Popular Nollywood filmmaker, Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun has revealed that lack of the right and appreciative audience constitutes the biggest problem facing the Nigerian movie industry.
In a chat with The Punch, The filmmaker stated that Nigerians look down on indigenous movies as they believe that any movie not made overseas is not standard. He also added that government polices are not favourable to the production of local content in the country.
He said; “We don’t have the right audience and that is turning out to be the biggest problem in the industry. We don’t have an appreciative audience because by the Nigerian standard, anything that is not made overseas is not good. Don’t get me wrong though; there are a lot of poor films, but Nigeria must show character by encouraging indigenous productions.
“Everywhere you go in the world, there are policies that engage local content. But here, there is no form of encouragement from the government or even the private sector. It has been very taxing for us because one would have to source for one’s stories and fund.
“Despite all these, Nollywood practitioners have been dogged and resilient. The never-say-die spirit of the average Nigerian is what has sustained the industry to this level. However, we have yet to get distribution right and pirates are still having a field day. Hardly does any filmmaker actually make a profit. Quote me anywhere, 97.9 per cent of films don’t make money. It is just mostly about pure razzmatazz. It is the survival of the fittest or the most cunning. Needless to say, the industry needs to be structured.
“Today, I am one of the resource persons for N-Power for creatives. But where are the beneficiaries going to be absorbed into? If structures are not put in place for the future, that would be a huge challenge.”
