Som time, my belle go jus de do me laik person wey drink agbo-jedi. Now be say l true true drink am oooo, but na de kain tori wey de enta my mind de go do amebo with my belle, wey de com make my belle de make noise laik reyliway. Befor l start my yanings for today, l wan make all of us use awa church mind to rison de mata wey l wan yan us today. Dis nor be de wan wey we go see de truth but com begin bend mouth laik who de struggle to chew hot cocoyam.
Abeg, make l start by asking us say, when person carri plenti kuza from him bank akant enter Nollywood to do film, na wetin dey him mind? De person de try to protect awa korshor and show de world say we get level as korshora ambasador or e just de find how him wan use one Naira take turn to ten Naira? Dis wahala don tey for awa industri, and today, we go open de yansh of de mata for hia today.
Make we no deceive awasef, bicos film bizness nor be NGO. If person invest 100 million Naira for one ogbonge film, e no do am bicos e wan twale for him ancestors.
Profit naim be de re koko for am, even doo him fit de form kpekelemes laik say pipo nor sabi use dem numba six again. For any person wey wan investor, de first tin for him mind na ROI (Return on Investment). E go de rison cinema tickets, streaming deals with Netflix or Prime Video, and how abatisment kuza go take de flow laik wota. Biziness pipo no de follow “passion” yanghayangha. If na Chief Daddy style comedy or “Luxury Living” movies naim de sell, na dia him go wan put him kuza for invest. Dat time him go yan you say, him nor be Fada Krismas. Dem no get time for one deep, slow film about village history and how we wan take preserve awa korshor, if e no go fit use him profit from de film take buy fuel for him SUV.
Una see all dis bizness pipo, dem de rison tins from anoda ways. Dem de treat film like oil and gas and not laik charity organizashon. Dem wan see de stars (A-list actors) wey go show say pipo go bicos of dem go watch de film dem wan put dia kuza. To dem, de film na “product” and de audience na “consumers,” and dem be de sellers.
Again, make we use adult eye take luk de oda side of wetin we de gada yan so. Hope una no say we get pipo wey bilif say film na de mirror of awa soul? Dis kain investors see demsef as de pipo wey de wan carri Nigeria flag go global stage Dia mind nor de profit but how Dem wan take sell awa korstoms and tradishon to oda pipo. Dem sabi say wetin Hollywood use take win us no be gun, na film. So, dem cross dem mind wen e com to invest for stories wey promote awa food, dressing, languages and awa struggles. Una even no say, some investors profit na jus to make name? So dia for, dem de find name, dem want make history rememba dem as de pipo wey spend kuza for first proper ogbonge epic or de film wey first win Oscar. To dem, de pride of jus seeing Naija for big screen for Cannes or Toronto Film Festival pass profit from kuza.
Som of dis pipo get mind sha. Som of dem dey even use dia kuza to fight de “419” or “poverty” image wey outsiders don give us. Jokes apart, dis kain pipo na ambasadors bicos dem dey export “Brand Naija” give de world. To me sha, eni person wey fit combine de two, wey fit make kuza as e dey tell awa true tori to de world, na him be de real MVP for de industri.
De truth be say, if you be ogbonge bizness man, you fit end up dey produce yamayama wey giv you kuza but no giv de pipo eni sense. If you be ogbonge ambasador alone, and com de use una famili inheritance take do films wey you nor want profit, my broda, my sista, make l nor lie to you, beta hunger wey go gym wella fit kpai you bicos korshor alone no fit pay ya studio rent plus oda bills.
The “New Nollywood” investors wey we dey see nowadays no say na two legs person must use to take dance if Dem must survive. Dem sabi say na kwoliti de sell korshor. Dem no say If de film fine (beta camera, beta sound, beta cast plus crew), de korshor go “fine” for pipo eye, and dem go must pay kuza to wosh am.
All of us no say, If de bizness side no dey solid, de ambasador go soon retire go village once kuza finish and pipo go com de say him get famili problem.
So dia for, de kweshon be say, film investors for Naija na korshora ambasadors or bizness men?
De ansa na, dem suppose be both. De rison be say, Naija need investors wey chip bizness winch to make de industri stand gidigba, but again, dem must also get korshora sense so dat we nor go sell awa birthright bicos of small change. If we only de luk de kuza side, we fit lose awa identity. If we com only de luk korshor, we plus de industri go kpai. Inside Nollywood, de real koko na when de Kuza long, and de story deep!
