Africa has a young and diverse population, spanning 54 countries, with over 3,000 languages and even more ethnic tribes, serving as a great source of inspiration for rich storytelling. Local audiences want to see themselves on screen. It’s something we’ve seen play out again and again, all around the world, and it’s certainly true here on our home continent.



MultiChoice remains the largest producer of original content on the African continent.



“In the last year, we produced 6,502 hours of local content, taking our collective local content library total to 84,871 hours. The MultiChoice platform hosts over 30 proprietary, dedicated local content channels across 10 markets,” explains Nomsa Philiso, CEO: General Entertainment at MultiChoice Group, speaking at the opening of MIP Africa, hosted in Cape Town from September 1-7, 2024.



The MultiChoice Group has 39 years – and counting – of video entertainment industry experience and market leadership; a unique understanding of the African continent, customers’ entertainment preferences in different markets, as well as their broader consumer needs and deep experience in critical operational fields such as content licensing, production, packaging and distribution, advertising sales, as well as in regulation and administrative fields such as taxation.



“Africa is a challenging market because of those differences. We’ve faced every challenge you can imagine, and a few more you probably can’t, and have had to be creative innovators at every hurdle,” says Philiso.



“We have had to be as tenacious as the people we serve, who get up every day to make ends meet amid very challenging macroeconomic conditions. Their commitment inspires us to remain deeply committed to unearthing opportunities in Africa”.



Philiso says that the differences between us also make it near-impossible to speak about a unified Africa market – nor should we.



“Our stats show clearly that Nigerians are watching Nigerian content, Kenyans Kenyan content, and South Africans their own content, with little overlap. That said, there are exceptions, like Big Brother Naija and The Real Housewives of Lagos and Nairobi, but they’re few and far between – and that’s evidence that our hyper-local focus on content is working. MultiChoice is deeply rooted in the communities in which we operate. Our entertainment speaks to people in their own languages and tells stories in which their own lives are reflected.”



“It’s important to us to never forget that our reason for being is to make beautiful stories for very different Africans, in our indigenous languages and set in our diverse communities,” says Philiso.



“When we start by looking for what is most personal, we find the things that are most universal, but it doesn’t work as well the other way around. When we start asking, ‘How do we make a show for the whole world?’ it’s easy to start to over-explain, or over-simplify, or start to cheat geography and casting and accents.”



Philiso believes that the more content is made for communities, the greater the increase in investment interest and better-quality content &#8211; which will inevitably travel further and further around the world.



“Expanding our focus on local channels, we launched Afia TV in the Nigerian Igbo language and Maningue Magic in Mozambique, along with Maaddii Abol in East Africa featuring content in the Oromo language, the fourth most widely spoken African language,” she says.



Nigeria is the country of honor at MIP Africa this year, and Africa Magic has played a significant role in MultiChoice’s transformation, producing over 25,000 hours of authentic Nigerian content. As Africa Magic celebrates its 21st anniversary, its impact is evident in how African storytelling continues to inspire, connect, and drive progress across the continent.



“We’ve had arguably our best year ever for content &#8211; the heart of what we do. We&#8217;ve seen shows like Shaka iLembe, Sibongile &amp; The Dlaminis, Outlaws, The Mommy Club and Adulting set viewing records on their respective launch platforms &#8211; with Shaka iLembe seeing more than four million views on its premiere episode and becoming the most searched TV series on Google in South Africa,” says Philiso.



“We’ve also seen increased international recognition, with productions like Spinners, surpassing our expectation and becoming the first African series at Canneseries and winning at the Shanghai TV Festival’s Magnolia Awards, amongst a growing list of awards it continues to win. Catch Me A Killer became the first African series to feature at Series Mania, Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story won at Tribeca, Two Sides was nominated at the International Emmys and Wyfie was nominated for ‘Best TV Series’ at Seoul and the Global Production Awards, presented by Screen International in Cannes.”



MultiChoice aired three successful co-productions on linear, namely Reyka season 2, Devil’s Peak and White Lies, which were produced in collaboration with international partners at Fremantle, Canal +, and Abacus Distribution and BBC Studios-owned Lookout Point. Devil&#8217;s Peak, the crime thriller based on the best-selling 2004 novel by Deon Meyer, continues to garner international attention. The series was sold to Fox’s Tubi video-on-demand platform for exclusive streaming in the U.S. and Canada in January 2024. White Lies is an eight-part drama co-produced by M-Net, Quizzical Pictures and Fremantle, starring award-winning actress Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, Picnic at Hanging Rock) and Brendon Daniels (Four Corners, Skemerdans, Trackers).



MultiChoice continues to work alongside international partners including Fremantle to STUDIOCANAL to take African stories to the world, and co-producing with the likes of Banijay, the BBC, CANAL+, HBO and NBCUniversal.



“You can now see MultiChoice content all around the world,” says Philiso.



“Spinners made it to #6 on the CANAL+ charts in France during its primetime run there. Reyka is licensed to over 150 territories; Recipes for Love and Murder to over 90; Whites Lies to the likes of Sundance Now; Catch Me A Killer to the likes of Britbox; and The Real Housewives of Durban to the likes of Hayu, Bravo and Peacock,” Philiso adds. “As it stands, as MultiChoice, we have over 84,000 hours of local content to showcase on the world stage.”



Through initiatives like the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs), the African film industry has seen significant growth, investing ₦9 billion in the sector over the past decade. The AMVCAs have elevated African film standards, gained international recognition, and fostered talent.



The MultiChoice Talent Factory is a continent-wide skills-development initiative that has also helped foster talent. We have academies in Lagos, Johannesburg and Nairobi offering training, masterclasses and industry network sessions. We are upskilling young filmmakers and empowering them to direct their love for production and filmmaking into our industry. Talent Factory graduates are now playing key roles across the industry &#8211; like Nandisa Mkhize, the head writer on Showmax’s hit teen telenovela Youngins.&nbsp;



“Where others dip a toe, white label a platform, test a business case, make a splash and then disappear without a trace, MultiChoice has always been &#8211; and we will remain,” says Philiso. “Africa is not our side hustle.”

Nomsa-Philiso NEW

Africa’s Greatest Storyteller Doubles Down On African Content

Present-day Nollywood is a thriving industry and a key component of Nigeria’s economy. Churning out over 2,500 films a year, the country’s film sector is not just a cultural phenomenon but also a ticket to the world.



In the Lekki district of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, the crew on the set of a new film has taken over a local event center, transforming it into a lavish venue to shoot an elaborate birthday party scene. Under the harsh glare of the bright lights, actors diligently rehearse their lines even as the director and crew make crucial last-minute adjustments for the next shot. 



The decor and meticulously-designed sets illustrate the grandeur of the film. Amidst this frenzied flurry, the dreams and aspirations driving these individuals shine brighter than the motivated lights on them. Nollywood, a term that emerged in the early 2000s, captures the essence of Nigerian cinema. And yet its origins are older, going as far back as the 1960s, around the time that the country gained its independence.



Pioneering filmmakers in Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo languages set the groundwork.



“The early days were tough,” recalls British-Nigerian actor, Wale Ojo. “Films were shot on celluloid, and piracy was rampant. But the entre- preneurial spirit of the 1990s revitalized the industry, leading to what we now call Nollywood.”



“We are changing the economy,” Ojo asserts of the industry in its current avatar. “The industry is a major employer and has immense potential for growth.”



Over the past few decades, Nollywood has transformed from one with a modest beginning into a vibrant, thriving industry, producing an estimated 2,500-plus films annually. It is recognized as the world’s second-largest film industry in terms of volume, trailing only Bollywood and leading Hollywood.



“The market, for us, was not ready. Cinema, Netflix, [Amazon] Prime were not ready for us… even if I have to put a lot of money into production, how do I recoup it? So when Netflix came around, [along with Amazon] Prime and cinema, I said, ‘okay, this is the time to do it’,” says Jaiye Kuti, who started acting 22 years ago.



The industry’s growth is reflected in its widespread international popularity, thanks to partnerships with global streaming platforms. Nollywood films, such as Breath of Life, have garnered attention and awards, with Ojo himself winning recognition as Best Lead Actor at the recent edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards for Breath of Life.



“I feel like they’ve done a lot of work, they’ve commissioned a lot of projects, but there’s a lot of room for more platforms and more channels for our art to be disseminated,” says Timini Egbuson, one of the lead actors in Nigeria’s reportedly highest-earning film, A Tribe Called Judah.



“Our cinema culture is actually growing a lot. The last movie I was part of made 1.6 billion naira at the box office. That’s definitely a step in the right direction.



“Nollywood is growing faster than we all thought. The quality of our productions is getting a lot better. The quality of our stories that we’re telling, acting, funding, profits— everything is kind of in the positive and it’s a good time to be in Nollywood,” Egbuson adds.



Films in the industry often delve into themes central to Nigerian and African identity, from family dynamics and religious beliefs to social issues. They challenge stereotypes and offer an authentic representation of African stories, celebrating resilience and cultural richness.



“Nollywood films offer a mirror to Nigerian society,” says Joke Silva, a prominent actor and producer.



“They break stereotypes and provide real depictions of African life.”



But despite its documented successes, the industry also faces significant challenges. One major hurdle is the unreliable electricity supply that plagues all of Nigeria.



“The biggest challenge is NEPA,” Ojo notes, in reference to Nigeria’s electricity provider. “We often rely on generators, which is neither cost-effective nor sustainable. It’s a major impediment to production.” Economic constraints also seem to impact the industry. While top-tier actors and filmmakers can earn well others struggle with financial stability. Ojo advocates for a stronger support system for actors facing health and financial crises. “There should be a strong union to support actors financially if they fall ill. The government should back this up, ensuring no actor has to suffer due to lack of support.”



Nollywood continues to evolve, with New Nigerian Cinema marking a shift towards higher production values and international collaborations.



“We are in the middle of a cinematic revolution,” Ojo says. “American companies are looking to Nigeria for new projects. There’s a synergy happening that’s bringing global attention to our industry.”



One of the most ambitious projects on the horizon is the development of a $100-million Film City in Lagos. This facility aims to attract international productions and provide state-of-the-art infrastructure.



“A properly-structured film village will bring significant income into the country,” Ojo predicts.



Nollywood’s inclusivity is evident in its linguistic diversity, with three major sub-industries: Yoruwood (Yoruba-speaking), Kannywood (Hausa-speaking), and Igbowood (Igbo-speaking).



Each sub-industry brings unique cultural narratives and styles, enriching Nigeria’s cinematic landscape. Kannywood, based in Kano, intertwines storytelling with Islamic themes and Hausa culture. Igbowood highlights the traditions and societal issues of the Igbo people, while Yoruwood, thriving in the South West, is known for its dramatic flair and exploration of Yoruba heritage.



Furthermore, Nollywood’s journey has been shaped by key films and directors. Living in Bondage (1992) is of- ten credited with launching the modern Nollywood era. The industry has produced notable films and stars that have gained international recognition.



Films like Citation (2020) by Kunle Afolayan have won international awards, and actors like Genevieve Nnaji have become household names far beyond the borders of Nigeria. Nnaji’s film, Lionheart, was acquired by Netflix, making it the first Netflix Original film produced in Nigeria.



Media mogul Mo Abudu has also earned a reputation in the African media landscape, and one that resonates far beyond the continent’s borders. EbonyLifeTV, which she founded in 2013, reportedly boasts around 30 shows that are under production. 



“The highlight, for me, is always about making great shows. I’m always fascinated by the idea that I can wake up and I know that we’re working on a new production,” she said in a previous interview with FORBES AFRICA. 



Recognized as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global Television by The Hollywood Reporter and also as one of Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, Abudu’s work continues to garner acclaim, furthering the reach of Nollywood.



Silva reflects on the industry’s growth: “One of the things I always said about ten to fifteen years ago was that a time would come when there would be so much wealth for everybody. Technology has made storytelling more accessible and affordable compared to the old days of celluloid.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="684" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Oyinlola-Lasisi-on-set-1-1-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62809" style="width:650px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Oyinlola-Lasisi-on-set-1-1-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Oyinlola-Lasisi-on-set-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Oyinlola-Lasisi-on-set-1-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Oyinlola-Lasisi-on-set-1-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Oyinlola-Lasisi-on-set-1-1-2048x1367.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Oyinlola Lasisi on set (Images Supplied)</figcaption></figure></div>


Nollywood’s economic impact is profound. With an output of over 50 full-length feature films weekly, Nollywood supports a vast workforce, employing over 300,000 people directly and up to a million in- directly, making it one of the largest employers in Nigeria, contributing significantly to the country’s economy and job market. Yet another report released by the Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive) in November last year, says the sector has moved from the production and distribution of 1,800 films worth $5.1 billion in 2013 to 2,500 films worth $6.4 billion. The industry is projected to reach an estimated $14.82 billion revenue in 2025. Whatever the figures may be, they point to upward growth.



“The ecosystem of the Nigerian film industry is incredible. Every project creates a new world, involving about 70 people for just one production,” Silva adds.



Oyin Lasisi, a movie producer, further underscores the industry’s role in job creation. 



“As far as employment is concerned, it has been amazing — people getting jobs around here. We have created a whole lot of things for people to do. In the las month, people have been getting di-ferent kinds of jobs as far as production is concerned. And it’s been great; we intend to keep t moving, to ensure that everybody is employed.” 



The ripple effect of Nollywood’s growth can be seen in various sectors, from fashion and music to tourism. The industry’s demand for skilled labor has led to the de- velopment of numerous training programs and workshops, further enhancing the skillsets of Nigerian professionals.



The sector still faces funding and distribion challenges though.



“I’ve made movies that didn’t make anything back, and I’ve spent millions of naira… As far as marketing is concerned, it’s something you cannot predict,” offers Lasisi.



The influence of Nollywood extends beyond entertainment, playing a crucial role in shaping percep- tions of Africa.



“Nigeria is going to be the powerhouse of the creative economy. We’ve made it possible for Africa to tell its own stories. Nigerian fashion, music, and films are selling Nigeria to the world,” Silva says.



The future of Nollywood is promising, with as rations of greater self-sufficiency and global influence. Silva envisions a Nigerian- owned streaming platform to rival global giants su h as Netflix and Amazon Prime. “We love Netflix and Amazon, but we want s mething indigenous. The time is ripe for our own studios where we have control of the space.”



Corroborating Silva’s statement, Kuti adds, “It’s getting better every day, and I think we can still do better, as long as we have the funding capacity. I think two, three, four people ar coming together now… So once we can come to that mentality of coming together, you know, put resources together, we can achieve more.

Movie set (1)

Big Ticket Nollywood: Leading The Charge In African Cinema

Dibakar Das Roy&nbsp;explores&nbsp;sensitive&nbsp;issues&nbsp;of&nbsp;race,&nbsp;color&nbsp;and Identity in his&nbsp;first&nbsp;feature&nbsp;film set&nbsp;in&nbsp;New&nbsp;Delhi starring Nigerian actor Samuel Abiola Robinson.



&#8220;You know, there’s a lot of common space that can be explored,” says Dibakar Das Roy, writer-director of the Indian film, Dilli Dark, that’s currently doing the rounds of international film festivals.



The space that he mentions and transcends with his new film is the one occupied by the two blockbuster behemoths – Nollywood and Bollywood – dominating screens, OTT platforms, box-offices and the cinematic conscience worldwide.



So even if it has been shot in India, in the narrow, dusty alleys and packed streets of New Delhi and Noida and the archeological sites of Mehrauli – away from the staple Chandni Chowk and Connaught Place locales of mainstream Bollywood cinema – there’s a tangible connection that could take the film to the lively lanes of Lagos. This link is a man named Samuel Abiola Robinson, the Nigerian actor who plays the lead in Dilli Dark, also Roy’s first feature film.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="684" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-with-the-lead-cast-image-supplied-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62444" style="width:638px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-with-the-lead-cast-image-supplied-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-with-the-lead-cast-image-supplied-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-with-the-lead-cast-image-supplied-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-with-the-lead-cast-image-supplied-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-with-the-lead-cast-image-supplied-2048x1368.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Roy (left) with the lead cast; Image supplied</figcaption></figure></div>


The connection is also cultural, with a storyline profiling Michael Okeke, as one of the many Nigerians living in Delhi, studying for his



MBA and dreaming of a corporate career in India, but gets “hopelessly stuck”. He works as a small-time drug delivery guy to make ends meet, and it is “this job and his African identity which keeps his life coming back full circle; and his search for gainful employment lands him in the fringes of society, where the only person who takes him in is a sketchy godwoman”.



Robinson is well-placed to play Okeke. Like his character, he too, in fact, is a Nigerian living in Delhi, and so on many levels, was able to relate to the film’s storyline. Robinson has been based in Delhi, since his success playing the title role of a football star in Sudani From Nigeria, a 2018 hit film in the South Indian language of Malayalam, and now airing on Netflix. “He becomes the protagonist, a symbol of every person who is kind of going through the same othering that is happening,” says Roy of Robinson’s Okeke.



“There were two primary ideas behind the film; the first was the whole tendency to look at colorism in Indian society; and the second is a larger global theme, to look at identity and belonging, and issues of who is from what country and who belongs where, and what decides nationality, so on and so forth&#8230;” adds Roy, who left a career in advertising in the United States (U.S.) to return home to India to learn filmmaking “on the job”, in this case, interspersing historical and contemporary narratives.



“It’s the intersection of two cultures where the protagonist is a foreigner, who starts realizing there are connects that the two continents have had for a very long time. One of the things I wanted to do is look at the cosmopolitan nature of Delhi and how it was, say, centuries ago, and that the whole concept of Delhi being a global city is not a new one…. about 600-800 years ago, there were people from Ethiopia walking the streets of Delhi…”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="684" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-on-set-with-Robinson-image-supplied-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62442" style="width:732px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-on-set-with-Robinson-image-supplied-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-on-set-with-Robinson-image-supplied-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-on-set-with-Robinson-image-supplied-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-on-set-with-Robinson-image-supplied-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Roy-on-set-with-Robinson-image-supplied-2048x1368.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Roy on set with Robinson (left); Image supplied</figcaption></figure></div>


The inspiration for the film also stemmed from personal experience, of the time Roy spent in Delhi growing up, when he himself “faced a decent amount of bias and bullying for having darker skin”. In the long run, he came to terms with it but wanted to take “a fresh look” at the issue, reference history and this started his fascination for storytelling, and the film. 



Roy admits his primary intent is to create stories that bind India with the world. 



“Even when I’m looking at telling cross-cultural stories, I feel I want to start off with India as a base, because India has had an intersection with so many different cultures, and so many different nationalities through its history, whether we’re trying to do a period drama, or something contemporary, and that is the one thing that really fascinates me – the interaction of characters from different backgrounds, coming together,” says Roy. “&#8230;It’s a beautiful dichotomy that exists, and here’s this character [Okeke] who comes in to contemporary India, in the 2020s, and he’s also from the African continent, but he’s not seeming to find a place for himself in a time that is supposed to be more open…” 



Keen on a theatrical release for Dilli Dark, Roy says his “self-funded” 93-minute dark comedy (in Hindi/English but “anyone can understand it”) has already received “great responses” at film festivals in Mumbai, Estonia, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, the U.S. and other cities. He is also hoping to find the right distribution channels on the African continent. Other than that, he has a great love for the cinema and series’ coming out of Nollywood. 



“Nollywood is a massive industry. There’s a lot of love for Bollywood there&#8230; And what really strikes me as strange is that there haven’t been many collaborations between the two industries,” says Roy. 



Perhaps Dilli Dark is a start.

Untitledss

‘Nollywood Is Massive; Lot Of Love For Bollywood There’: Indian Filmmaker On The Intersection Of Cultures

jpeeeggg

THE 100th ISSUE: 100 Innovations, Inventions & Icons From Africa

There is a slight nip in the air as the sun rises on the horizon and workers join the frenzied rush-hour traffic on the Third Mainland Bridge to Victoria Island. Crawling along the Falomo Bridge towards the mainland, I am joined by Kunle (not their real name), a former ringleader in Nigeria’s lucrative piracy industry. We are on our way to Alaba International Market, the largest electronics market in Nigeria and, incidentally, where it all began for Kunle.
“This is big business. At the top of the food chain is the Igbo movie producers and marketers who control the distribution of all the movies,” says Kunle.
Alaba is typical of most Nigerian markets. The place is heaving with sellers vying for every inch of space available on the streets, forcing people to walk in a straight line, like soldiers going to battle. The ‘area boys’, who are the unofficial tour guides of the market, expertly maneuver through teems of people, shouting frantically to get the attention of potential customers. We stop at Alake Enterprises, a rundown shack selling the latest Nollywood movies and gospel CDs.
“Madam, we get brand new movies, I beg [you to] come inside,” says one of the vendors.
As we enter the dilapidated building, a wall appears out of nowhere adorned with the latest cinema releases.
“There are two types of movies here. Those at the front of the shop are the legal ones, which have been released in the cinema and have now made their way to DVD. What you are seeing at the back are the ones that are currently in the cinema and some that are yet to show,” says Kunle.
<div id="attachment_35134" style="width: 511px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35134" class=" wp-image-35134" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Alaba-Market-Nollywood-e1517299294437-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="501" height="332" />Alaba Market (Photo by Andrew Esiebo/Aljazeera America)</div>
Hiring more than a million people, Nollywood is the country’s second largest employer, according to a United Nations report. The ability of film crews, using guerilla filmmaking, to shoot a full-length feature in a week, has made Nollywood a powerhouse in the world of movies.
The National Bureau for Statistics (NBS) estimates that the Nigerian film industry contributed about 1.4% to the GDP in 2013 and 2014, and employed over 250,000 people directly. According to the World Bank, Nollywood produces up to 50 films a week, surpassing Hollywood in volume. Subsequently, the rise in copyright crimes in the country grows alongside the Nollywood industry.
“A couple of years ago Kunle Afolayan’s movie, October 1, was pirated and sold on the streets for less than $3 before the movie’s premiere in the cinema. He spent $2 million producing that movie. Now tell me, how was he going to make his money back? How many cinemas do we have in the country to help him recoup that amount?” says Bose Oshin, Head of Productions at GAME Productions.
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The incident almost led to the writer and director boycotting Nigeria for good. In 2014, a week after the release of Half of a Yellow Sun, a film adaptation of the award-winning novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, film vendors were hawking pirated copies of the film in Lagos. According to Oshin, you can’t fix the problem without understanding why there is a leak in the supply chain cycle.
“Before a movie shows, they need to send a copy to the cinemas where it will make its debut. The pirates pay the workers in the cinema a lump sum of N1 million ($2,790) to steal the copy. For these culprits, this is more money than they would earn in a year, so the temptation is quite high,” says Oshin.
Kofi Ansah, an emerging Ghanaian movie producer looking to have a piece of the lucrative Nollywood pie, experienced this in what he calls his worst day in business.
“I literally used all my savings to shoot this movie and managed to secure some top stars from Nigeria. We were two weeks away from the movie premiere when I got a call from someone saying they had a copy of my movie and I should pay N5 million ($13,950) to prevent its release on the streets for one month. It was as if someone had just shot me in the stomach. We barely had enough to do our promotion and now we were being blackmailed by these thugs,” says Ansah.
He believes the leak was orchestrated by competing producers who do not want any new names to enter the hugely competitive, and often fickle, world of Nigerian cinema.
“We all use the same production crews so it is easy to get your hands on footage. I couldn’t afford to make the payment, so the movie was on the street before we could even do the premier and we lost all our investment. I ended up having to take the movie to other parts of Africa to try to recoup some of the money,” says Ansah.
<div id="attachment_35135" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35135" class=" wp-image-35135" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Nollywood-movies-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" />Nollywood movies for sale in a market (Photo by Andrew Esiebo/Aljazeera America)</div>
In the belly of the beast lies an ongoing war between the ‘New Nollywood’ producers and traditional ‘Asaba’ producers.
“New Nollywood does not make any money. They have the fame, the glitz and the glamour, and they do lavish launches in cinemas, but nobody goes to the cinema to watch a Nollywood production when Captain America is showing. Asaba, or old Nollywood, is where the money is made. Movies are shot on tight production schedules, usually about a week, and then the same movie is broken down into several sequels from part one to sometimes part 16,” says Kunle.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2017/12/21/terry-pheto-community-theater-world-stage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Terry Pheto: From Community Theater To The World Stage</a>
Asaba movies are for the masses. Storylines are simple, humorous, and movies are mostly shot in the local dialect. The top actors in this sector are in such high demand that they sometimes shoot up to 10 movies a week, jumping from one set to the other.
“As soon as the marketers hear that a New Nollywood movie is about to hit the cinema, the whole gang is on high alert. Once the inside person is paid, and we get a copy of the video, we begin mass-production. Sometimes as many as 20 million copies are created and immediately moved by trucks to Onitsha, Aba, Alaba and Idumota, where agents are there to pick up and distribute to a network of street hawkers and shops in those areas,” says Kunle.
The mass production provides economies of scale, with DVDs as cheap as N100 ($0.30). Contrast this with the N3,000 ($8.30) for a cinema screening and it’s obvious why piracy thrives in Nigeria.
“This is simply a case of supply and demand. The demand is there because people want to watch the same movies that are shown in the cinema for a fraction of the cost, and so long as that demand exists, these pirates will always be in business and that is the unfortunate truth,” says Oshin. 
To combat piracy, the Nigerian government established Project ACT Nollywood, with a N3 billion ($8 million) grant. In a press statement, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the proper distribution of movies is important if Nigeria is to win the fight.
But Ansah says it’s not that simple.
“Like any criminal organization, there are those at the top who make the real money and make all the moves. These people have a strong network and they work with the copyright owners or those who have been officially contracted to produce the legitimate DVDs of the new movies, so they have direct access to the source thereby hijacking the market,” he says.
“Piracy works with informal networks and to be honest, there is really no fear of punishment because you hardly hear of anybody who has been arrested on the grounds of video piracy. That is where the law needs to act. Instill a fear of imprisonment and people will behave accordingly.”
But this suggestion may be flawed.
“We have informants in the law enforcement agencies that give us a heads-up so we know all the plans they are making, which means we have enough time to react,” says Kunle.
For now, the clandestine networks continue to grow and as long as they have an insatiable audience looking for the lowest prices for the latest cinematic releases, it is unlikely that piracy in Africa’s largest movie industry will end.

The Fortune And Fury Behind Nollywood

In Ajegunle, a neighborhood located in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria, Tunde Amaechi is readying for an audition. This will be his 20th in a month and today’s audition is on the other side of town in Victoria Island. The trip will cost him two weeks’ wages but the potential gain is worth it.
“I am auditioning for a role in Desperate Housewives Africa. I get to say three lines, which is very good for me. When you get a speaking part, it means you are moving up and I think I will get this one by God’s grace,” says Amaechi.
Nigeria’s growing movie industry, known as Nollywood, is the third largest in the world following Hollywood and Bollywood.
Its growth has spawned a generation of young people desperate for the limelight and a chance to make it big in the movie business. For Amaechi, it is the only way he can help his mother and two sisters escape poverty.
<div id="attachment_32086" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32086" class="wp-image-32086 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/93Days-credit-Toronto-Film-Festival-1024x512.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="512" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/93Days-credit-Toronto-Film-Festival.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/93Days-credit-Toronto-Film-Festival-300x150.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/93Days-credit-Toronto-Film-Festival-600x300.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/93Days-credit-Toronto-Film-Festival-768x384.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Cast from 93 Days</div>
“I lost my father at an early age and since then I have been the main breadwinner of the house. Making it in Nollywood means my family will be taken care of and my little sisters will have a chance at a better life. It is also my dream to make it and be as big as Ramsey Nouah [popular Nigerian actor],” he says.
With no acting background, Amaechi, like millions of young struggling actors, is looking for that life-changing role and no distance is too far to travel for that break.
Chuks Amaka is an actor and entrepreneur living in Lekki, Victoria Island. He has featured in a number of roles including M-Net’s flagship daily soap Tinsel as well as some local productions and also played the role of executive producer in his own movie. For him, the movie industry, like any other, is a business and the end game is money.
“The goal is to cross over from Nollywood into Hollywood. That is where most actors want to go and that is where the money is. They believe if you build a strong enough brand in Africa’s largest economy, then America will come knocking,” says Amaka.
That belief is not far-fetched. In 2015, American actor Danny Glover starred in 93 Days, a film on the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria. Acting with the veteran Hollywood star were some of Nollywood’s finest, all vying for international recognition. Beasts of No Nation, the Netflix-distributed civil war movie starring another Hollywood bigwig, Idris Elba, was also shot in Nigeria and Ghana with actors queuing up for hours for a part in a big Hollywood production.
“The natural evolution for any Nollywood actor is to make a name in Africa and then hit the big leagues in Hollywood. These type of blockbusters are hotly-contested and every actor knows this is a potential golden ticket,” says Amaka.
For Amaechi, however, that dream is too big to comprehend. Making a name in Nollywood is already a tall order. He has been auditioning for roles for the past year and is yet to secure any paid work. He supplements his income by working as a waiter at the local Bheerhugz Cafe in Ikeja, Lagos. The Desperate Housewives Africa role will be the first time he may be paid for his work. He is optimistic his fate will change.
“This means everything. I love acting and all I need is the opportunity for the world to see my talent. I know I can be one of the biggest in Nollywood then the rest of the world,” says Amaechi.
Austin Abolaji is a Nollywood actor from Imo State, Nigeria. In 2012, he starred in the action drama film, Black November, with an ensemble cast of international stars including Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Vivica Fox and Wyclef Jean. The movie premiered at the Kennedy Center in the United States.
<div id="attachment_32088" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32088" class="wp-image-32088 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Omoni-Oboli-1024x615.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="615" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Omoni-Oboli.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Omoni-Oboli-300x180.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Omoni-Oboli-600x360.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Omoni-Oboli-768x461.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Omoni Oboli</div>
“Nollywood is still growing and there are massive opportunities in this sector, however it will take a long time before actors are paid properly for their craft. When you look at the average Hollywood actor, they get paid a lot better for the same roles we are doing here. This is one of the reasons why people want to make it in Hollywood,” says Abolaji.
Another reason is the acclaim.
“After Lupita Nyong’o won the Oscar, we all now believe it is possible. We saw her acting in MTV Shuga and to see one of us from Africa succeed in Hollywood is motivation for all of us. She is probably the biggest African actress in the world right now,” says Abolaji.
Nyong’o’s Oscar win has been the catalyst for a new lucrative career ranging from roles in Star Wars to brand endorsements with Lancome to being on the cover of Vogue magazine. Her success has opened up the once forbidden Hollywood dream to the rest of Africa and Nollywood’s elite is looking to follow suit one role at a time.

Idris-Elba-in-Beast-Of-No-Nation-credit-Netflix

Non-Stop  From Lagos To LA

The African entertainment space is perhaps too vast and too cumbersome to measure. But in the scattered data available we find the continent houses the world’s third largest homegrown film industry in Nigeria’s Nollywood, which according to a recent United Nations report, is larger than Hollywood by volume and second only to India’s Bollywood in worth, estimated at around $3 billion. The music arena is sweeping is similar terms.
If an artiste is defined by wholly the extent of their output and global influence, then these women are candidates for celebration.
<h3>Angélique Kidjo</h3>
<h3>Musician, Benin</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30919" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-478138866-240x300.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-478138866-240x300.jpg 240w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-478138866-300x375.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-478138866-600x750.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-478138866-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-478138866-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-478138866.jpg 818w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />
She is perhaps the most iconic of modern African songstresses. Known for her electric performances and creative music videos, Kidjo began her musical life in Benin, then known as Dahomey, part of a musical family. Her mother was a theater director and her father, a photographer.
She fled her country following a coup in the early 1980s seeking a secure setting to chase her musical dreams.
“It was not possible to write your own music if you weren’t talking about the communist regime and the people in power. It was one thing I didn’t want to do. So the only option I had was to leave, otherwise I was going to end up in jail,” she says, speaking to us in 2015.
Since then, Kidjo has risen to become a Grammy-award winning artiste with over 37 albums in her repertoire.
The youngest in a large family, Kidjo’s childhood was colored by late nights, singing with her older brothers, at a little bar by the Cotonou lagoon. Eventually, she was headlining at jazz festivals across Europe with the legendary pianist, Jasper van’t Hof, and his afro-jazz ensemble, Pili Pili.
It was a difficult road to stardom.
“It was not easy&#8230;my parents were not rich enough to send [me] money. It was very hard, I had to find work. I did babysitting, I did hotel room cleaning, I did hair-braiding, I was a backup singer in a band. It was a matter of survival but I was free and that freedom had no price for me,” she recalls.
Kidjo did more than survive, she flourished. Her time with Pili Pili eventually led her to a recording deal with Island Records in Paris. A string of number one hits followed and she became a world music icon, picking up awards and accolades at every turn.
TIME magazine hailed her as “Africa’s Premier Diva” in 2007 but she remains true to her personal philosophies in an industry that is notoriously unkind to those with weaker spirits.
“One thing I learned as a young girl singing was always to be true to my inspiration, never ever give that up in order to please other people. If you cannot sing your song alone without instrumentation and be happy, don’t put it out there! You cannot be an artiste thinking that you want to be somebody else. You need to know what kind of artiste you want to be and why you want to be that,” she says.
Kidjo’s latest album, Eve, is dedicated to the women of Africa. She details stories of youth and rise in her memoirs, Spirit Rising, My Life, My Music published by HarperCollins in 2014.
&nbsp;
<h3>Danai Gurira</h3>
<h3>Actress and playwright, Zimbabwe</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30930 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Danai-02-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Danai-02-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Danai-02-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Danai-02-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Danai-02-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Danai-02.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Gurira is a consuming personality. She is both an actress and playwright. Her plot lines are at once accessible and complex, delving into the lives of everyday women fighting the insurmountable and emerging, at their conclusion, to a victorious reckoning. She writes to entertain and educate.
Her Off-Broadway play, In The Continuum, on women making peace with their HIV status debuted when she was still an MFA student at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and won three accolades including the Helen Hayes Award for Best Lead Actress.
Her most recent production, Eclipsed, written in 2009, follows the lives of five Liberian women at the height of the country’s drawn-out civil war as they navigate the horrors of wartime and the people they become.
This has scaled even higher heights than her previous one. It received an African treatment in 2014, at Johannesburg’s Soweto Theatre, in an adaptation directed by South African actress, Warona Seane. The current production opened at the Public Theatre in New York City to rave reviews in October 2015 with Kenya’s Oscar-winning diva, Lupita Nyong’o, at the lead.
As an actress, Gurira can be seen weekly on American hit television serial, The Walking Dead, as the no-nonsense, zombie fighting Michonne. She also has six film credits to her name, notably as Adenike Balogun, a Nigerian woman dealing with infertility, in the independent drama, Mother Of George. Eclipsed ran at The Public Theatre in New York until November 29. A third play, Familiar, based on a Zimbabwean family transposed in Minnesota is slated for 2016.
&nbsp;
<h3>Lupita Nyong&#8217;o</h3>
<h3>Actress, Kenya</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30921 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Lupita-01-206x300.jpg" alt="" width="206" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Lupita-01-206x300.jpg 206w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Lupita-01-300x437.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Lupita-01-600x874.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Lupita-01-768x1118.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Lupita-01-703x1024.jpg 703w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Lupita-01.jpg 702w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px" />
For moviegoers outside East Africa, Nyong’o must have seemed to burst into view out of relative obscurity. However, she was on the Kenyan stage and television before she took on the hearts and minds of red carpet watchers worldwide.
Nyong’o was a thespian from a young age, as a member of Ian Mbugua’s Nairobi Phoenix Players, she lead as Juliet in a local adaptation of the Shakespearean, Romeo and Juliet.
However, her big break was a culmination of efforts. She signed on as a member of production staff on various big budget films from The Constant Gardener, shot in Kenya, to Mira Nair’s adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake.
From there she won a place at the Yale School of Drama where she was awarded a prize, in her final year, for ‘outstanding ability’ in her craft. Earlier, in 2008, she appeared in an independent short film shot in New York. The year after that, she directed a documentary, In My Genes, on the much discriminated-against albino population in Kenya. It won first prize at the Five College Film Festival.
With all of this behind her, she was cast in her breakthrough role as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s stellar cinematic effort, 12 Years A Slave, just three weeks before her graduation. From there came her surprise Oscar win.
Her most recent project is with Zimbabwean playwright Danai Gurira and her play Eclipsed, playing a young woman who finds herself a sex slave in the rebel camps of wartime Liberia.
&nbsp;
<h3>Souad Massi</h3>
<h3>Singer-songwriter, Algeria</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30931" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-163396633-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-163396633-199x300.jpg 199w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-163396633-300x452.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-163396633-600x904.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-163396633-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-163396633.jpg 679w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
Perhaps one of the most successful singer-songwriters in the Arab-speaking world, Massi marries beautifully composed guitar harmonies with her enchanting voice, often the only instruments in her employ, to tell stories through her songs. First-time listeners might compare her music to the American blues softened by the poetic lightness of careful lyrics.
While she is based in France, she was born in Algeria to a forward-thinking, but poor, family of six in 1972. She learned to play the guitar quite early and often performed her compositions to keen family and friends. At the beginning of the 90s, as the country plunged into civil war, Massi joined a political rock band called Akator and had a successful seven-year run with them, producing underground hits and popular music videos.
However, as the war raged on and her popularity soared, she became a target for the conservative fundamentalists that were quickly winning political ground in the country. They threatened her family and they threatened her life. Unfazed, Massi continued her musical conviction, cutting her hair short and disguising herself as a man.
“I grew up in a modest family in Algeria but I [was given] a lot of chances because my parents liked music, so it was easy to listen and to play the guitar. [This became] very hard because it was the civil war, it wasn’t easy to play on stage. In past it wasn’t a problem, but when the movement of Islamists it became very hard for us women to express ourselves, to [wear] clothes that we want. People thought that I [performed] on purpose, to attract attention but that wasn’t my idea,” she told the BBC in October.
Despite her camouflage, it was clear the extremists didn’t care for her music or her opinions. The death threats continued. In 1999, she accepted an invitation to play at a Paris festival and she never returned. Days later she was signed on to a local imprint of Universal Records and two years later she emerged with a celebrated first album, Raoui. It became a commercial success in Europe.
Although a deep yearning for the country she left behind echoes in her music, Massi understands that her voice is much stronger outside the constraints of the conservative society she fled.
“What I did in France, I could never do in Algeria,” she says.
In 2015, she released her latest album, El Mutakallimun, a collection of ancient poems from 9th century Arabic poets living in Cordoba, Spain, put to music. She says she wants the album to counter the negative stereotypes perpetuated of the global Islamic community.
&nbsp;
<h3>Genevieve Nnaji</h3>
<h3>Actress, Nigeria</h3>
Africans, the world over, have patronized a Nigerian movie at one point or another. With complex plot lines and exaggerated theatrics, Nollywood is the undisputed home of African cinema. And of its many on-screen darlings, Nnaji is perhaps one of the more prolific. In 2009, Oprah Winfrey dubbed her the ‘Julia Roberts of Africa’.
A former child model, Nnaji got her start in acting almost by accident. A local soap opera was short of child actors and they called into the modeling agency for recruits. Three names were put forward and she was among them. At eight years old, the actress was born.
“I enjoyed it, it was fun. I never felt so alive,” she told CNN in 2011 about the experience.
Over a decade later, she made her Nollywood debut at 19 with the movie, Most Wanted. Since then, her talent has been lent to over 80 titles of the industry and she has found herself thrust forward as a Nigerian ambassador appearing at film screenings in London and beyond.
This responsibility is not taken lightly.
“As long as you are a celebrity, you are an ambassador [to the rest of the world] they can’t see the whole country so what you show people is basically&#8230;what you show [of] back home,” she says.
In addition to acting, Nnaji has an album, One Logologo Line, released by a Ghanaian record label in 2004. She is also an accomplished model spawning a line of endorsement deals including being the face of Lux beauty products in West Africa.
However, she still has more planned for the future. In 2008, she launched her own clothing line St. Genevieve which donates some of its profits to charity.
&nbsp;
<h3>Warsan Shire</h3>
<h3>Poet, Somalia</h3>
Entertainers do exist in spaces outside music and film. While she is shy to admit she is a performer, writer and poet Shire launched her career at a poetry slam when she was just 16. Although the concept was new and bewildering to her, she got on-stage and performed her piece and to her surprise, won.
“I was very nervous. I didn’t really understand what a poetry slam was. Then I won. My friends jumped around. I didn’t want to ever do another poetry slam, but I think it has a lot to do with how I approach readings,” she says.
Since then she has used the internet to share her work becoming a sensation among a new breed of literary minded young Africans. She has released a popular album of spoken poetry, warsan versus melancholy (the seven stages of being lonely) and has been invited to perform her work from Berlin to Johannesburg.
However, she insists that first she is a writer.
“I’d rather listen than speak. It’s overwhelming, the amount of detail I see in really mundane scenarios: strangers touching one another; someone arguing on the phone; a man falling asleep on the train. I’ll fill in the gaps of the story myself. In my mind I’ll follow them home, I’ll imagine their childhood, what their bedroom looks like, if they are in love with someone who does not love them. The downfall is that I give everything (and everyone) too much meaning. Sometimes a thing is vacant and I’ll create depth for it; that’s not always fair,” she says.
Shire is an also an editor at SPOOK magazine, which focuses on the alternative literary arts. In 2012, she released her debut book of poems, Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth.
&nbsp;
<h3>Anne Kansiime</h3>
<h3>Comedian, Uganda</h3>
Funny woman of East Africa, Kansiime was an internet superstar before she even got on television. Her videos have been liked and shared thousands of times over even though her comedy persona is very Ugandan.
Hailing from a little village in western Uganda, she began her career in comedy while a student at Kampala’s Makerere University. She dabbled in drama and music but continued on with a degree in Social Sciences due to family expectations. Desperately looking for an avenue to showcase her talents, a friend urged her to record her skits and upload them online. After her first few hits, it was clear that she was a big, and unique, talent.
“I didn’t see it coming. I would post a clip and get a reaction, and I thought that I would put it on YouTube&#8230;I got motivated and kept on posting and posting till I started receiving phone calls and [even] receiving money from people who weren’t even in Africa. I didn’t know what I was doing but I knew I was doing a job and I liked it and people liked it,” she told Kenyan media in 2014.
Encouraged by the outpouring of support, she carried on to become a viral hit in no time.
“I just wanted to act. I didn’t understand [then] that acting would make people laugh,” she says.
Already, she has almost a quarter of a million followers on her YouTube channel. Some of her videos have been watched over a million times. She has performed in a variety of venues from London to Lilongwe.
Currently, her weekly online comedy sketch show Don’t Mess With Kansiime can be seen on her YouTube channel. In 2015, she released a debut music album, My Name Is Kansiime, available for digital download on Amazon and Itunes. Kansiime performed live in Washington D.C and New Jersey, as part of her World Tour, in late November.

The Stars  Of Africa

If you ever thought that Nigeria’s Nollywood film industry was only about directors with low budgets churning out films in a couple of weeks, which were shot in the streets of Lagos or in their lounges; think again. Nigerian producers and directors are stepping away from the generic Nollywood film mold; their films are emerging onto international cinema screens at film festivals.
The award-winning Michelle Bello is one such film director and producer. Bello studied visual media at Regent University in Virginia in the United States. In three decades since its establishment, the school has attracted distinguished faculty and guest lectures such as John Ashcroft, former United States attorney general; Vern Clark, former chief of naval operations and Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes Inc. Over the years, the university has been the recipient of more than 267 national and international film awards.
During her time at the university, Bello had the opportunity to attend some of the biggest film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, which—since its launch in 1985—has been the launchpad for many films. Some of these films gained critical recognition, received commercial distribution and reached audiences eager for fresh perspectives and new voices.
Bello is dedicated to the film industry and was even an intern at the prestigious Cannes film festival. According to the official websites, “Ever since [Festival de Cannes’] creation, [it] has remained faithful to its founding purpose: to draw attention to and raise the profile of films with the aim of contributing towards the development of cinema, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at an international level”.
With these experiences she came to appreciate that successful filmmakers are those who are patient and passionate about their craft.
She lives by the fact that filmmaking is not about rushing into things and making millions of films; it’s all about taking the time to make powerful films. Small Boy, which was inspired by Will Smith’s Oscar-nominated Pursuit of Happyness, was Bello’s debut film about 10-year-old Sonny who has to learn how to survive in the slums of Lagos. She felt that there was a need for such a film in Nigeria.
“For me, the reason why I made Small Boy is because I was tired of seeing the world just having a negative image of Nigeria. I wanted to do something that was an inspirational story. At that time, I felt that we needed such kind of movies to uplift Nigerians and there were very few films doing that. I was not thinking about how much money I will make, I was just passionate about the story,” she says.
The truth is that while Small Boy might not have been a moneymaking blockbuster, nor was it launched at Cannes or Sundance, or gained recognition on a global scale, it has however made headlines in the industry. The film scooped two awards at the 2009 African Film Academy Awards and was screened at the American Black Film Festival in the United States, where it received
two nominations.
She has also opened the eyes of International Creative Management (ICM), one of the top three recruitment agencies, which believed in the skills that this young Nigerian filmmaker had to offer.
“I got to see Hollywood from the inside…” says Bello about her experience at ICM.
She discovered that although there is talent in Africa, recruitment agencies are not queuing up at Africa’s international airports to whisk away this talent to the promised land
of Hollywood.
“They work in a complete business end of it. Someone like Genevieve [Nnaji], for example, is our superstar and from their perspective they don’t see her as [being] bankable. They need to pick the big stars, whether it is Will Smith or Denzel Washington, who are bankable, whom if they are put in the movie are going to make billions of dollars… Unfortunately, right now, they are not at that level where they can get someone like Genevieve and say she can bring 10 million…” says Bello.
Despite this, Bello is optimistic. She was quoted in NigeriaFilms.com as saying, “The growth in the [Nollywood] industry over the next few years will be exciting because there are young people [of my generation] that are now coming up wanting to tell Nigerian stories to an international audience.”
With new cameras and editing equipment, it is now possible for African filmmakers to make films the same way a painter draws or novelists write.
Filmmakers, however, cannot avoid costs. A novelist can write a novel with a pen and paper if they like, they don’t even need a computer. A sculpturer or a painter can use worthless materials such as plastic to create a sculpture or painting, which may be sold for $200. But for filmmakers, it is different. Films inadvertently require money because of the number of people and processes involved in front of and behind the camera: food has to be bought for the crew; filming permits need to be acquired; music needs to be recorded and then there is editing. All these come at a cost, which filmmakers have to budget for.
The Nigerian filmmaker is currently working on another romantic comedy, which started shooting in August and is scheduled for completion in January. The budget for the film is $300,000—two times larger than the first film. She admits, jokingly, that the largest portion of her film budget goes to food catering and the generator.
“I called my brother and told him that the generator is eating into my budget. He was shocked to hear that I had to pay for the generator to film.”
Bello is working closely with her California-based brother who is an award-winning screenplay writer. She wrote the original script during her screenwriting classes at
Regent University.
“I was about to come back here [to Nigeria] whilst completing my internship at Cannes and I was thinking about what project I am going to do next. I thought about the script and talked to my brother about it… and now the script is now where it is today, we are making a movie,”
she says.
She knows how tough the film industry can be and so her intention with this new film is to create a platform for young and upcoming actors to shine and showcase their talent. At first, she was unsure about having auditions, owing to the fact that she had been away from Nigeria for so long. To her surprise the turnout was impressive. It attracted many actors from the popular Nigerian soap opera, Tinsel, which is an M-Net production known for its quality in West Africa. The film will feature stars such as Damilola Adegbite and Ghanaian actor
Chris Attoh.
Piracy is a big problem in Nigeria. It is for this reason that Bello has been careful of whom to give the film to. With her new project she is not concerned because the film is made for theatrical release and has managed to secure various international cinema releases before being released on DVD which is where piracy is most prominent. With this she is hoping to get her money back and make profit, only to invest it further in her passion for filmmaking.

The Sprightly Spirit Of Nollywood

Educor has been around for decades—Damelin and Intec college are household names—now the private education group is going back to school. It’s jumping into Nollywood—the vibrant, chaotic and informal film industry of Nigeria. The industry produces thirty new titles a week at $2 per DVD or VCD, which sell at traffic lights. It’s only getting bigger and better.
There is money in the madness. Nollywood is valued at $3.2 billion a year and produces around 2,400 films annually. It is the second largest film industry, next to Bollywood in India. The films are shot on location in two weeks, on average, for the cost of a stagehand on a Hollywood set: between $15,000 and $30,000. The average film sells between 25,000 and 50,000 copies worldwide; a blockbuster can sell up to 500,000.
New investment in Nollywood is on the way. With the support of the Nigerian Department of Culture, Educor Africa will open a multi-media and creative arts center to support Nollywood. The industry’s rapidly growing potential has also been recognized by Multichoice—a subscription-based South African satellite provider—is spending $300 million to produce local content within the Nigerian market, according to Julian Kannigan, CEO of Educor Africa.
<div id="attachment_968" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-968" class="size-large wp-image-968" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_5663-1024x680.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="315" />Julian Kanningan, with students at the Randburg Damelin Campus</div>
“It’s going to require local skills which are scarce at best… you’re going to have trained sound engineers, lighting people, actors, actresses, 3D animators, journalists which are all world-class and it’s going to support a burgeoning community,” says Kannigan.
He acknowledges that the larger part of the population want business, information technology (IT), human resources (HR) and marketing skills, which are part of the education staple diet.
But running a business in Nigeria, isn’t always easy.
“Like everyone else who is conducting business in Nigeria, you buy your own generators. It just makes the cost of doing business more expensive but at the end of the day the numbers will bail you out if you get it right.”
It is part of expansion into the continent. In the next 18 to 24 months, Educor Africa plans to expand into Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, with an investment of R100 million ($12.38 million). The education group runs classroom, correspondence and online education. There are 16 Damelin campuses in South Africa with a franchise in Botswana and a correspondence business in Namibia.
“While the company has had certain overtures in Zimbabwe, with regards to potential partners, we’re just waiting for the right climate to explore those opportunities,” he says.
Educor Africa is busy with regulatory processes to start a correspondence business in Lagos, Nigeria. The education group is also applying for a university license through the national universities commission in the capital, Abuja.
“We aim to change the hearts and minds of the young and the not so young. Our initiative and passion for our business is that we change lives. It’s really important to us,” he says.
Kannigan’s pragmatic approach to business in Africa means the profit will be reinvested into the region.
“It’ll be an investment from one business to another, the correspondence branch will support the multimedia branch and together they’ll support the establishment of the university,” he says.
While the regulatory environment in South Africa doesn’t permit the Educor brands to call themselves a university—even though they can award degrees—that’s not the case in other African countries.
“Certainly some of those governments are aware of their own incapacity to provide, and therefore they welcome players such as Educor. Government’s capacity to spend on public education, with a burgeoning population at the same time, is creating a gap that is growing larger… we are actually assisting those governments to minimize that gap,” he says.
He is witness to the demand for higher education on the continent. The wealthy of West Africa pay a fortune to educate their children in the United States or Great Britain.
“When you take a world-class university experience to them, they embrace it. Now, you’re going to see that in many other African countries, especially those with a high GDP growth. If you want to increase your GDP, you’re going to need a skilled labor force,” says Kannigan.
Educor is going after big partners: “We are approaching the World Bank, who have a mandate with regards to education for Africa. We are busy talking to international universities which require an African or South African partner for various reasons to go into the African continent together… The education sector is recession-proof. People want to upscale themselves during a recession, to make themselves more marketable,” he says.
It hasn’t been smooth-sailing. Educor South Africa bought the business from Media24—Africa’s leading media publishing company—in 2008. When Media24 and Naspers—Media24’s majority shareholder—divested, the business was in the red. Not only has the Educor group brought it back into the black but it has also managed to expand.
“If you have a conversation with me in ten years time, firstly, I’ll be too busy to see you… we would have built something phenomenal across Africa in terms of education,” says Kannigan.
“Now is the time for Africa,” he says.

Tag: Nollywood

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