[LINK] Nollywood (was Re: So this is Christmas and Imagine ....)

[Tom Koltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Kim Holburn
> Sent: Saturday, 17 December 2011 11:51 AM
> To: Link list
> Subject: [LINK] Nollywood (was Re: So this is Christmas and 
> Imagine ....)
> 
> 
> http://opensource.com/law/11/1/nollywood-and-copyright-conundrum
> 
> > As millions of people already know (though it was news to me), the 
> > Nigerian film industry is a vibrant, transformative entertainment 
> > phenomenon, and it calls into question these assumptions. 
> Recently the 
> > Economist ran a piece about how Nollywood filmmakers are hugely 
> > productive and influential all across Africa. Nollywood 
> cranks out 50 
> > full length features a week, which are sold on DVD's for 
> about $1. In 
> > a cab ride to the airport, my cab driver, from Gambia, was 
> delighted 
> > when I asked him about Nigerian movies, and told me that his family 
> > and friends love them and watch them over and over.
> > 
> > The Economist noted that copyright violations are endemic 
> in Nigeria. 
> > New films are quickly copied illegally and distributed all over the 
> > continent. Film makers have approximately a two-week period (which 
> > they call the mating season ) to reap profits on a given 
> movie before 
> > copiers deprive them of further opportunities for profit. So film 
> > makers make their money, and then quickly churn out another 
> movie to 
> > make more money. In other words, the copyright system is completely 
> > ineffective in protecting the films, but the result is that 
> the film 
> > makers make movies at a feverish pace.
> > 
> > So at least in Nigeria, a very weak system of copyright 
> protection has 
> > not prevented the blossoming of a highly productive film 
> industry. If 
> > anything, the lack of copyright enforcement seems to have 
> contributed 
> > to an amazingly high level of production. It makes me 
> wonder: could a 
> > less sweeping and punitive copyright system lead to a 
> higher level of 
> > creativity in other countries?
> 
> 
> http://www.economist.com/node/17723124
> 
> > Bandit impresarios
> > 
> > As soon as a film is released, copyright thieves rip it 
> off. It takes 
> > the pirates just two weeks to copy a new film and 
> distribute it across 
> > Africa. The merchants must take their money during that fortnight, 
> > known as the "mating season", before their discs become 
> commodities. 
> > As soon as the mating season is over they start thinking about the 
> > next film.
> > 
> > The merchants curse the pirates, but in a way they are a blessing. 
> > Pirate gangs were probably Nollywood's first exporters. 
> They knew how 
> > to cross tricky borders and distribute goods across a disparate 
> > continent where vast tracts of land are inaccessible. 
> Sometimes they 
> > filled empty bags with films when returning from an arms delivery. 
> > Often they used films to bribe bored guards at remote borders. The 
> > pirates created the pan-African market Mr Akudinobi now feeds.
> > 
> > Other African countries made films long before Nollywood. 
> Senegal in 
> > particular produced many movies featuring traditional songs and 
> > dances. Critics referred to such products as "embassy films" after 
> > their mostly diplomatic financiers (notably the French foreign 
> > ministry). Many catered to the sensibilities of their European 
> > sponsors. Scenes were laboriously captured on celluloid, at great 
> > expense. By contrast, Nollywood is cheap and nimble. Films 
> are shot on 
> > digital videocameras. Scripts are improvised. Camera work can be 
> > shoddy and editing slapdash. But the sheer volume of 
> output-a response 
> > to the piracy problem-eventually overwhelmed the embassy films.
> 
><SNIP>

Thanks Kim, excellent update on articles from Unesco that I read a
couple of years ago.

I can't find the link, but there was no piracy in DVD's within Nigeria
to speak of because it was essentially uneconomic. i.e.: the value of a
single DVD was so close to its blank price that the average pirate
couldn't find sufficient margin within Nigeria which explains the
articles focus on "rest of Africa" distribution.

The knock on effect has to be the continuing growth and development of
the Nigerian Film Industry, (which from memory was further fragmented by
the number of dialects spoken within the country.) The Arbitrage
opportunity of Pirates exporting copies only serves to increase market
demand for Nigerian produced content.

What an interesting social experiment in the benefits of not having an
overly legislative protective environment.

Of course, our friendly industry associations and bodies will be able to
find underfed economists who will paint a picture of the reverse being
true.
Regrettably for the industry bodies, UNESCO is not dependent on their
members for electoral fund raising and therefore the truth will
eventually out. Even if it is buried under the gross public ignorance
that non-mainstream NGO's operational successes normally suffer from.

I guess Kim it's up to you and I to spread the meme... "Nollywood is a
success Because..."

My honest guess is that with the sheer weight of contnet production
numbers, aided by increasing emigration and the resulting expats desire
for a slice of home, we probably won't actually have to do anything. The
results should be self evident within less than a decade. 
When Nigerian email scams stop arriving and Mercedes exports to Nigeria
exceed that of the USA, then I guess the world will wake to the reality
of content creation being driven by artistic and literal hunger and not
by fat cats lunching on rodeo drive.

Of course, that result will depend of course of the Nigerian Government
not being subborned [sold to Hollywwod] for thirty pieces of silver.


TomK