June 28, (THEWILL) – Nigerian movie producer, Femi Ogunsanwo, says upcoming filmmakers must leverage available networks and opportunities in the industry, to cope with financial constraints.
He spoke at a recent capacity-building conference for creatives, organised by Feemo Academy, in collaboration with Kokopelli.
On strategies filmmakers could use to make money out of their projects, Ogunsanwo stressed the need for collaborations with different television stations and streaming platforms.
“Filmmaking in Nigeria faces the same challenge as every other business. The economy affects you, but you have to find a way to resolve the problem. If it was going to cost one million naira to make a film before, now it is going to cost you a hundred and thirty million naira”, he said.
“If you had three investors before, you are going to need four now. The streaming services like Netflix and Amazon are also commissioning films, which means that if they commission any of your films, you don’t have to take money out of your pocket, but the films they licence, they watch in the cinemas and decide if they want to licence them or not.
“My advice to upcoming moviemakers and producers is that if you want to shoot, shoot, don’t talk. People do much talking and the problem with talking is that it affects you, so talk less and shoot more. Let your actions speak louder than your words.”
The filmmaker also enjoined government and corporate individuals to invest in Nollywood and explore the potential in the sector.
“In my opinion, there has never been a better time in Nigerian history to invest in Nollywood. This is the best time to invest in the movie industry, because we didn’t have Netflix and Amazon coming to licence our movies, but we do now.
“It comes with the same benefits for anyone that invests in business – return on investment,” he added.
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