The Nigerian Film and Movie Industry: the Gold Mine of the Future

It took me a couple of minutes to think of a suitable title for this article, and even after sticking with the above title; I'm still not complacent with it, as this industry popularly known as “NOLLYWOOD”, the third largest film and movie industry world wide trailing Hollywood (USA) and Bollywood (India) respectively; is a force to be reckoned with when it comes every thing regarding film and movie making: and if you remain glued to this page you'll be treated to a rich course of information to enable you take active part in the proper milking of this cash cow; regardless of where you are resident Nigeria or abroad. The road to this money making castle is wide and within reach.

Before I dive into the boundless opportunities inherent in this industry, I'll like to give you some brief but salient facts about this industry. Nigeria's Domestic Film industry also referred to as the home video industry in movie parlance, is one of the greatest success story ever to grace the African continent; it generates roughly 300,000 jobs annually taking so many youths who would have been gun-totting robbers, pimps, whores, hookers etc off the streets, it also makes a yearly turn over of over 50 billion Naira (about 4.2 billion US dollars), with a growth rate of 8.5%. Most practitioners in the industry gross over 12 million Naira or $100, 000 yearly; what an average 9-5 worker cant earn in ages: more so, on particular production about a range of about nine to 50 million is used up in the course of production.

To cut the long story short, I'll list some of the many opportunities that so many people, Nigerians and foreigners, people like you and I have seized in other to tap from this money glut of an industry. Beautifully, you don't need to be an actor, director or even a producer to be a part of this party; however, a little expertise in the following could see you earning useful dollars as an insider of this citadel of “make believe”

SCRIPT WRITING: though most people wont find this very interesting, but I will like to inform you that most script writers in the industry have quit their regular jobs to make a career in script writing fulltime; and it sure paid off on the long run. Presently, I know of a script writer who makes more than a $1000 per script he writes and sells to big time productions, in this list; epic movies rank high than maybe comedy or romance scripts, so versatility is the spice of this job. Daily he churns out good scripts on any of comedy, epic, romance, crime etc and smiles regularly to the bank picking checks instead of bills. Interestingly, you don't need to be Shakespeare or a literary icon with a chain of university degrees for you to do this. For people who are in this category, what I will suggest here is a joint venture partnership, what do I mean by this; look for somebody who has a flare for writing explain to him/her, he writes the scripts you do the other logistics like looking for a producer or film maker who will look at the scripts and possibly make a purchase, then you split the proceeds 50-50

VIDEO EDITING: These days, owning a studio won't cause you an arm or a leg as it used to be back in the days. With latest advancements in technology, a simple yet compact studio with every convenience could be erected in a matter of minutes; all that is needed is a computer, software like cyberLink power producer or any other good software for movie editing, and some other interface which time and space will not permit me to give in details, bingo! a video editing is born. One problem with this industry is daily many movies are churned out like hell and the market is inundated with un-edited or not properly edited movies, this is where you come in. your job is to collect as many video editing jobs as possible and you'll sure be happy for reading and putting this to action

ANIMATION AND SPECIAL EFFECTS: One of the many problems the industry is faced with is a dearth of 3d animators, so having a good knowledge of this could mean that you are on your way in hitting the base of our proverbial cash cow and taking all the nutrients as you go. What I mean here is that as a 3D animator, special film effects needed in many productions will be created by you for fee that will eat deep into the pockets of the film maker as for a film to be very good and also enjoy high patronage, then a variety of animation cum special effects becomes inevitable and you the animator indispensable and above all your pockets constantly stashed with cash. One good thing is that you don't need to be resident in Nigeria to be a part of this, no; as an international 3d animator all you need is a presence on the internet through your website and email and if you are good and highly recommended by top movie producers, then your studio will be inundated with jobs

VOICE-OVER ARTISTRY: Many people are blessed with so many talents and natural abilities, and among these talents include a good voice, a melodious or velvet voice preferably. The use of voice-over in many productions is fast becoming a trend and this is a very good development for any one who wants to earn a career from doing voice over. Many voice-over artists earn a sizable income running into six figures as their services are needed during and after the course of production for narrating of plots, intros, epilogues, and importantly for the premiering of the movie. So you can be a part of this industry and rake your fistful of dollars by just having a good natured voice.

Other opportunities in the industry include the following, which I will have loved to explain in details but space and time wont permit me to do this, but I wont hesitate to mention them;

-costume/tailoring

-make-up/hair dressing

-continuity

-still photography

-sound recording

-subtitling

-choreography

-stunts

And many others that springs up daily as the demand goes higher and production becomes more sophisticated, so take up the challenge, where you reside is never a barrier as the internet has come to stay with us; get up, get “nollywoodized” with dollars

By chinemere onuekwusi