“(1) There are substantial donations by third party organizations available to fund Nollywood movies (2) Private screening is a good way for Nollywood movies to maximize revenue (3) Nollywood is an investment opportunity for Africans living in the diaspora.”
A popular subject examined in Africa is the rising youth population on the continent, according to ATLAS, 60% of the African population is under the age of 25, unfortunately, many African economies are unable to grow at the speed to support the increasing youth population. This phenomenon has led to high unemployment rates in Africa leaving the youth to few options making them susceptible to drugs as a means of escape. A popular street drug in Nigeria is Gutter Water, a combination of codeine, Rohypnol (aka “roofies”), tramadol, cannabis and water.
Source: Quartz Africa
In response to this dilemma, creators of the movie Nimbe used the movie production as a platform to expose the vices inherent in drug addiction to help educate the African youth. The movie revolves around a teenage boy, Nimbe, who is constantly jeered by his peers but finds consolation, love and relevance in a street gang he is introduced to by a neighbor. He is quickly introduced to the dangerous path towards drug trafficking which becomes a turning point in his life. He experiences and witnesses the accompanying challenges, obstacles, and consequences associated with drug abuse.
Source: UK New on Netflix
We previously wrote an article about the influence of Netflix on Nollywood: Netflix Goes Nollywood, we decided to write a follow up article based on the positive responses we received on the first article. The movie Nimbe debuted on Netflix on July 24, we watched it at home as a family and loved the production.
Fortunately, we were able to connect with the movie producer, Folarin Laosun, who is based in Lagos, Nigeria. According to Folarin, the budget for Nimbe was $120,000. After the script was written, the creators went on a road show meeting with third party organizations, and the creators were able to secure $40,000 in donations from multiple organizations looking to support the project. In addition, the producers reached out to investors from friends and family to external investors and raised the remaining $80,000. Different interest rates were negotiated with investors, some investors received a return rate as high as 20% on their investment.
The production team performed extended research prior to the development of the movie; one of the lessons learned was that many potential viewers preferred to see new Nollywood faces and as opposed to popular actors and actresses seen in most productions. This is surprising because we were under the assumption that regular Nollywood faces were a preference of the Nigerian audience.
Based on the desire to see new actors, movie producers selected just a handful of A-list actors, and focused on new up-and-coming actors as well as social media influencers to cast the movie. This strategy kept cost relatively low and helped fuel the popularity of the movie because there was a grassroots movement in which participating influencers constantly promoted the movie on their social media pages.
Even though this is the first movie Folarin produced, so far it has been a profitable venture. Initially not much revenue was made in local Nigerian cinemas, however, the creators were able to boost revenues through private screenings. They used the movie to discuss the issue of drug abuse in local schools and received additional money from local foundations against drug abuse.
As noted in our previous post, Netflix is looking to increase its footprint in Africa by investing in African movies, also society’s current Black awareness campaign has increased Netflix’s appetite for supporting African movie productions. Since being acquired by Netflix is a sign of success for Nollywood movies, the Nimbe movie creators took the movie to Netflix’s third-party agent in Africa and the movie was approved for both local and international release on Netflix. The Netflix acquisition was an additional boost for the movie creators due to the additional revenue generated.
Our Takeaways:
- There are substantial donations by third party organizations available to fund Nollywood movies. With $120,000 budget, a third of the cost, $40,000, was donated; this demonstrates that if one makes a movie that is perceived to have a positive impact on society, there is an opportunity to reach out to other organizations which support that cause for funding.
- Private screening is a good way for Nollywood movies to maximize revenue. The movie was shown to groups of individuals at intimate settings in selective locations which generated significant revenues for the producers.
- Nollywood is an investment opportunity for Africans living in the diaspora. We were surprised that the rate of return was up to 20% for some investors, there might be an opportunity for those living in the diaspora looking for investment opportunities. Investing in top-tier Nollywood movies is not a bad strategy because one is investing in the country, directly impacting the local economy while making a good return. We do understand that currency devaluation is a risk, however, one can factor that risk into consideration and see if it is a net-benefit. Also, the investment enables you to meet with movie industry leaders, which might lead to other money-making opportunities. Finally, won’t it be kinda cool to watch a movie on Netflix you invested in?
