the popularity of the old Nollywood was enough evidence of viability that should lead to economic posterity. But the bank was late to know that, it has taken a sharp turn at a delicate bend, the rest is history today. The loss was huge on both investment and some staff of the bank.
Subsequently, financial institutions avoided the film industry like a plague. Film makers returned to their old ways of raising funds for their production- personal savings, loans from individuals and lovers of art, selling properties, approaching money bags, marketers and sometimes, concubines. The risk was much on producers.
Currently, the transformations that happened in the new Nollywood can be associated to accessibility and provision of film funds to filmmakers and supporting film distribution. Individuals, government, banks, brands, organizations and even multinational companies have been investing in movies and providing funds to young and talented filmmakers in the industry who have the determination to restructure the filmmaking business and are excelling at it. A typical example is the recent partnership between Kunle Afolayan and Netflix; Niyi Akinmolayan and Amazon’s prime video, among others.
Despite the struggle to produce, old Nollywood was heavily plagued by the issue of piracy, making it difficult for filmmakers to make profit then. The new Nollywood has been able to overcome this challenge with the advent of cinema, Video on Demand, online streaming platforms and other water tight distribution channels, leaving Direct to Home video (DTH) as the last option.
Streaming platforms like Netflix came into being through the emergence of the internet, hence diversifying the stream of income for filmmakers and making it easy for consumers to access the films like, bringing the movies to our phone screens. Proliferation of content makers viz a viz social media platforms have equally espoused unprecedented penetration of Nigerian films into every part of the world.
The content of the film produced now has also improved. Filmmakers now look inwards and research thoroughly for good stories that showcase the rich African culture. The old Nollywood produced films that dragged too long, talky, immature, predictable and eventually the message might be lost. The new Nollywood has learnt from these shortcomings and now produce movies that can sell easily. The screenplays are now issue based, daring and topnotch. Nigeria’s critical audience can now determine what to watch based on the quality of films available to them.
In conclusion, Nollywood is one. Old Nollywood has paved way for the new Nollywood and it is a reflection of advancement in trends and technology. Nollywood is not what it used to be 20 years ago, and that the stakeholders should be proud of. Nonetheless the industry still has a long way to go and it is striving to be better
